WWE Clash of Champions
December 17th, 2017 | TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts | Attendance: 14,318
I went to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi last night instead of watching this live. I got home in time to see the last two matches, so I went back and watched the show.
Kickoff Match: Mojo Rawley vs. Zack Ryder
I’m surprised at how intrigued I am by heel Mojo. He used Twitter to his advantage, similar to the Corbin/Miz build heading into Survivor Series. The match got off to an intense start, which was very much appreciated. It slowed a bit for Mojo’s heat segment through the break, though that was understandable. The crowd was into it and the guys worked it like they really hated one another. Ryder not taunting before hitting the facewash was a nice touch. Mojo chop blocked Ryder and won with a running forearm at 7:08. That was a strong Kickoff match. It had some emotion behind it and Mojo looked better than ever. I’m looking forward to more from them. [**¾]
WWE United States Championship: Baron Corbin [c] vs. Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler
I like Baron Corbin. That being said, it’s hard to find a match I care less about. Roode is kind of just there and Dolph has been uninteresting in every program not involving Miz for the past three years. Corey Graves had the nerve to say Dolph might be the best in-ring competitor ever. I like you Corey, but wow. This followed a lot of the usual Triple Threat match tropes. One guy chills outside while two went at it inside. Roode and Dolph had better exchanges here than any of their singles matches. Things picked up down the stretch, with the crowd getting behind Roode and more into the match. There was a great moment where Corbin nearly stole the pin like so many heels do, only to get thrown out of the ring and return to break up another pin. Dolph stopped the End of Days with a Zig Zag in the end to capture his second US Title at 12:13. It was way better than it had any right to be considering the awfully bland build. It got better as it went on and finished with a flurry. Putting the title on Dolph is a bad move. He’s been beyond stale for so long, his performances haven’t wowed in a long time and his title reigns never amount to anything. [***¼]
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship: The Usos [c] vs. Aiden English and Rusev vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin vs. The New Day
No matter how many times they kill Rusev’s momentum, he’s always great and remains over. The fans love the Rusev Day stuff. Rusev never being WWE Champion is my biggest issue with WWE in the past few years. This had an interesting setup, with four guys legal at a time. I appreciated the attempt to do something different. Lots of action and antics to start, before we literally got dual rest holds. They also built to stereo hot tags, which was fun as Big E and Jimmy both did their thing. From there, it broke down into the wildness we all love in these kinds of matches. The fans ERUPTED when Rusev put the Accolade on Gable, but Big E broke things up. Gable’s Chaos Theory on English was sick, while the one to Big E was incredible. The Usos cut off another attempt and used a combo of superkicks and a splash to retain in 15:14. There was no match I was more excited for than this one and it delivered. Rusev Day and Gable were incredible, the Usos and New Day continued to be top notch and the Smackdown tag division has been great this year. This was a blast. [***½]
WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship Lumberjack Match: Charlotte [c] vs. Natalya
Why do they keep going back to this match? They had a very good match at TakeOver in 2014 and one at Roadblock last March. Every other time they meet, it ranges from complete garbage to okay at best. And yet, this was at least their fourth PPV match together. Guess what? This was their worst. Natalya in control is boring an awkward. Charlotte as a babyface is more miscast than Sasha Banks. It doesn’t click. The lumberjacks didn’t add much, as it was the same story we get in all lumberjack matches. Charlotte hit a nice dive onto a pile of bodies for the highlight. Charlotte countered the Sharpshooter into the Figure Eight to win in 10:36. This sucked. Ruby Riott, Carmella, Becky Lynch (even though she’s out) and even going back to Naomi are all far better ideas than Charlotte/Natalya matches. [¾*]
Someone thought Natalya, a bad promo, should cut one. She said Charlotte cut corners and used her family name to get where she is and that she’s put on great matches for ten years (ha) but people turned their backs on her. She was now turning her back on us.
The Bludgeon Brothers vs. Breezango
Complete domination. I enjoy the comedy aspects of Breezango and they had a great match with the Usos back in May. However, now was time to build Harper and Rowan, so they won in 2:11 with a double crucifix bomb. It was what it needed to be. [NR]
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura
They hyped Orton and Nakamura as a dream team, like this same exact match didn’t happen on Smackdown a few weeks ago. The difference was that Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan were the referees here. They turned out to be the entire focus of the match. Focusing on the non-wrestlers/part-timers was part of what murdered the Survivor Series main event. The fans chose to side with KO and Sami, probably because they’re far more interesting. The storytelling was rather good, there’s just a lot of extra with the referee. It was like Shane at SummerSlam this year. What bumped this up in score for me was the finish. Shane blatantly screwed the heels, choosing not to count three for Sami. That caused an argument between Shane and Bryan, leading to Bryan fast counting for Sami’s next pin and giving them the win at 21:39. As I said, this told a fine story and had a great finish, but was bogged down by too much ref shit. [**½]
WWE Championship: AJ Styles [c] vs. Jinder Mahal w/ The Singh Brothers
I never got behind the Jinder Mahal push. When it started, I felt he wasn’t ready and I hold that position today. His feuds with Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura were pure shit (though I attribute part of it to Shinsuke and Randy putting in lackluster efforts). However, it was the AJ Styles feud that helped turn some stuff around. Their match in the UK where AJ captured the title was very good and they bested it here. Styles understood the best way to work as Jinder’s opponent. He allowed Jinder to use his power and control a good portion of the match. AJ bumped and sold the ribs very well, making Jinder’s heat segment better than most others would have. When the Singh brothers got involved, it made sense and wasn’t overdone. It also didn’t lead right to the finish, which happened too often in prior Jinder matches. Jinder teased using the Styles Clash, but AJ countered into the Calf Crusher to retain after 22:57. The best match of Jinder’s career and it proved that he could deliver rather well in the right setting. [****]
Overall: 5.5/10. Not a worst PPV of the year contender like I’ve seen some call it. However, it also isn’t one that stands out or will be remembered in the long run. The Kickoff and US Title matches both exceeded my expectations. Jinder had the best match of his career in a great main event, while the Tag Team Title match was as fun as expected. I didn’t care much for the Shane/Bryan tag stuff and thought the Women’s Title match was one of the worst in recent memory.
NJPW World Tag League Finals
December 11th, 2017 | Fukuoka Convention Center in Fukuoka, Japan | Attendance: 3,147
The World Tag League is a largely forgettable round robin tournament set just before Wrestle Kingdom. It’s the time of the year where I mostly tune out NJPW. The last two years, I tried following, but couldn’t get into it. This year, I chose to only check out the finals. It works as a bit of a go-home for the Tokyo Dome, which should give us something to talk about.
David Finlay, Henare, Hirai Kawato, Katsuya Kitamura and Togi Makabe vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, TenKoji and Yuji Nagata
Togi Makabe brought his kids to work to take on the New Japan Dads. Tenzan started with Kitamura, who brought a lot of fire. Everyone got to shine a bit. Makabe wasn’t in the mood to bump, as expected, unless it was for Nagata. Kawato was his fun self, until Kojima put him down with a lariat at 6:58. About what you’ve come to expect from an opener like this. Some fun spots and good energy. [**½]
Chase Owens, Hangman Page, Leo Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Jeff Cobb, Michael Elgin and War Machine
Yujiro brought out Tokyo Latina, which is always the only time I become a Bullet Club fan. Cobb and Elgin didn’t do the War Machine paint, which is upsetting. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the worst thing Elgin did that week. The highlight of this was watching Cobb manhandle everyone. I heard that he quickly got over in Japan, which I understand because they love their powerhouse gaijins. If NJPW cut ties with Elgin in 2018, Cobb would be a suitable replacement. War Machine hit Tonga with Fallout for the win in 8:28. Not bad, but other than the novelty of Cobb wrecking fools, it was completely skippable.[**¼]
Bad Luck Fale vs. NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champion BUSHI
The rare heavyweight vs. junior match. BUSHI scored an upset over Fale in a tag to set this up, though Hiromu would be the junior in LIDJ with a bigger beef against Fale. BUSHI did a fair amount of stalling, but once caught, Fale toyed with him. BUSHI spat the mist at Fale and hit a low blow for a lame DQ at 3:55. Yea, this wasn’t any good. I also don’t like how inconsistent NJPW rules are sometimes. Low blows are only DQs when it serves the story. [¾*]
Best Friends vs. Death Juice
These teams were in opposite blocks during the tournament. I don’t like Sami Callihan, but enjoyed him as Jeremiah Crane in Lucha Underground. Chuckie T and Beretta are a fun group, who had a stellar match in PWG earlier this year. Both teams worked well together here. The crowd was into everything Juice did, though less so with everyone else, which is a shame because Beretta has been very good this year. There was a fun spot where Chuckie hit a dive outside and ran up the ramp to high five his buddy. Sami came close with a powerbomb and Stretch Muffler, before falling to the Dudebuster at 11:56. That was better than expected. The action was solid, but what made it work was the quirky antics of both units. [***]
El Desperado, IWGP Tag Team Champions The Killer Elite Squad and NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI
I’m just assuming this feud will never end. Lance Archer got to be an impressive powerhouse at times. He clubbed everything moving, slammed them around and jawed with the fans. Minoru attacked Goto in the crowd, continuing their build. Yano was Yano, while Ishii did his equivalent of mostly taking the night off. He did get a pretty solid hot tag spot. It came down to a Suzuki/Goto interaction, before everyone went outside and left Desperado with Goto. Don’t teams realize that leaving a junior heavyweight with a heavyweight usually results in the finish? Goto applied the sleeper and won via GTR in 11:54. It was Suzuki-Gun vs. CHAOS and nothing more. Moving on. [**]
Post-match, they seemed to officially set up Suzuki/Goto for Wrestle Kingdom. You know, the same match we got on a “Road to” show in April and at Dominion. The ones that haven’t been good in the slightest. I would’ve totally booked Minoru/Ishii for the Dome. Ishii is so much better, deserves a spot like this in the Dome and gives us a fresh match.
ROH World Champion Cody and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Marty Scurll vs. Kota Ibushi and KUSHIDA
KUSHIDA and Scurll meet as part of a four way at WK12, while Kota meets Cody in an ROH Title match. Cody and Marty haven’t quite gotten over big in Japan. Cody’s had a string of solid, but unspectacular matches, while Marty hasn’t done a whole lot. Marty and KUSHIDA had some quality back and forth to preview part of their WK12 outing. KUSHIDA played face in peril and Kota’s hot tag was fun, but short lived. Kota and Cody brawled on the ramp, where Cody hit a Cross Rhodes that Kota sold like his neck broke. In the ring, Scurll threw powder in the eyes of KUSHIDA (which the camera missed like Kevin Dunn was producing) and rolled him up to steal it at 12:21. That was the best thing on the show so far. It took a bit to get going, though the back half was strong. It also succeeded in building WK12 with the cheap Scurll spot and Cody hurting Kota’s neck. [***¼]
After the match, Scurll bragged to commentary, while Cody called Kota the Brutus Beefcake to Kenny Omega’s Hulk Hogan. Ouch.
IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks vs. Rocky Romero and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Roppongi 3K
This was here to build Roppongi 3K/Bucks for the Dome. With him gearing up for the Tokyo Dome, we got t-shirt Kenny. Due to that, a lot of the focus of the match was on RPG 3K against the Bucks. Commentary continually hyped the Bucks as the best Jr. Heavyweight tag team in NJPW history. I mean, they have the most reigns, but barely ever get in successful defenses. Kenny and Rocky had a few solid interactions, though nothing special. We did get to see Rocky’s FOREVER clotheslines. In the end, Kenny scored with the One Winged Angel on Rocky in 11:11. Solid little match that showed the Jr. Tag Title match at WK has potential. [**¾]
Kenny Omega’s celebration was cut short by another Chris Jericho video. It was an odd video, but was just the setup for real angle. The lights came on and Jericho was in the ring. He hit the Codebreaker on Kenny and busted him open with a shot from the US Title. Some friends the Young Bucks are, they disappeared. Don Callis got in the ring to check on Kenny after Jericho left. Jericho saw this and got back in. He hit Callis with a Codebreaker, which Callis sold like death. Jericho posed with the US Title until the Bucks finally returned with a baseball bat to run him off. I liked that this added intensity to the match. It won’t just be two guys working on their names. It should lead to a match with a more deliberate pace that should work in Jericho’s favor. Don Callis did a stretcher job out of the arena.
Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay
Obviously, this builds towards Naito/Okada and the Jr. Title match at WK12. Okada and Naito started with a strong exchange, before Ospreay and Hiromu moved at a crazy pace. Ospreay took the heat segment and when Okada got tagged, he looked to apply his new modified cobra clutch. Commentary hyped it as a big deal and it will clearly play a factor in the Wrestle Kingdom main event. Could Okada have added something new that will allow him to retain? We got more from Ospreay and Hiromu, including Will taking an insane bump on a corner belly to belly. Hiromu finished him with the Time Bomb, while Okada was dumped outside at 14:23. Lots of action and hype for the Tokyo Dome matches. Very good stuff. [***¼]
Post-match, Tetsuya Naito got on the microphone. Whatever he said set up a brawl. He went for Destino, but Okada countered it into that cobra clutch again. Hiromu had to save Naito, who couldn’t escape. However, he ended up on the cobra clutch as well. Chaos left LIDJ out cold. That cobra clutch/Destino stuff is going to be quite exhilarating come January 4th.
World Tag League Finals: EVIL and SANADA vs. The Guerrillas of Destiny
GOD made the WTL Finals last year, while EVIL made it in 2015 with Tetsuya Naito. SANADA’s a WTL Finals rookie. There was some added tension here, as apparently GOD weren’t happy with the LIDJ guys using their own version of the Magic Killer. The early portions of the match did nothing for me. LIDJ took the heat segment, which isn’t something they’re suited for. It’s not GOD’s strong suit either, but them with the advantage isn’t as interesting. BUSHI got a run-in but was chased away by Fale, most likely setting up GOD & Fale against LIDJ for the NEVER Tag Titles. The closing stretch took this up a notch and was easily the highlight. EVIL got the win for his guys at 21:57. Like a lot of NJPW main events, I think this would’ve been better served if it was a bit shorter. The first half of this match was a lot of nothing, but the closing stretch delivered enough to save it. [**¾]
Overall: 5.5/10. An average event in terms of in-ring quality, made memorable by the Omega/Jericho angle. BUSHI/Fale was ass and the early multi-man tags were typically decent and nothing special. There were some strong matches in the tags involving Naito, KUSHIDA and Best Friends, but most things were either forgettable or underwhelmed (like the main event).
Clash of the Champions XXVII
June 23rd, 1994 | North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina | Attendance: 6,700
The rare Clash of the Champions review that I pull out. This is only my fourth or fifth so far if memory serves me right. Hot off of the massive signing of Hulk Hogan, WCW was all set to make a major impact on the business. With him around now, WCW decided to unify their two World Titles and that led to a main event for this show between Sting and Ric Flair, who main evented the first ever Clash of the Champions. Of course, it was kind of a foregone conclusion that Hogan would beat the winner, which he, of course, went on to do.
While I enjoyed the simplicity of the opening video package, they pretty much telegraph the eventual Hulk Hogan/Ric Flair feud. Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are the commentary team.
WCW World Tag Team Championship
Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan (c) w/ Dave Sullivan vs. The Nasty Boys
Due to the crazy nature of their matches, there was a second referee outside. Dave Sullivan was already playing his role of strange Hulkamaniac. This started as a pier six brawl and the crowd was pretty into it. They mostly brawled throughout. I liked that Sullivan and Cactus didn’t care for their own well-beings, with Sullivan even slamming Jack from the top into the Nasty Boys. The Nasty Boys ended up working some heat on Sullivan. Maybe it’s because I never enjoyed him but I couldn’t buy into sympathy for Sullivan. His tag to Cactus got little to no reaction. He took a rather ugly bump into the guardrail on a missed springboard back elbow. Yes, I said springboard. Back inside, Cactus rallied before Jerry Saggs went after Dave. Dave cracked him with one of his crutches, while Cactus laid out Knobbs with the double arm DDT.
Winners and Still WCW World Tag Team Champions: Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan in 10:37
Considering the teams involved, this needed to be a bit of a brawl and it was just that. They did about as good as expected and, for the most part, it was pretty fun. **½
Mean Gene brings out Sting for an interview. I never got WCW’s thinking on this. Guys always get their biggest pops on their first appearance, so why waste it for an interview that accomplishes nothing? It was just dumb as Sting didn’t really say anything of substance.
The Guardian Angel vs. Tax Slazenger
The Guardian Angel is what happened when WCW couldn’t use the Big Bossman gimmick. He lived by a three strike rule, so he’d only hit you after you got in three shots. They did a cheesy vignette for him before the bell. I’d never heard of Tax Slazenger but it turned out that he was Dennis Knight, or the future Mideon. They did the three strike gimmick and once Tax got in his three shots, the Guardian Angel dominated. He finished the squash with the Guardian Angel slam.
Winner: The Guardian Angel in 1:46
It was effective at establishing the new gimmick.
Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart get a police escort to the arena. Sheesh.
WCW Television Championship
Larry Zbyszko (c) vs. Lord Steven Regal w/ Sir William
Jesse Ventura joined the booth at this time. Regal wore a strange wig to the ring that Jesse said belonged to his great-great-great uncle over 200 years ago. I feel like there should have been more “greats” in there for 200 years. Regal laid into Larry early but Larry gave it right back, which brought the crowd to their feet. I saw big strikes, choking and even a damn piledriver within the first few minutes. They continued to just have a manly battle with hard hits and submission attempts. Larry applied a Boston crab but Sir William flipped him over, allowing Regal to sit on his shoulders, hold the ropes and escape with the title.
Winner and New WCW Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal in 9:24
I feel bad that I didn’t write a ton for that match but it’s mostly because I was really into it. This was just the kind of manly match that I’ve come to enjoy. Two guys roughing each other up in a bit of a battle with a classic heel finish. What’s not to like? ***½
Dustin Rhodes and Arn Anderson are interviewed because Arn accepts his proposal to team with him against Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk at Bash at the Beach. And it will be the “old” Arn Anderson.
WCW United States Championship
Steve Austin (c) vs. Johnny B. Badd
Col. Robert Parker is Austin’s manager but allows him to wrestle alone. Austin grew out the goatee and wore black trunks, which puts him near Stone Cold territory from a looks standpoint. Badd was good at playing to the crowd, while Austin knew how to draw heat. He did his best to ground Badd and take away a big aspect of his offense. Austin played the smart heel, which worked for him. The crowd popped hard for any Badd hope spots but were mostly quiet for anything else. Badd missed a top rope senton and landed flat on his back, which was probably the biggest high spot of the show. It’s WCW, so we got the old cheap finish when Austin got something from his trunks to lay out Badd and beat him. A second referee showed up, Badd rolled up Austin and won. He celebrated with the belt though he didn’t win the belt since apparently it was a DQ. None of that is actually said on camera though.
Winner via disqualification: Johnny B. Badd in 10:21
Up until that terrible finish, this was a pretty damn good outing. Both guys seemed to work hard, but Badd was the better man here. He did such a good job with his spots and getting the crowd involved.***
Hulk Hogan makes his triumphant debut. He cuts a typical Hogan promo on the stage with Mean Gene and challenges the winner of the upcoming unification match. Ric Flair appears on the tron and yells at Hogan that he will win the match tonight. Good job telegraphing the finish to your main event.
They throw to a video of Shaq and Hogan, hyping the debut. Bobby Heenan is great as he says he thought it was Mugsy or “”Bugsy” Bogues.
Unification Match
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs. WCW International World Champion Sting
HE’S THE MAN CALLED STING! Sherri showed up early on as she was trying to choose a WCW talent to manage. She took a seat at ringside. She wore face paint, signaling that she chose Sting. By this point, Sting and Flair had a long history, including Sting’s star making turn in a 45 minute draw on the first Clash of the Champions. They did a lot of the stuff they had become famous for. Sting is too powerful and hyped up for Flair, who has to constantly regroup outside. Flair made a small comeback but when he couldn’t put Sting away and almost got pinned himself, he got frustrated and shoved the ref. I loved Heenan here. He was always so great at being biased for Flair. Commentary in general did a good job of discussing the time limit. That worked due to their past. They continued to have some close calls and the crowd was totally into the idea of Sting winning. Sting no sold some stuff, which was a staple of their past encounters. Flair pulled Sherri in the way of a Sting plancha. The referee checked on her and got in too late on a Sting backslide. Sting made the classic good guy mistake of slightly checking on Sherri, so Flair rolled him up with a handful of tights.
Winner and New WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair in 17:16
Not quite on the level of some of their past matches, though I still found it to be a good, satisfying main event. I liked the callbacks to their history and that, if Sherri had to be out there, at least she played into the finish. ***½
Sherri enters the ring and embraces Ric Flair. IT WAS A SETUP! Flair and Sherri put the boots to Sting until Hulk Hogan runs out. He rips the shirt and Flair begs for mercy. Hogan does the same thing he’d been doing for ten years and Flair escapes.
Overall: 7/10; Good. Well that turned out to be way better than I expected. They produced five matches and three were good, one was a squash and one was okay. That equals a mostly enjoyable show. The debut of Hogan was a big deal at the time. While it helped the company grow, it also ended up hurting the product as late 1994 and 1995 were a pretty bad time for WCW. That’s neither here nor there though. If you want to pull out a Clash of the Champions that is pretty good, this is a good call. Up next on “Random Network Reviews” will be Unforgiven 1998!
Raw History
Episode #130
October 9th, 1995 | Grand Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan
The weekly Raw intro video is still odd. It’s as if they like the video but the music seems way off.
British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Yokozuna w/ Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji vs. WWF Champion Diesel, WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer
Well this is about as star studded as it got in 1995, though Bret Hart is missing. Things start hot as the faces clear out the heels, culminating with a double big boot by Diesel and the Undertaker. For some reason, Yokozuna also walked into the ring post outside. Maybe they wanted to sell it as him being dazed but he just looked dumb. They give us a small preview of the upcoming In Your House main event as Diesel and Bulldog go at it. Undertaker hit Old School on Yokozuna but their exchange doesn’t last long. Waylon Mercy is watching from the aisle. HBK becomes the legal man and starts to take the heat. This lasts through a break and when they return, Dean Douglas is taking notes on Michaels. Bulldog is just having his way with Shawn. He highlights the beating with the stalling vertical. Shawn finally makes the hot tag to his big buddy and the WWF Champion cleans house. However, a cheap shot from Owen allows Bulldog to nail the running powerslam on the champ. Undertaker breaks up the count, so Yokozuna just drops a leg on Diesel. Bulldog rolls over and pins Diesel.
Winners: British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Yokozuna in 16:04
Sometimes, six man tag matches work really well. This was one of those times. It had a hot start, Shawn was great as the face in peril and the finish was unexpected in a good way. Bulldog pinned Diesel and came off like an actual threat to his title reign. ***½
King Mabel shows up and, along with Yokozuna, beat up on Undertaker. The future Camp Cornette, Mabel and then Dean Douglas all attack the babyfaces. Dean even hits Shawn with a front suplex onto the steel steps. Mabel and Yokozuna continue to hit leg drops on Undertaker, one of which puts the Undertaker on the shelf until Survivor Series with a legit fractured orbital bone.
LAST WEEK ~ Bret Hart’s win over Jean-Pierre Lafitte last week before he was assaulted by Isaac Yankem is highlighted. This leads to an announcement that Bret faces Yankem inside a Steel Cage next week. They show a fair amount of the first Hart/Yankem match at SummerSlam. It’s an odd time filler as they do show a lot. If Lawler tries to interfere next week, he gets hung in a smaller cage above the ring.
Fatu vs. Skip w/ Sunny
Skip is in an odd place. He’s not a full on jobber but he doesn’t win very often. He breaks wrestling rule #1 by going after a Samoan’s head. The success rate is about as low as powerbombing Billy Kidman. A Sunny distraction fails, keeping Fatu in the driver’s seat. Skip does manage to get in some offense, ensuring this isn’t a full squash. Vince gets to call him an idiot because, like an idiot, he keeps going after Fatu’s head. Fatu went into a flurry and won with a diving headbutt.
Winner: Fatu in 5:54
A decent little sprint that could have gotten a better score if it didn’t completely make Skip look like a fool. *½
Dok Hendrix doesn’t interview the babyface team from earlier because they’re too hurt. Jim Ross interviews Jim Cornette, who is on another level of excitement. I’m talking like, he did a lot of coke levels of excitement. He hypes Diesel/Bulldog while Bulldog stands there and poses with a weird looking hat on.
After the promo, Vince and Jerry stretch the show out by hyping next week’s cage match and reminding us of the beatdown earlier.
Overall: 5/10. I wanted to like this episode way more than I did. The opening match was damn good and one of the stronger matches on TV this year. Even the Fatu/Skip match was decent enough but they didn’t seem to have enough to fill an hour. It was very obvious that they were stretching things out longer than they needed to be at times, hurting the show.
Reliving Nitro
Episode #6
October 9th, 1995 | Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois
LAST WEEK ~ The Giant snapped Hogan’s neck and the Taskmaster shaved his mustache. The mustache part was actually the more criminal offense.
The commentary team of Eric Bischoff, Steve McMichael and Bobby Heenan are all wearing their own Bears jerseys. Brain’s has a question mark instead of a number. Sting pulls a Ric Flair and walks up to the booth to cut a promo saying that tonight he will play peacemaker between Macho Man and Lex Luger.
WCW United States Championship
Sting (c) vs. Shark
Shark is billed from tsunami. No lie. He gets the jump on Sting and body slams him, followed by an elbow and leg drop for two. Sting dodges a corner splash, hits two Stinger Splashes to the back and a cross body to already retain.
Winner and Still WCW United States Champion: Sting in 1:18
Yet another reason why nobody could take the Dungeon of Doom seriously. Their biggest guy not named the Giant just got beaten in less than 90 seconds. A bit too short to give a real rating.
RECAP ~ More footage from the Taskmaster and Giant attacking Hulk Hogan last week.
Mr. JL vs. Sabu
Sabu still has La Parka’s future theme. Mr. JL just happens to be future ECW Champion Jerry Lynn in a mask. High spots are in order almost instantly as Sabu does a front flip leg drop and a springboard leg lariat. JL comes back with a spinning forearm but is sent outside where Sabu dives out onto him. Things are moving at a very quick pace. For the first time that I’ve seen in WCW, Sabu hops off a chair for Air Sabu into the guardrail. Back inside as Mr. JL gets in control a bit. He ends up in a camel clutch but reaches the ropes. Up top, JL crotches Sabu and does the future Orton rope hung DDT, getting a near fall. JL blocks a top rope rana and leaps off the top but is caught in a powerbomb. The camel clutch finishes him off.
Winner: Sabu in 4:28
A really fun sprint. There wasn’t much selling or things like that but that’s not what it was meant to be. It was a showcase for two guys that could go at a fast pace and wow you. Having a mixture of styles is what helped make Nitro work so well early on. ***¼
Sting, Lex Luger and Mean Gene are in the ring. Sting calls out the Macho Man to settle things. Savage wants to fight Luger but Sting keeps the peace. Paranoid Savage questions why Sting hasn’t been attacked by the Giant yet. Sting calms it down a bit before saying that Luger has to face Meng, while Savage faces Kamala at Halloween Havoc. Yuck. Sting’s big idea to solve problems is that after Luger and Savage handle those clowns, they wrestle each other. Cowardly Luger is worried about wrestling two matches, so Sting calls him disgusting and says he’s not the “Total Package”. That’s what does it, as Luger accepts. Don’t you dare insult Luger’s nickname.
OUTSIDE ~ Chris Benoit arrives in a limousine. Shit is about to get real in WCW. He’s rocking a near full mullet but isn’t quite on Crush levels of mullet gold.
Big Bubba vs. Road Warrior Hawk
Disco Inferno shows up to dance in the aisle before the match. When his music gets cut off so the match can start, he brings out a boom box and keeps dancing. Bubba leaves him alone but Hawk intimidates him, so Disco steals a kid’s hat and puts it on one of Hawk’s spikes. Hawk doesn’t realize until he reaches the ring. The Road Warriors are one of those classic teams that look weird in singles action. The two men go at it with Hawk powerslamming Bubba and looking to be in full control. Disco gets on the apron to dance, causing Hawk to rip his shirt. SHIRT RIPPER! He beats him up in the aisle, getting himself counted out.
Winner via countout: Big Bubba in 1:41
I didn’t give a score to the first short match so I won’t give this match one either. This was worse though and it made Hawk look like an idiot.
Mean Gene is out to bring Hulk Hogan to the ring. He comes out with no mustache and is wearing all black, including a black neck brace. Of course, Hogan has to remind us that he defeated Andre the Giant so he can beat this Giant. He challenges Giant but gets told that Giant is barred from the arena. For some reason, he starts talking about a certain wrestling promoter whose ego got too big for the wrestling business. Someone shouldn’t throw stones while living in that glass house. Somehow, this all leads to Hogan saying that he’s immortal but will somehow beat Gorgeous George in heaven. I’m so confused. The Giant tries to drive his monster truck into the arena but cops are standing in the way. Hogan goes out to greet him.
Steel Cage Match
Arn Anderson vs. Ric Flair
Double A gets the jobber entrance unfortunately. Flair lights him up early and often. As Anderson tosses him into the steel, I realize that WCW cages are about seven feet tall. If Giant was in this match, he’s dwarf the cage. During a break, Arn nearly escapes but Flair chops him and it causes him to get crotched. They do a good job of using the cage as a weapon. I’m surprised Flair hasn’t bladed yet. Brian Pillman runs out and tries to enter the cage but Flair knocks him off. He’ll be okay, it’s a really short drop. Flair tries the Figure Four but Arn levels him with a foreign object to win. Schiavone complains and wants a replay though I’m pretty sure cage matches are no DQ.
Winner: Arn Anderson in 6:42
Not really bad, though I’d certainly call it a disappointment. They played it like two guys that didn’t like each other which was good, but it was never that interesting. It felt more like two guys working a house show match, much like their stuff from last week. **¼
Crazy Ric Flair screams a ton at the announce table but the gist is that he challenges both Pillman and Anderson next week. If he can’t find a partner, he’ll go it alone.
Bobby Heenan goes on a great diatribe about how he and the wrestlers in the back are tired of the Hulkamania stuff, saying there’s only so long you can take that crap. I mean, he wasn’t wrong.
Overall: 5/10. Like Raw this week, Nitro was highlighted by one really good match. The rest of the show was alright at best. The Hogan promo was insane but it was the first glimpse into a darker Hulk. The main event Steel Cage came across as a disappointment but again, furthered an angle. The issues I had were with the two short matches since guys came off looking dumb, but they were kept short.
Halloween Havoc 2000
October 29th, 2000 | MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada | Attendance: 7,582
Oh man, this has potential to be a train wreck. It’s well documented that WCW was having serious problems by this time. Things only got worse heading into this PPV as a large portion of the roster was cut, TV shows (namely WCW Saturday Night, which had run for over twenty years) were cancelled and, to top it all off, Vince Russo even won the WCW World Title. He had to relinquish it due to injury without ever allowing for a proper payoff but I doubt one was planned anyway. It was the 12th and final Halloween Havoc Pay-Per-View.
They start with Pamela Paulshock talking to the fans in the lobby and asking for their picks on the horrible sounding main event. Their opening video package isn’t as bad as it normally is. Commentary is Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden and Stevie Ray.
WCW World Tag Team Championship
Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire (c) vs. Boogie Nights vs. The Filthy Animals w/ Konnan
The Filthy Animals are represented by Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman, while Boogie Nights are Alex Wright and Disco Inferno. Bald Alex Wright is a strange look. Three guys were legal at a time during this triangle match. Kidman and Wright teamed up to work over Jindrak, which made sense as you’d want to take out the champions. For the most part, they moved things along at a quick pace. Some of the later WCW shows saw guys work fast but botch a fair amount, which happily wasn’t the case here. There were several near falls and some pretty good spots throughout. The champions did their sweet double hip toss from the floor to the ring on Kidman. I remember them doing that horribly to Sting. Wright, Kidman and Rey all ended up doing different dives outside. Boogie Nights nearly won but taunted too much. That set the stage for the Seanton Bomb from O’Hair, retaining the belts.
Winners and Still WCW World Tag Team Champions: Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire in 10:04
A really fun opening contest. They fit a fair amount into ten minutes and allowed everyone to shine. I also appreciate that they were mostly crisp with the work being done. It’s WCW in 2000, so I doubt something will top this on the show. ***¼
The champions and Alex Wright only, for some reason, put the boots to the Filthy Animals until the Wall or Sgt. AWOL or whatever his name was at the time makes the save.
WCW Hardcore Championship
Reno (c) vs. Sgt. AWOL
Reno being bald but having a ponytail was such an odd look. AWOL stayed in the ring and set up a table, but he went through it pretty quickly. Like most WCW hardcore matches, they just wailed away on each other with weapons. However, it was more entertaining than normal. Reno had a garbage can put on his head and AWOL kicked the shit out of it. It looked pretty rad. They fought up the ramp and Reno set two tables up, only to get a backdrop through both of them. Since the event is brought to you by that weird WCW Backstage Assault game, they fought in the back. The finish came back at ringside when Reno hit the Roll of the Dice on a table.
Winner and Still WCW Hardcore Champion: Reno in 10:55
Pretty enjoyable hardcore. I’ve usually liked WWE ones but the WCW hardcore division left something to be desired. Here, it was mostly entertaining though I do think it dragged on a bit too long for what they were doing. **¼
Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak run out to beat up Sgt. AWOL. That causes Chavo and Lash LeRoux to make the save. I think they were Lt. Loco and Corporal Cajun. Man, that stable had no chance.
In typical WCW fashion, there are some rapid fire backstage segments. None of it seemed important enough to discuss.
Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak vs. Corporal Cajun and Lt. Loco
Why didn’t they just stay out the post-match stuff from the last match? Nothing about this interested me or the crowd. They chanted “boring” for a bit. Chavo nearly died on a spot that saw Palumbo drop him on the ropes. Stasiak and Palumbo argued over who would go on to have the worse singles run. Stasiak would win for those unaware. The heels dominated for the most part and while they were booed at times, the crowd really seemed to not give a damn. Their arguing and dissension led to the loss when Stasiak fell to a tornado DDT from Loco.
Winners: Corporal Cajun and Lt. Loco in 9:21
This was a late addition to the card and everyone could have done without it. It was lifeless, heatless and only gets any points because it told somewhat of a story with the Palumbo and Stasiak issues.½*
Konnan and Tygress vs. Shane Douglas and Torrie Wilson
Oh my, Torrie was dressed as Wonder Woman. Tygress started alone and kicked Douglas low. This led to her and Torrie doing some truly bad wrestling. It’s a stretch to call it that. Konnan, who took a beating earlier apparently, showed up to save Tygress. Konnan didn’t sell any effects of an earlier assault. Douglas punched Tygress, prompting Schiavone to say that it’s wrong and everyone in WCW knows it. If that’s why case, why book a match where that is legal? Tygress did her bronco buster (as Mark Madden screamed FACE FULL OF SNUFF) but Torrie pulled the referee in the way. That probably should have been a DQ. Konnan and Tygress somehow hit Douglas with a double Snuff Buster and earned the win.
Winners: Konnan and Tygress in 8:21
This was pretty terrible in every single way. Konnan and Douglas phoned it in, while Tygress and Torrie had no business wrestling. The only redeeming quality was Torrie as Wonder Woman, keeping it from DUD status. ¼*
DNA Match
Buff Bagwell vs. David Flair
Apparently, a DNA match is a First Blood match. I think. Basically, Miss Hancock, David’s girlfriend, was pregnant and he wasn’t the dad. He needed Buff’s DNA to see if he was the dad. Or something like that. Buff didn’t take David seriously for most of the match and it cost him at times. Madden said that maybe David is maturing into his dad. He’s said some dumb things before but that may top it. Buff nailed him with a chair, busting David open. The referee saw it but ignored it until after Buff hit the Blockbuster.
Winner: Buff Bagwell in 5:40
Of course. There has to be at least one DUD on every WCW 2000 show it seems. This was all kinds of bad. Buff didn’t seem to care and David was always terrible. DUD
Lex Luger shows up to raise Buff Bagwell’s hand before clotheslining him. SWERVE BRO! Even Schiavone asks “how many times is Luger gonna turn on people?” He sends Buff into the post, causing him to bleed and allowing David to steal his DNA, rendering the entire match pointless.
Three Round Kickboxing
Ernest Miller w/ Ms. Jones vs. Mike Sanders w/ Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak
How many times can you showcase the Natural Born Thrillers in one show? Cat stole the show with a straight up “boy I’m gonna whoop your ass” before the match. He had a clear advantage here but somehow doesn’t win in the first round. Madden spent the match hyping Sanders as the valiant underdog, while the other commentators kind of laugh at Sanders. In the third round, Miller nailed a cartwheel kick that nearly knocked out Sanders. Shane Douglas showed up to try and rally Sanders but he had no chance. Shane got a chain and laid out Miller behind the referee’s back, which nearly kept him down for a knockout. He laid out Sanders in sudden death twice but fought Douglas outside and got counted out.
Winner via countout: Mike Sanders
This was poorly booked, executed in even worse fashion and all around trash. Late WCW is really making me consider giving out negative stars. For now, it gets my lowest score. DUD
“That 70’s Guy” Mike Awesome vs. Vampiro
Look, I understand That 70’s Show was a popular show at the time. I really liked it. But to make a character based on it and use a talented big man like Mike Awesome is so disappointing. Vampiro came out with a damn samurai sword for some reason. Vampiro apparently had a World Title shot the following night and Vampiro goaded him into putting it on the line. Vampiro bumped like a novice throughout this. Awesome clipped himself on a dive and Vampiro did something right by safely catching him. They did some sloppy fighting in the crowd for a bit. Vampiro hit an ugly top rope belly to belly. He seemed to be very unsafe as he just looked completely careless. He also did a move off the top that I don’t even know what to call. A table was brought in, which the referee allowed and the commentators were completely confused about. Outside, an Awesome Bomb hit for two. Who made this Falls Count Anywhere? A top rope Awesome Bomb finished it inside.
Winner: Mike Awesome in 9:49
Holy crap. What the hell was that? This might be the worst three match stretch in wrestling history, with this somehow managing to be the worst. Yes, they were worse than a mixed tag with two women who were green and a poorly booked kickboxing match. This was truly one of the worst matches I can recall. DUD
WCW Canadian Championship
Lance Storm (c) and Jim Duggan w/ Major Gunns vs. Gen. Rection
You know, you can’t really make a guy a serious contender if his name is Gen. Hugh E. Rection. Storm was so hot coming into WCW and winning three belts. Now, they’d stuck him with Jim Duggan and placed him in a feud with the Misfits in Action. Wow. Stevie, Tony and then Rection all either talked through or interrupted the Canadian National Anthem. Rection used the crowd to try and overcome the numbers disadvantage. After his hot start, the heels took advantage of Rection and it lasts far too long. How did WCW manage to put on, like ten match cards that somehow all went on for too long? Major Gunns turned on Team Canada somewhat by attacking Elix Skipper, who ran down to help. Rection barely nailed a moonsault on Duggan and won.
Winner and New WCW United States Champion: Gen. Rection in 10:06
I feel like WCW ran the handicap or tag matches for singles titles angle very often. This lasted too long, was bad outside of Lance Storm’s work and had a mostly dead crowd outside of typical patriotic chants. Even Schiavone looked bored afterwards. ¼*
Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting
This couldn’t be as bad as the previous few matches right? Sting got an advantage early on until someone dressed as old school surfer Sting appeared in the aisle. I thought the fake Sting angle died with the nWo. Sting left the ring to brawl with him and took him out. The fight moved to the crowd where a second surfer Sting showed up. He looked horrendous. Sting kicked his ass and a THIRD fake Sting showed up. What the hell am I watching? The Wolfpac music hit and Wolfpac Sting showed up. Oh what the fuck? It finally caught up to Sting and allowed Jarrett to get in the driver’s seat. Sting rallied and applied the Scorpion Death Lock only for a fifth Sting to come up through the ring and pull him under. No worries, Sting came back up seconds later and dumped out the new Sting, who was covered in blood. The lights went out and a SIXTH Sting showed up, only to get his ass kicked too. Sting #5 made it back in and hit Sting with a guitar, but he no sold it and laid him out. Finally, Jarrett got his own guitar, with tons of shards in the ring and the referee felt that didn’t warrant a DQ.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett in 14:39
Why? Seriously, just why? This screams Vince Russo. So much overbooking nonsense. Six Stings was too way too much, it went on for the entire match and Jarrett came off looking like a complete joke. At least it was more entertaining than the last few matches in a train wreck kind of way. ½*
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Booker T (c) vs. Scott Steiner w/ Midajah
WCW was still paying Michael Buffer too much money to do shitty introductions. Steiner attacked a production guy backstage because he was upset about not being in the main event. Booker tried to get the crowd into it early but there was next to no heat for this one. Steiner jawed with fans, even going over the railing. He hit Booker with a chair, but no DQ was called. Steiner put Booker through a table and was in firm control. So much so that he did his trademark pushups. Booker did the babyface rally but Steiner kicked out of his finish. Steiner used a pipe on Booker, but no DQ was called. He hung Charles Robinson in the tree of woe and guess what? No DQ. More referees showed up until one finally called for the DQ.
Winner via disqualification: Booker T in 13:27
So Scott Steiner didn’t want to become World Champion? They were sluggish for most of the match and this had no flow to it at all. And of course, in classic WCW fashion, the finish was extremely blah.¾*
Goldberg vs. Kronik
So it’s a handicap match and, a storyline was in place that said Goldberg’s next loss would result in him getting fired. Kronik showed up and wanted a forfeit. At the perfect time, doctors showed up in the back to clear Goldberg. He showed up and Kronik double teamed him a bit. Never fear, Goldberg quickly rallied and speared Adams through a table. He pinned him but also had to pin Clarke, who full nelson slammed him. Again, never fear. Goldberg speared him and won via Jackhammer.
Winner: Goldberg in 3:24
Okay, so we’re just going to end the PPV with a squash match? The new streak reached 14-0 and it did so in dreadful fashion. ¼*
Overall: 1.5/10; Horrible. Oh my goodness. WCW 2000 again brings me one of the worst Pay-Per-Views of all time. Seriously, this is abysmal. It’s like WCW was purposely putting on the worst possible shows. Think about this. The first two matches combined for five and a half stars. The next nine managed two and a half and I might have been generous. Never watch this show. It is absolutely dire. My next “Random Network Review” is scheduled to be Clash of the Champions XXVII!
