Nottavictim
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Posts posted by Nottavictim
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I like the "backstory" so far, but I'm really unsure as to where you plan on going with it. There hasn't been a real show of "This is the promotion I'm taking, this is who I am and this is what I have to work with" in comparison to the massive (well-booked AND well-written, might I add) backstory of "This is how things got the way they are".
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As the WWF’s main event scene was heating up in October, WCW’s was cooling off. Hulk Hogan had beaten just about every single heel on the roster, including WWF recruits Mean Mark, Bret Hart and Yokozuna. When the booking team sat around to discuss a PPV for the month, they literally had no opponent in mind for Hogan. That is, until Dusty suggested the Giant. This larger than life man was going into October undefeated in singles competition and seemed the last choice, but not the most comfortable one. Wight was young and green. Of course, there also was no convincing Hogan to job to Vader, much less a youngster like Wight. However, if he didn’t beat Hogan, the media began to speculate that no one could be built up enough to beat him clean.
Meanwhile, around the world, former WCW wrestlers made news. Jerry Lynn left WCW, then appeared on ECW’s Anarchy Rules in the main event against Marc Mero, imagine that. Memphis Wrestling had their first event in September with Tom Zenk making an appearance there. And at the competition, the Macho Man defended his title at a sold out house show. Jerry Sags was in a USWA main event against visiting Jerry Lawler. Savage and Hogan ended their friendship that month in an argument about some criticisms Savage made on TV. Savage said Hogan was not making new stars or rather, or putting anyone over whatsoever. He said he would never join WCW with such a thing going on.
Stu and Bruce Hart still had confidence in Ric Flair, both to save the PPV with his match against Sting and to help The Booking Team. The Booking Team actually had a meeting the day before Halloween Havoc to discuss what has been happening backstage. The subject of being late to tapings came up, of course when Bischoff brought it up. Booker Dusty Rhodes, announcer Jesse Ventura were late to shows and Ricky Steamboat was late to another TV taping just three days after his suspension was over. Obviously, this was not acceptable, but this time they all revealed why they were continuing to be late and have a bad attitude. Dusty and Jesse were unhappy with the human glass ceiling, Hulk Hogan monopolizing the top spot and Ricky Steamboat did not like the backstage atmosphere. Dusty then revealed that Dan Spivey and Shane Douglas were both leaving the company for the WWF, citing unhappiness and a general dislike of a rather short booker they had nicknamed Bitchoff. The roster was overcrowded anyway, so Bischoff let them go. He restrained his displeasure with the nickname.
Halloween Havoc was rather ho hum for WCW, with the crowd only going nuts when Sting beat Ric Flair. The main event was a bit surprising as the no-selling was running wild, but The Giant fought Hulk Hogan to a draw. So the glass ceiling remained intact, at the displeasure of the media and critics covering the event. Unfortunately, the other matches were not very noteable.
In November, things were looking up again at the WWF. With their emotionally charged house shows and media attention thanks to several mistakes in the WCW, many people turned to the WWF to see what was the deal with them. They signed Mick Foley, his friend Max Payne, Jerry Sags, Dick Slater, The Barbarian and the Warlord. At one glimmer of hope, the WWF went overboard and went on a signing spree. Then in December, some off-beat stars made news. Z-Man Tom Zenk joined the WWF and got in a verbal argument with Vince McMahon. Also, Billy Jack Haynes was jailed for one year for assaulting a police officer.
Meanwhile, the November PPV featured the rematch between the Giant and Hulk Hogan in a No DQ match to determine a winner and this time Hogan came out on top. However, Vader positioned himself behind the Giant and you could see they were building Vader again, after Bischoff’s short obsession with the WWF stars was over.
WCW Clash of the Champions - November 1994
Dark Match: Dustin Rhodes defeated Psicosis
Steve Austin went to a no contest with Terry Funk
Chris Benoit and Saturn defeated The Kliq
Booker T defeated Lord Steven Regal by DQ
Sting defeated Owen Hart
Money Talks (Beautiful Bobby + Michael Wallstreet) defeated the Road Warriors for the WCW tag-titles
Ric Flair defeated Ricky Steamboat
Hulk Hogan defeated The Giant
Unfortunately, this was another one of WCW's lackluster shows, further solidifying the Glass Ceiling. Other companies, even the floundering WWF had more exciting main events. At the competition, the Macho Man Randy Savage succesfully defended the title against Kevin Sullivan, who was able to book his own match excellently. Hogan would later go on to credit Randy Savage for the good match, recalling Savage's excellent attention to detail in his own matches with him. Such comments began to become a regular occurrance and wrestlers like Ricky Steamboat began to question why some of the stronger "athletes" weren't on the card. For example, there was no explanation given for the absence of Bret Hart.
WCW just didn't take 1994's November show seriously, in comparison to Starrcade 1994. Starrcade usually had more build-up, while November's show did not. Starrcade usually had better matches and build-up, while November's show did not. Bret Hart began to become frustrated with his role, but he did not talk to anyone about, in comparison to someone like Kevin Nash, who would rather go out for drinks than talk over a match or concern himself about mistakes. Nash however, was liked by many of the younger wrestlers in this way. There seemed to be a widening gap in the age cliques that began to develop. For example, the media began to speculate that the reason why Bret Hart and Kevin Nash acted the way they did was because of their age.
Bischoff merely filed this little fact away and ignored it. He had other things to worry about, like the build-up to Starrcade and who to job to Hulk Hogan. He also wanted to job out most of the young wrestlers, but did in fact, go back on most of this in a meeting with The Booking Team. He then began to realize that some of the wrestlers were very important to WCW, especially Chris Benoit. He had been a solid fan favorite since coming from Japan and Benoit remained so even after he acquired Saturn as a partner. However, he lacked a regular gimmick that might give him that push.
Chris Benoit's intensity was what kept him in the ring while others like Kevin Nash were slowly slipping down it without one. Some critics began to argue that Nash and Waltman were not even close to being ready for being pushed, to begin with. Benoit however, acquired a gimmick that gave him that push. Benoit's intensity and cold aggression in the ring got him the nickname The Ice Man. Fans then wanted to see the Ice Man kick Lord Steven Regal's arrogant ass.
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At the debut of Paul Wight, Bischoff took Hogan’s insistance that he was the next Andre and named him the Giant. He was hot off the indy scene and his college days, playing college basketball at Wichita State University. When he debuted, he elicited little reaction from the crowd, until he started demolishing team after team with partner money-bags Shane Douglas, who bribed the Giant in the same way he had Davey Boy months earlier. So he was undefeated leading into Fall Brawl of 1994. However, whereas Davey Boy had his own personality, his own singles style and the arrogant Owen Hart to follow around, the Giant had just an evil sneer, at best. Things were made worse by the fact that the Giant did not so much wrestle as punch and bodyslam his opponents over and over.
During September, a judge finally ruled on a lawsuit NJPW filed against WCW for breaking their working agreement earlier last year. NJPW argued that Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit and the Great Muta were their property and should rightfully return to Japan since WCW chose to illegally break their agreement. The judge was not convinced and ruled that the wrestlers had rights with both companies but since the original agreement was a verbal one, any contracts with NJPW were not enforced. All of them got a new choice, so Great Muta decided to go back to Japan and the rest decided to stay with WCW to honor their new contracts.
Brian Knobbs also tried to quit WCW in September, having lost direction since Jerry Sags had walked out a while back during a contract dispute. This time however, Hulk Hogan was there to talk his friend out of quitting. Meanwhile, Hulk Hogan was experiencing a drop in popularity, which could be evidenced by the PPVs starting in June. The rumor was that WCW's traditionally southern audience did not take to Hogan because they did not like him holding any part of a NWA championship, no matter how small it may be This was one of many reasons, but one that was quoted by Ric Flair in an interview he did in September of 1994 for the BBC. Hogan's celebrity plus Ted Turner's money brought in a new draw to consistently face him so they were able to avoid the crash that WWF had been experiencing in 1994. Unfortunately, the talent that WCW stole was already established, so except for Chris Benoit and Booker T, the WCW had not made any talent. The WWF had made all the canadian wrestlers which WCW now featured.
After Fall Brawl, Scott Sassa came down from on high and recruited Stu Hart and Bruce Hart from Calgary to advise WCW about creative approaches to try to stop the dropping WCW buy-rates. They were added to the booking team, to also focus the creative energies of Eric Bischoff and the others. WCW did this because Fall Brawl was a shadow of the success of PPVs earlier in the year. Bischoff was trying to shake things up with the Mexican wrestlers and an influx of WWF superstars, but did not seem to want to push them over his native talent. Ric Flair was one Bischoff did not get along with, because he thought of him as aged and traditional, opposed to his new moves. Bischoff booked him into small tag matches after Flair refused to cut his hair.
The first thing Stu and Bruce Hart did was to change this and push Sting and Ric Flair again, immediately building them for another match at a new PPV WCW called Halloween Havoc. They advocated a bit more tradition and actual "wrestling" rather than the brawls and backstage vignettes that Bischoff was known for. This pleased Dusty Rhodes but really infuriated Eric Bischoff.
In September, the WWF FINALLY put the title on the Macho Man Randy Savage, as he beat Bob Backlund in their rematch. That was one good match at In Your House that month, the other being the completion of a face turn for Razor Ramon, who beat Jerry Lawler, after Lawler had been taunting him with the mic all month. SHAWN MICHEALS returned for the October event, then immediately captured the intercontinental title back from Tatanka. The WWF crowd went hype crazy about the appearance and outsold WCW by about a thousand people as a result. Things were finally looking up for the WWF.
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[Note that this is a story-diary, meaning there will be no fully written out cards, no word for word promos, however, never fear, as the story of the business is what twists and turns just as much as an actual show. All results and rumors are true or from TEW2005, with only slight modifications for clarity. For example, when TEW tells me a worker does not want to negotiate, I often will come up with an explanation for it.]
Wrestling was in turmoil in 1993. Very few wrestling companies could operate fulltime and do so profitably in this kayabed, gimmicky era. At the bottom was several floundering organizations, the most financially critical of which was SMW and GWF. Smokey Mountain Wrestling (SMW) was based in Tennessee and was run by Jim Cornette, operating a traditional presentation that was in stark contrast to giants like WCW and WWF who had more edgy angles and anti-heroes. The Global Wrestling Federation (GWF) was based in Texas and unlike SMW, presented more entertainment, such as an angle by Manny Fernandez thinking he was Elvis following a concussion. With a strong following, but no TV, Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) tried to slowly grow even with a slightly alternative presentation. But none of these companies were making any headway. Meanwhile, USWA, ECWA, the new Memphis Wrestling and even the Japanese promotions were dwarfed in size by giants like WCW and the WWF.
1993 began with Ted Turner’s WCW and Vince McMahon’s WWF at war. By August, Eric Bischoff, Jim Ross, Dusty Rhodes and returning Ric Flair had all positioned themselves into the booking team and each had contrasting plans to try to improve the company’s dwindling popularity. Ted Turner sent his executive Scott Sassa down to prevent these people from making a mess of his first wrestling program on the network. In the process, quite a bit happened of historical note. First, the on-air commissioner became Nick Bockwinkel when he visited WCW in August and was inducted in their Hall of Fame the next month. However, Harley Race quickly filled that position when a wrestler named Big Van Vader slammed Bockwinkel though the announce table, thereby writing him out of the storylines and allowing him to work backstage instead of in front of the camera. Meanwhile, each of the booking team argued for their own agendas in meetings and by the time August rolled around, Jim Ross realized that he would never go higher in the company, so he left. He had no pity for the next man who might spend all their time in conflict with Bischoff and Flair, as he had, so sought new opportunities in the WWF. For less money.
The competition with the popular WWF was tight, so the booking team had their work cut out for them. Sassa put Bischoff in charge of storylines, Flair in charge of the locker room, and Dusty Rhodes in charge of choreographing matches. Bischoff and Sassa got along backstage and soon talked over some of the changes in the WCW that would come to be known as the Bischoff Changes. These began with more PPVs and a new talent search. The way Dusty was booking WCW Saturday Night changed as well, as Bischoff commented that the show was horribly long-winded and top heavy with a Vader match each and every week. The rest of the show was filled with meaningless lower card matches. This was not the type of show Bischoff wanted to present, so convinced Sassa not to renew it. Needless to say, Dusty was a little upset so cut back on his booking schedule. Bischoff strengthened WCW WorldWide however, with cleaner TV tapings.
Meanwhile, Bischoff alone acquired new talent, all while part of a ‘team‘. He usurped Owen Hart from the WWF and signed a few others from local territories. Several went out of business because of this interference. But some were glad to just get a job. For example, Jim Cornette signed with WCW when Smokey Mountain Wrestling went out of business. He began managing again. Smaller talent like Barry Darsow, Thunder, Lightning and Bill Dundee were released from WCW when newer talent took their spots. As if in retaliation, the WWF stole Fred Ottman aka Typhoon and young Erik Watts. Then Marc Mero and Tom Zenk simply would not renew and left for USWA and better opportunities than jobbing to Vader.
The “team” then confronted Eric Bischoff for his firing and signings, but he used Scott Sassa to fall back on and got out of the confrontation a bit easier than most thought possible. Together, the team ‘decided’ that they needed to sign new talent and Bischoff smugly realized that this what he had been doing all along. A week later, they signed or rather resigned the Rock n' Roll express plus Dan Spivey to build their tag division. Spivey was friends with Sid Vicious and seemed pleased to rejoin WCW in that role. The company then signed unique talent like Steve Williams, Shane Douglas and others, but the real celebration occurred when they signed Hulk Hogan.
In June of 1993, Hulk Hogan had departed the WWF when he said he was “done” with wrestling and he was in Florida without a contract when WCW approached him to be the company hero. He and Jimmy Hart came on board immediately for WCW tapings that were beginning to take place at Disney MGM studios. Hogan captured the WCW World Title in his first month in the company, defeating Vader for the belt.
Kevin Sullivan then joined the booking team, as he had been a friend of Scott Sassa’s as well. He helped Dusty and Flair book the shows, until his short lived job was cut short when the WWF hired him and made him head booker, right under WCW’s nose. Bischoff was eventually put into Sullivan’s role, heaping the work onto himself.
Scott Sassa came down from his offices again and asked the team what they could do to compete with the WWF. Dusty said that they needed more “wrestling,” Flair added that they need more interesting storylines and Bischoff stood up to boldly add that they needed two hours of riveting TV time like Monday Night RAW. Interestingly enough, each of these three ideas was put into motion. WCW Nitro was the show Sassa debuted to compete directly against RAW, in the same timeslot and on the same day. Bischoff was later able to conduct business without much need for the “team,“ but did keep most of them busy booking this new show, WCW Nitro. This began the Monday Night Wars, intensifying the already strong conflict between WCW and WWF.
After Dusty was asked how to promote “wrestling,” he hired people to do just that and dismissed talent that couldn’t. For example, Chris Benoit, the Great Muta and Dean Malenko joined WCW in 1993 from Japan and Taka Michinoku and Psicosis joined WCW from Mexico. New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) declared war on WCW and sued them in an attempt to get their talented workers back. Unfortunately for NJPW, WCW tied them up in court. Benoit did not make an impact until a few months after his debut when he won the vacant US Title in an exciting 8-man tournament, but lost it shortly after. Malenko made an impact when he began teaming with Arn Anderson and heading into 1994, they seemed like the dominate team, until opposed by recent champs, Ric Flair and Sting. This partnership began when the two longtime enemies seemed to make peace earlier that month when Flair came out to shake Sting’s hand, cut a friendly promo on him and offer a tag-partnership. This was a ready-made storyline that even Flair could book.
Flair booked the subtle feud excellently, as it seemed the two “friends” were destined to become enemies. However, the team won the tag titles and people actually then began to speculate that they were really going to be friends for the long-term. However, at the Clash of the Champions, Sting and Ric lost the tag titles to Arn and Dean, after Ric double-crossed Sting and refused to tag in. Sting was pinned and the Four Horsemen reformed afterward as Ric, Arn, Dean and Ole, with JJ Dillon. They celebrated over the fallen Sting. Ole had recently began working only part-time schedule as Dean's manager and mentor. The blow off the feud was supposed to come a month after the betrayal, but the Horsemen again interfered and cost Sting the match. These new Horsemen rode a wave of popularity, especially with the traditional southern WCW audience.
Bischoff focused on storylines that featured the more popular characters in WCW, because he believed in established veterans. Perhaps the most important person in the development of WCW was Hulk Hogan and it was only natural that he be involved in a storyline. His only losses in the company since his signing in August of 1993 were against Vader, a big man who seemed to have it out for Hogan, especially after he took the title. The big man recruited Doom and new signing Davey Boy Smith to face off against Hogan, but in a few months, all of them were defeated. Sid Vicious had already turned on the Horsemen, causing their downfall in 1992, then joined Vader’s new attack squad. Sid was then featured as the major title contender by himself, but was soon defeated by Hogan too. All of the 1993 PPVs for WCW ran with Hulk Hogan in the main event.
Of the rest of the card, there were some interesting people yearning to get a shot. One was Steve Austin. Originally called Stunning Steve Austin, he teamed with Brian Pillman for most of the year, until he won the US Title at Slamboree. This was a surprise, but a good opportunity that Austin did not waste. He wrestled talent like Harlem Heat, Chris Benoit and others, which benefited him as much as his opponents. However, despite good matches, he couldn’t seem to break the glass ceiling. Unfortunately, Austin had just renewed his contract long-term, much like Barry Windham and Diamond Dallas Page.
Windham was 34 when he entered into a short feud with Ric Flair and then Rick Rude, having good matches with each man that were better than he had in years. Diamond Dallas Page was a heel unlike Windham and also, had a valet. DDP’s valet, Diamond Doll and later just “Kimberly” was actually becoming more popular than the wrestler. Bischoff then saw these two rising stars and put them in a storyline together. After telling DDP that he was not treating Kimberly right, Barry Windham was immediately challenged to a match at Slamboree, with the loser having the unenviable task to face Sid the next night on Nitro. Undaunted by such a threat, Windham still crashed the wedding with new partner, Dustin Rhodes, then trashed DDP.
Not to argue WCW did everything right in 1993, because they certainly didn’t. In fact, the acquisition of Hulk Hogan only stabilized them and prevented a larger drop than what occurred as the wrestling business declined. As if an over-the-top storyline like a wedding wasn’t enough, Bischoff created some rather gimmicky characters at the expense of Dusty’s “wrestlers” because this was the style in 1993. He dressed Mick Foley up as Cactus Jack, but didn’t allow him to bleed in any of his hardcore matches. Another wrestler named Terry Gordy was signed by Bischoff from Japan by telling him he wanted to spotlight him in a PPV match. Bischoff gave him a hood and a sickle, calling him The Hangman. The Hangman teamed with Dr. Death Steve Williams as he had once before in WCW, but Bischoff took Steve’s nickname quite literally, instead of realizing it meant he was a brutal hardcore wrestler. The Executioners however, did not wrestle hardcore. When a person’s gimmick failed, Bischoff did not hesitate showing them the door, such as in the case of Ray Traylor, aka The Boss.
Bischoff hired several members of ECW, but ultimately they didn’t work out. The Tazmaniac truly fit in with Bischoff’s gimmicky roster, especially when he would act like a savage, huffing and puffing. However, the Tazmaniac never did get over, so his screen time was given to Shane Douglas instead . This seemed to satisfy Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair who liked Douglas as a in-ring worker. Jerry Lynn was also tried on WCW WorldWide, eventually forming a partnership with Perry Saturn, who was playing a mean mailman.
Bischoff watched the average performances on the Nitro show and most of 1993’s PPVs then tried to brainstorm what they needed to really put the nail in the WWF’s coffin. They recruited the Undertaker and overpaid to get him, renaming him Mean Mark when the WWF threatened to sue when they saw this pale-faced character on TV. He also had a no-compete clause, so Mean Mark waited it out while others were spotlighted a bit more. Bischoff also had WCW members play dirty, ripping into the WWF on air.
The next month was the beginning of 1994 but it also held plenty of other surprises, such as Shawn Michaels overdosing. He was the reigning WWF Intercontinental champion at the time and was gone from the company for some time when he was ordered by a judge to attend rehab for this overdose. Jimmy Snuka also surprisingly passed away, shocking the wrestling community. He had worked for the WWF and then ECW in 1993, but hadn’t wrestled recently. Rumors are he died of a heart attack at home. Mil Mascaras, the Japanese star, also retired from wrestling that month, citing mounting injuries. The WWF seemed to be competing with WCW in how many mistakes each company could make. First, the WWF had Tanaka win their vacant intercontinental title and then they put the World Title on 43 year old Bob Backlund, jobbing out Bret Hart and others. Needless to say, PPV buyrates dropped off even more. Only by headlining a Hogan match in every single PPV did WCW barely avoid dropping below the WWF. A further drop by both companies was inevitable.
The magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated came out in January, spotlighting the top wrestlers, shows and promotions in the business. Surprisingly, Hulk Hogan was not chosen as number one wrestler, instead it was Ric Flair. Perhaps because of his intense feud with Sting and solid contributions in the ring, Flair was featured on the cover of the magazine. Number two was Hulk Hogan of course, followed by Toshiaki Kawada from Japan, Keiji Mutoh, Sid Vicious and an assortment of other wrestlers. A WWF wrestler did not make it on the list until Bret Hart was featured at 28 followed by Yokozuna at 30.
WCW officially broke from the NWA in March when WCW planned to tape a change of the NWA title to Rick Rude at the Disney MGM studios and the NWA complained about it. The change was leaked by someone within WCW, but no one came forward. The NWA objected to this breach of kayfabe and WCW's refusal to allow the NWA World champion to defend the title in other NWA member promotions. Since WCW owned the physical NWA championship belt, Flair continued to hold and wear it, however it was renamed the WCW international title. Ric Flair proclaimed himself the "real" wrestling champion and decided to put "The Real" title up for grabs in the main event of Slamboree to unify both championships versus Hulk Hogan.
After concluding a short storyline with Cactus Jack and the tag titles in April 1994, Terry Funk began a 'sick of losing' storyline in which he would experience depression after each loss and try even harder the next time. His friend became WCW veteran Ricky Steamboat who tried to protect Funk against Vader, although Funk was squashed twice in a row on successive PPVs, despite his friend's advice. Steamboat then confronted Funk and played the parent, unwilling to let him endure more, saying that Terry had to stop taking excessive risks. This tough love went on until Terry saw Ricky getting beat up on Nitro and this time, he was the one to made the save. Cactus and Ricky were shocked and tried to stop Terry as he challenged the attacker, but unfortunately, it was Vader. A match was made for Slamboree. Vader agreed immediately but then found out it was a No DQ Street Fight! It was a good storyline for WCW.
Ric Flair had never been in a singles match with Hogan since he returned to WCW. Everyone was anxious for their match at 1994 Slamboree, especially since Ric had turned on Sting, reformed the Horsemen and seemed the fan favorite going in. Race had announced that the winner would merge the two titles held by either man, the WCW international title and the WCW World Title. No one was allowed to interfere and to make sure, Race appointed the Road Warriors, newly face Doom and several others to be lumberjacks. Doom turned on Vader since the last time he tried to manipulate them. Ole had to be handcuffed to Davey Boy to prevent him from leading interference and this harked back to the Bash of 1990 when a similar thing occurred. Later that night, Sting and Ric built their endless feud for another time. WCW wanted to really shine at May’s Slamboree. When Bret Hart walked through the curtain, they did just that.
Bret Hart was upset at WWF after their Canadian trip, a trip which seriously hurt the company. At the time, the WWF was trying to build their Canadian audience, pushing all their Canadian stars during the trip. Ironically, the WWF only visited Canada upon Hart’s urging. However, Hart jobbed to Bob Backlund on RAW in Windsor and on PPV too, losing some credibility with the fans and giving it to Backlund. He then sat down with Vince and questioned him about his future, although his complaints were not about jobbing, as he had jobbed in Canada plenty of times. Hart‘s complaints were against bookers Kevin Sullivan and Ted Dibiase, who Hart thought work working against him. Backlund seemed to play the heel champion role perfectly and had the favor of Kevin Sullivan and Ted Dibiase on the booking team, but Hart never did. With Hart outnumbered and unhappy with the storylines, he decided not to renew his contract and joined his brother in WCW. Owen Hart had gone under the radar for months, that is until WCW turned him heel as the crowd wouldn’t stop boo’ing him. They paired him with two other wrestlers, Davey Boy Smith, who was getting a similar reaction from the crowd, and Brian Pillman, who was drifting without Steve Austin.
These Canadians were easily the highest rising team of 1994, getting a reaction wherever they went. Bret Hart was added last minute at Slamboree, not as a member of the Canadians, but to make sure these men would not get out of line. Bischoff was smart in building the Bret versus Owen for another time. Mean Mark played a similar role in a tag match later on. The swelling roster would be more of a problem later in the year. A month later, when the WWF returned home to the USA after the long and expensive Canadian trip, they fell some more in popularity so WCW did not have to try very hard at 1994 Slamboree.
May 1994 Slamboree
Brian Pillman defeated Taka Michinoku and Psicosis
Shane Douglas and Davey Boy defeated Jerry Lynn and Saturn
Road Warriors defeated Doom and the Canadians (Owen + Pillman) w/Bret Hart
Chris Benoit defeated Booker T
Barry Windham defeated DDP w/ Kimberly
(Street Fight) Terry Funk defeated Vader w/ Ricky and Cactus
Steve Austin defeated Sid Vicious
Cactus vs The Hangman
Sting and Ricky Steamboat drew with the Horsemen (Arn + Dean) w/Mean Mark
Hulk Hogan defeated. Ric Flair to unify the titles
Slamboree was a successful PPV, but not as successful as it could have been. The Mexican talents Taka Michinoku and Psicosis debuted at a PPV in a three way against Brian Pillman, all gimmicked out in their cultural garb. Their hiring was done to improve the speed of matches and to strengthen the opener for the show or shows in the future. Shane Douglas FINALLY did something in WCW after signing a few months earlier and bribed the Canadian member Davey Boy, helping him beat up several no-name tag teams in a row on Nitro, plus one at Slamboree. This established Douglas as a coniving weasel type character. Although good looking on paper, both were matches with no reaction, even with Davey Boy involved. As mentioned earlier, the three way tag team match seemed to inspire a better reaction, but not as good as Chris Benoit versus Booker T. Benoit won a series of seven with this concluding match. The Horsemen successfully defended their titles against Sting and Ricky Steamboat, however not in a very convincing fashion, a draw since Mean Mark beat up all the Horsemen when Flair was interfering. Austin overcame Sid as the crowd seemed to be behind him the most and another surprise came when Terry Funk overcame Vader to make a heartfelt victory. The next night on Nitro he would give a great speech. Hogan unified the WCW International title and WCW World by beating Ric in a classic.
After Ricky Steamboat captured the Television title from Rick Rude, he began showing up late for TV tapings. He reduced his schedule and seemed unhappy, but Bischoff had no sympathy for this behavior, so fined him. A Horsemen match against Sting and Bret Hart ended in a draw this time and continued the storyline. The WWF released some people as a cost cutting measure, thanks to their costly Canada excursion. Many people were a casualty. It was another blow for the wrestling business.
When Mean Mark started wrestling, he destroyed the competition, then surprisingly turned heel. He was able to act more menacing and vicious this way. Booker T finally defeated him at Uncensored in June. Meanwhile, the Canadians were so popular at that show that Davey later earned a shot at Hulk, while Owen was at ringside. Hogan pinned him, but not before interference from the two other Canadians. Bret Hart came down and further prevented Owen from interfering and brawled with him to the back. The next night on Nitro, Bret was surprisingly absent. Owen called him out, made fun of him and heckled him until he responded. Unfortunately for them, he was with his friend Sting. Bret wanted to go his separate ways but Owen immediately challenged him at July's War Games, which WCW decided to bring back to compete with the WWF's advancing use of cage matches. Sting tried to suggest it for another time, but Bret left Sting's War Games team and decided to face Owen instead.
Sting was apparently the captain for the war games team and needed a new member now that Bret had left unexpectedly. The war games was a 5 v 5 cage match, changed by the modernizing WCW to a steel cell with only one door. Sting had Hogan and traditional participants, the Road Warriors, but it took him a couple of Nitros to find a fifth member. It came down to Ricky Steamboat or Cactus Jack, who was in a contact dispute. Steamboat was ultimately picked when no contract could be reached with Cactus. Cactus was not even put on the show, even though he was offered a dark match, but this was an insult to the loyal company man. Terry Funk threatened to walk out with him, until WCW put Funk in a match. They included him in this match to boost his confidence and try to convince Cactus Jack to stay with his friend. Cactus Jack left anyway. Meanwhile, Vader recruited Mean Mark plus Arn, Dean and Ric Flair of the Horsemen. Ole excluded himself from the match because Race had appointed him the special official for the match, trying to manipulate all the cards.
The WWF continued to lose audience and thanks to the absence of Shawn Michaels, was short a man. Shawn was unable to move forward with a push in his feud and everything came to a dead halt. The tournament for the vacant intercontinental title flopped big time and was won by Tatanka of all people, who seemed to have a budding feud with Fatu and the other headshrikers led by Afa. Kevin Sullivan moved from his booking position to competing, taking what seemed to be a random partner each week until he actually won the tag titles with Jacques. Raymond and Jacques had a dispute with the WWF and Raymond was released because of it, but Sullivan smoothed over the rest of the dispute and chose Jacques, who the WWF began to call The Frenchman, as his partner to further reward him for staying.
The WWF debuted a new 2 hour TV show called WWF Action that seemed to increase their costs more than their audience and it topped out at only 2000 people per show. When Action visited Quebec in July, the WWF lost its legs. Almost every match on the card was horrible, including a match that The Red Rooster (Terry Taylor) won against a debuting Jeff Jarrett. The main event of this worst card ever was the excellent looking Steiners taking on the Smoking Gunns. Needless to say, this squash match did nothing for the WWF and they fell again.
The WWF needed another series of cost-cutting measures, releasing about 20 people outright this time, including Jim Ross who was working under a verbal contract after only recently departing WCW in1993. Since he hated Eric Bischoff, when Ross was offered a contract, he flatly rejected WCW and went to work for WWC, the World Wrestling Council. The WWF released some of their weaker character gimmick wrestlers, such as Giant Gonzales, Johnny Polo, Doink, and Adam Bomb. Others like Diesel and the 1-2-3 Kid asked for their release, having wanted to go to WCW. Gerald Brisco and Gorilla Monsoon walked out after hearing of these bad contract disputes and left the WWF without some leadership backstage. Some more releases were announced a few days after the company's horrible Quebec trip, which included Mr. Fuji and Bob Orton Jr. By the end of July, the WWF actually had more popularity in Canada than the USA, even though through a twist of irony it was the trip there that caused their downfall in the first place. The first thing the WWF did after the media began to criticize the company’s second canada trip, was re-sign the Big Bossman and Brutus Beefcake. They had all been part of WCW in the past, but had been released months earlier. The WWF just couldn’t stabilize like WCW had.
When WCW signed them, the WWF had rendered Nash and Waltman almost unusable. It had gotten to the point where even Doink had defeated Nash at the King of the Ring. Nash had lost 21 straight times and Waltman appeared only 5 times on WWF TV before being bought out of his expensive contract. They appeared the next night on Nitro and were given ten whole minutes to say whatever they wanted, ripping into some former friends until the Road Warriors interrupted them. They all built up the main event to the War Games a bit more by having Nash and Waltman demolish the Road Warriors in a brawl following the interview. Due to a no-compete clause, Nash and Waltman could not wrestle at the show, but once again, WCW involved them somehow.
War Games - July 1994
The Rock n' Roll express defeated The Executioners (The Hangman Terry Gordy and Dr. Death)
Booker T defeated Davey Boy Smith
The Twin Towers (Dangerous Dan + Sid Vicious) defeated Doom
Owen Hart defeated Bret Hart by DQ
Barry Windham defeated DDP
Steve Austin went to a no contest with Chris Benoit
Terry Funk defeated Rick Rude
The War Games:
Vader, Mean Mark and the Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko and Ric Flair)
defeated
Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, Sting and the Road Warriors
The WCW war games seemed to be nicely done, but perhaps did not have quite the blockbuster main event of the last two PPVs. Although solid, Vader steamrolled the bookers and booked himself to win the match, as the last survivor of his team, as all others were eliminated by Hogan. This seemed to indicate a Hogan v Vader rematch AGAIN, although it had not been intended. Two more workers were stolen from the sinking WWF the following week, tag champ Jacques and the Headshrinker Samu. Jacques was made a annoying Mountie and Samu became Samu the Savage, both cultural stereotypes. Owen Hart was also put over that month, because there was a rumor that Bret was still WWF loyal. Meanwhile, the WWF had the lowest buyrates ever when Jim Duggan tried in vain to defeat Bob Backlund. WCW also wasn’t doing well in buys but well-exceeded the WWF.
Both Dusty Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat were the most upset about Vader booking himself, although did nothing and seemed placated by a talk Bischoff gave to them. Terry Funk even seemed a little happier to win his match on the card and got over the situation with Cactus Jack. However, on the down side, the old main eventers were beginning to clog up the cards in WCW and this somewhat upset Steve Austin and Chris Benoit, WCW's future. WCW decided to have a tournmament for the youngsters that would conclude at the Bash, which was once WCW's biggest event.
To make matters worse for the WWF, WWF RAW was cancelled in August 1994, a year from when Nitro started, when their huge numbers turned into huge losses competing directly against the new WCW Nitro show. A week later, WWF Action lost its slot and was cancelled too. The WWF was left without a mainstream TV show. Really, this would be one of the deciding years for the war, making August of 1994 into a terrible month for the WWF. Without a show, the talent did house shows every day and then sat back to watch for the buyrates. Fortunately, it was Summerslam month but things were not as safe as first anticipated. WCW swooped in and stole Yokozuna and IRS, plus a few other staff members from the unhappy company. WCW was growing its roster at a rate that Bischoff thought he could control, but at any one time 15 people claimed that they were in the main event, or wanted to be. In comparison, the WWF had five, not counting Shawn Michaels who was still in recovering from his overdose.
At the Great American Bash, Sting had recovered enough to stop avoiding singles competition and went one on one with Ric Flair. Meanwhile, Hulk squashed Yokozuna in another sacrifice to the glass ceiling. The WWF buyrates came in and they beat their lowest point of the year by only ten thousand buys, not a pleasant sign. Consequently, Kevin Sullivan was removed from the booking team for questionable moves, such as bringing several retired wrestlers back and giving the title to Bob Backlund and booking himself to win matches. He was replaced by Al Tomko, former owner and booker of All-Star Wrestling until 1989. Summerslam was boosted by the fact that it was Summerslam and it also had a good main event, as Macho Man took on a heel Bob Backlund, promptly losing to the elder man. Afterward, Tomko believed he could build up Backlund better than Sullivan did, but had no TV show to do it. The WWF put on only house shows, which they would sell tapes of to local stations, a situation that was not profitable and sometimes would see air, sometimes not. Tomko then did something surprising. He planned ahead to make the next WWF PPV successful.
WCW also tried to inspire success, but fell short. WCW made it quite clear to their talent that they did not want backstage problems and Eric Bischoff tried to manage the large roster to accommodate this. He suspended Ricky Steamboat after he was late again for the twelfth time in several months. He then fined Jesse Ventura for missing a TV taping and a few house shows. Some rumors circulated that these bad attitudes were developing because of conflicts wrestlers had with Hogan. This was never proven. Then something positive happened. Hulk Hogan told Bischoff that he had found the next Andre the Giant, Paul Wight.
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I dont agree that Detroit fans are "notoriously" rowdy. Taking a look at Raiders fans or Knicks fans, Detroit fans arent nearly as obsessed and over the top rude. The Palace in Auburn Hills is a good venue. Even last year when the Pistons won the title, there was no violence whatsoever, nor any other year since 1984.
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I'm sorry but I watched the footage and it wasnt just Artest throwing punches in the stands.
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Defending himself? Jermaine O'Neal got a running start and cold cocked a guy from his blind side. That is not self defense
Ben Wallace deserves maybe two games at the most. One for the two-handed shove and maybe one for the towell. And it was not a punch, it was a two handed shove. Even Carlisle said so.
First of all, the guy deserved to be KO'ed by O'Neal for being dumb enough to go onto the court.
Second of all, I think Wallace deserves 10 games for over reacting to the foul and starting the fight, and then getting the entire building riled up over nothing which then lead to the idiot fans throwing shit.
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Ben Wallace didnt throw a punch at anybody and didnt instigate anything. Wallace shoved Artest for a legit flagrant foul when the game was basically over. They're just suspending Wallace so the Pacers dont seem like they're taking all the blame. Which they should.
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Why does Ben Wallace get suspended?
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Players shouldnt go into the stands, period. Artest should be suspended for the season. Everyone else should get a free pass for defending themselves on the floor.
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How about something new instead?
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On the TV special, Lance said that this was a prequel to the Alien and Predator movies. Thus, the first appearance of Bishop, the inspirator for the robots that were seen later.
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Chapter Eight: The Origin of Doug Dillinger
There were definately other, numerous...plentiful...horribly bad things catalogued in that bright yellow book. It's a wonder the author fit them all in in a reasonable amount of pages. But after visiting Louie Spicolli and seeing him perfectly well, Bischoff's conscience was pushed aside for the moment in favor of a bit of mystery hunting. There was nothing like a good mystery and Bischoff wasnt going to let this one pass unanswered.
It was early morning when Eric Bischoff went straight to the heart of the mystery and he could only think of one man, one Mouth big enough to give him answers. That man's name was Doug Dillinger, the WCW head of security, former bartender, former heavy metal drummer, former everything, in fact. There was no one as diverse as Doug and he was worth every penny. The thought of a slip-up in security was nearly unfathomable, but as Bischoff had already concluded, since the book was left for him backstage, there WAS a slip-up and it WAS fathomable.
Doug was a stout man, but still retained that grizzled biker appearance that made you want to go up to him and either inquire about borrowing a "hog" or stare at his goatee. He was also a talker, a social man, despite his imposing eyes and tough physical condition---a fault perhaps to Bischoff, but a fact nonetheless. Dillinger was also a former wrestler himself, for only a brief period in the indies, where he was known as his real name, Doug Young. It was only through attending to his new job that his mind was not only able to wrap itself around a new persona, but a new name to go along with it. After all, Dillinger sounded bad ass.
Bischoff was not looking forward to confronting the man, but there was no way around it. Doug was already prepped the CLASH backstage staff when Bischoff arrived. It was Doug's job to not only keep an eye on the backstage area, but to coordinate with building security to keep fans safe on the floor too.
"Doug, I have to talk to you," Bischoff said, walking up to the man.
"What about?" Dillinger questioned. His eyes turned to look at his boss and Bischoff wasnt quite sure if it was contempt he was reading or a tired expectancy for the day to come.
"Doug, there was something left for me backstage before SuperBrawl. It was a book. A yellow one. And I'd like to know how it got backstage. I think this is something we should talk about---"
"Alright, let's talk about it. Somebody left you something backstage. A book."
"Right. Backstage," Bischoff answered, "They knew right where I was going to be and where to put it where I'd see it."
"Maybe it was one of your staff."
"I asked the staff."
"One of the wrestlers then," Doug answered.
"Could be, but I dont think so. You got a list of check-ins?" Bischoff questioned.
"Come on."
Doug didnt look too happy that Bischoff was questioning his records, but like any man of experience, it wasnt like he was surprised. Or unprepared for that manner. Out back, security had a long trailer all to their own, where there was equipment, storage, badges, equipment, you name it, it was there. Doug kept the "check-ins" listed on sign in sheets. Check ins were people who were given backstage passes. There were several dozen people per show that were awarded these passes, even more for a pay per view. From family and friends, to other people like the press or even Nash's female groupies he toted along from time to time.
Bischoff snatched the sheet of check-ins for the day in question and gazed at it. Rubbing his forehead, he read the dozen or so names with a grumble, recognizing none of them.
"They all check out," Doug said reassuredly.
"God dammit...how am I supposed to know who these people are? Wait..." Bischoff began and then pointed to a name on the sheet, "Why did Nick Patrick sign in? He's on staff."
"Said he lost his badge. I issued him a new one. That's about it."
"What? Are you sure? How'd he lose it?" Bischoff asked quickly.
"Ahh---let's see...he said he lost it, I guess. Was a while ago."
Bischoff handed back the sheet and stormed out of the trailer, quickly motioning to Dillinger.
"Let's go!"
"What? Where?" Doug asked.
"I want to ask Nick a few questions. You make sure nobody bothers us."
"Yes sir...alright..."
With intimidating speed, Doug was able to round up Nick Patrick quietly and deposit him into a room where Bischoff could talk to him privately. Patrick looked a little shaken already, even though no questions had been asked. His face was pale and to Bischoff, it looked like the man's health was on a decline. He had gained weight and his face showed wear of years that Bischoff hadnt noticed before.
"Nick...you look different," Bischoff said, standing there staring at him.
"Really?" Patrick answered. It was all he could say, sweating there in the metal folding chair.
Bischoff paced around and then suddenly put his hands down on Nick's shoulder, "Who are you? You're not Nick Patrick!"
Scrambling from Bischoff's stern grasp, Nick jumped from the chair and glared at him, "What? Are you crazy? Yes, I am."
"Nick, how'd it gonna look on your record when you get busted for stealing?"
"Stealing?? What?"
"That's what's going to come out if you dont tell me what you did with your security pass. Your old one, the one you 'conveniently' lost. You gave it to someone didnt you? Sold it maybe? To someone in the WWF?"
"No, I didnt! I lost it!"
"Then explain yourself! You've never lost anything since you've been here. Hell, I hardly hear a peep outta you!" Bischoff shouted.
Nick shrank a little under the pressure and replied, "I didnt want to do this, you know."
"Didnt want to do what?"
"To do all this! I told you guys it wasnt going to work but did you believe me? Ohhhh nooooo, I'm just a referee! I'm just the guy in the background, doin all the dirtywork...look at me I'm----"
"Shaddup!" Bischoff let out, "You're working for Vince McMahon, arent you?"
"Yes! I mean...sorta..." Nick admitted and then sighed.
"What? Sorta? Vince put you up to this?"
"No...YOU did!"
"What? No I didnt. I didnt tell you to write a book and leave it for me, I'm not crazy! I didnt tell you to sneak around backstage where you dont belong!"
"Well...actually, you did..." Patrick answered quietly, "And I didnt write it, I swear!"
"No, I guess you couldnt, right?"
"You wrote it, you planned the whole thing---told me what to do and everything!" Patrick answered.
"I dont remember all that!"
"That's because there's more to it than that---" Patrick began.
Suddenly, Doug burst into the room and with an exasperated tone said, "Mister Bischoff! We've got a problem. Bret Hart is going nuts! He locked himself in one of the dressing rooms and wont come out!"
"What?"
"He found a book or something. He says it's yours!"
"God dammit!"
Eric Bischoff ran off with Doug, toward the backstage area to deal with the problem. Patrick slipped out of the room and quickly made his way up the hall, disappearing outside. He began running.
----
To be continued...
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2WRESTLING.COM RESULTS from WCW MONDAY NITRO
February 23rd, 1998
We are LIVE from the Seattle Civic Center with Tony Schiavone and Larry Zybysko. The Brain gave a few hints at the main event and hyped it up for us.
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Goldberg vs. Fit Finley
With pounding music that made the arena echo, Goldberg was introduced. He emerged suddenly from some smoke on the stage and ran down to the ring to attack Fit Finley. Finley slid out of the ring and put his hands on his hips, staring at Goldberg on the outside. Goldberg motioned him into the ring but strangely, Finley didn’t oblige. Someone jumped the fence and stood next to Finley. It was BRET HART!
Bret climbed on the apron and opened the ropes for Finley. Goldberg frowned darkly, but did nothing. Finley locked up with Goldberg, but was overmatched and got backed into the corner. A few wicked, knife edged chops later, Finley was in tremendous pain. Goldberg picked him up clean over his head, pressed him and tossed him down. Hart jumped up on the apron and tossed a weapon across to Finley! It was brass knucks. The referee saw it and confiscated them, halting the action for a moment. The referee stepped over to give Hart a warning.
Goldberg smirked as Hart’s plan failed miserably. Suddenly, Finley made a double-switch and pulled out his own brass knucks from his tights and blind-sided Goldberg with them. The referee turned around suddenly but Finley had disposed of the evidence, hiding the knucks back in his tights. Finley covered for the 1-2-3! Unbelievable! Hart screwed Goldberg! Steve McMichael ran down quickly but Finley vacated the ring. Bret Hart raised Finley’s arm on the outside and pointed to him. Goldberg was fuming and started destroying the outside, tossing chairs.
Result - Fit Finley by pin
Match Reaction = 71.8%
Match Quality = 73.5%
Overall Rating = 72.0%
Bagwell wedding
The Nitro logo was shown exploding in flames. The show began with an exasperated Tony Schiavone trying to get over the news of a Goldberg loss.
“I’m Buff, I’m Buff and I’m the STUFF!” came loudly over the microphone, but it wasn’t Buff Bagwell that came out of the back. It was MADUSA! She was in a wedding dress. She was grinning madly. After she reached the ring, he abused the ring announcer, pushing him. It didnt stop her from grinning afterward though.
“I want to introduce the greatest man ever to hold US Title! My neeew husband…Buff Bagwell!” Madusa shouted over the mic.
Some driving organ music came on and out came Buff Bagwell, strutting all the while. He faked a high-five to a fan and then laughed at him. He turned around, showed the camera his back and then flexed. He grinned again. He polished the US Title with his sleeve and showed it to the camera.
Overall Rating = 55.9%
Suddenly, the music of DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE erupted in the arena and DDP came running out to confront Bagwell. DDP clobbered him from behind, then the two men exchanged right hands. DDP whipped Bagwell HARD into the guard rail, laying him out. Madusa ran down in her wedding dress of all things and starting hitting DDP with one of her white high heels. DDP just turned around and looked at her strangely. He grabbed her by the hair and signalled for the Diamond Cutter! Bagwell attacked, clubbing DDP. The two wrestlers tumbled down the ramp, trading right hands. DDP blocked one, then another, then delivered a Diamond Cutter on Bagwell!!!
Security ran down quickly to break things up.
Overall Rating = 69.7%
Hugh Morris vs. Eddie Guerrero
Hugh Morris came out last and circled Eddie Guerrero in the ring. Eddie didn’t take him seriously and laughed, pointing at him. Morris grabbed his arm and hip-tossed him! Eddie jumped up and got a hard right hand for his efforts, dropping him again. Eddie slid from the ring and slapped the apron, angry as hell. Morris was fired up and exitted the ring to attack him. Eddie countered, throwing him into the steel steps. He put the boots to Morris.
Eddie rolled him back in and covers for a 1-2. Eddie got up, but had his whip reversed. The pace picked up quickly as Eddie ducked the clothesline and came back off the ropes with a flying forearm of his own. Eddie signalled for the frogsplash and hit it for the 1-2-3.
Result – Eddie Guerrero by pin
Match Reaction = 59.4%
Match Quality = 70.1%
Overall Rating = 62.6%
The RETURN
Suddenly, RANDY SAVAGE ran down carrying a chair and slid in, scaring off Eddie Guerrero. He’s back! Savage swung wildly, trying to hit Eddie, but he ran. Savage grabbed a microphone and said, “Eddie…Eddie Guerrero…you aint gonna get away with what you did cause the Maaaacho Man has YOU alone…in this ring at UNCENSORED baby. And guess what…it’s gonna be the Maaaacho Maaaan and Eddie Guerrero surrounded by a Sssssssssteel Cage and it aint gonna be pretty. Ohhhhhhhh yeeeeeeeeah!”
Eddie Guerrero shook his head and was shocked, backing off quickly. The show went to commercial.
“The Militant” Ray Traylor & Rick Steiner vs. “The Posse” Brian Adams & Konnan
VIVA LA RASA! The dew-rag clan came out to face down two of the cleanest faces in WCW. Steiner went down to all-fours and barked at Brian Adams. Adams charged but Traylor came out of nowhere and clotheslined him down hard. The referee pushed Traylor out, but Steiner had already gained an advantage. Rick pounded the back of Adams until he was on the mat, then gave Adams a stiff kick in the tailbone for good measure. Rick pulled Adams up to his feet and tagged in Traylor. Traylor and Adams traded punches. Adams reversed a whip and threw Traylor into the turnbuckle so hard that the big man collapsed.
Adams picked up Traylor from the mat and tried to suplex him, but Traylor blocked. He tried again. He tried a THIRD time and finally got him up, but it looked partially botched. Adams dropped Traylor in a frontside brainbuster, totally destroying him. Traylor looked like he was out cold. Adams was so tired that he had to take a minute to shake it off before tagging in Konnan. Konnan selfishly covered for a 1-2, then cursed the audience when Traylor kicked out with authority. Konnan locked in a headlock, but Traylor worked out, ever so slowly and jolted Konnan with a stiff elbow. Hot tag to Rick Steiner! Rick downed Konnan with a clothesline, then clobbered Adams with another. Steiner used his spider-sense to anticipate the dastardly Konnan’s sneak attack and hit a huge t-bone suplex, crushing Konnan just like Adams did to Traylor. Steiner covered for the 1-2-3!
Result – Rick Steiner and “The Militant” Ray Traylor by pin
Match Reaction = 70.2%
Match Quality = 69.4%
Overall Rating = 75.0%
Sit down interview w/ Mortis
The man formerly masked as Mortis was sitting across from Gene Okerlund as this pre-recorded interview played. Mortis had blackened eyes and looked like the second coming of Alice Cooper.
“Mortis…last week you were unmasked on live television and apparently the man who did the unmasking, Fit Finley, seems to be moving on to greater things! But what’s next for you?”
“Lemme tell you something, Gene. There’s a little bit of Mortis inside me, but I’m not that guy. I’m not a sadistic bastard that is out to hurt people. I’m defined by a mask and I’m not defined by a manager who speaks for me. I speak for me now. Next week live on Nitro, I’m challenging Fit Finley to a match. A wrestling match. Then we’ll see who’s better.”
“I’m curious if you’re as confident as you sound! Fit Finley’s an up and comer, he’s got friends like Bret Hart. You’re a virtual unknown!”
“Gene, you’re not listening,” Mortis said, getting up out of his chair, “Next week I’ll be showing people confidence in the ring. No more, no less.” Mortis knocked over a few chairs in anger as he exited the interview area.
“Well that’s it! Next week’s match is sure to be an outright brawl! Tony, back to you.”
Overall Rating = 65.8%
Luger & Sting challenge
The lights dimmed in the arena and STING’s music hit in the arena! YEAH! The program finally was about to pick up. Some people stood up to see the World Champion, who came out with LEX LUGER from the stage, walking stoically toward the ring. Both men looked stern and focused. They even had to pause a moment while the applause died down.
Luger spoke of course and said, “I’m not out here to do a stupid survey, to waste a lot of time or to speak out of my ass. I’m out here to make it short and sweet. I’m out here to tell those guys in the back that their days are numbered. They’re not gonna bully loyal WCW guys like us around and I think they know that. That’s why I’ve not heard one peep outta them, man. So if these guys, Hall and Nash---if you guys think you’re STILL all that, put up the titles tonight. Sting and Lex Luger want to be the NEW WCW Tag-Team Champs!”
Suddenly, any pop was interrupted by the New World Order music. Hall and Nash came out, of course, wearing their tag-team gold. They were both wearing sunglasses, re-emphasizing that they were indeed cool.
Nash pointed toward the ring and smirked, “Listen Mister Muscles, you better start thinking with your noodle instead of your ‘package’. Haha! Not there’s much of a package to think with. Anyway….anyway….! Listen, you guys are building yourselves up for quite a disappointment here because there’s no way you’re walking out of here, tag-team champs or otherwise. Okay, you wanna prove you’re a man? You guys got a title shot!”
Hall took the mic and smiled, “Hey yo, stop smilin’ muchacho. You got your title shot, but if you lose…we want you two goons to come on out here next week and apologize. I want Captain Halloween over there to open up his mouth and apologize for insultin’ us, man.”
Luger lurched toward the ropes and glared across at Hall, “Hey big mouth, whatever you want. You’re on!”
Hall smirked, “Yo muscles, get ready to pucker up and bow down, man. You don’t even know what you’re getting’ into.”
Overall Rating = 77.2%
The Faces of Fear & Steve Williams vs. The Hangman & ADB & Scott Montgomery
It was six-man competition. Steve Williams stood in the corner next to Meng and tried to look grizzily. He succeeded. When The Hangman led his troops to the ring, things broke down in a hurry. Jimmy Hart directed traffic. The referee broke them up for a moment and the bell rang, but it broke down again soon after. The Hangman and Williams traded punches. Meng and ADB went toe to toe, and Montgomery took on the Barbarian. Montgomery was the first one out, tossed over the ropes by the large Barbarian. Instead of helping his partners, Barbarian slid to the outside to continue the fight. Montgomery summoned the cowardlyness of Chris Jericho and tried to skitter away quickly.
Back in the ring, the referee was trying to get between The Hangman and Williams, who were struggling. Meng looked on the Tongan Deathgrip on ADB, but Jimmy Hart handed the bullhorn to his man. ADB cracked it over the head of Meng! Meng toppled out of the ring. Backed between Williams and the Hangman, the referee was clobbered with a stiff right hand by Williams, on accident. The Hangman hit a DDT on Williams and ADB joined in to attack Williams 2 on 1. The Hangman took the bullhorn and hit Williams with it, then hit the Barbarian with it as he tried to enter the ring. He hit Williams again.
The Hangman then stood up and pulled off his mask! It was BRIAN KNOBBS! Knobbs was laughing! He threw the black mask on Williams and kicked him in the ribs. Jimmy Hart shook hands with Knobbs and laughed along with him. ADB hauled up Williams for one last shot by Knobbs. Trash was being thrown in the ring. They went to commercial.
Result - No Contest
Match Reaction = 50.3%
Match Quality = 70.7%
Overall Rating = 59.2%
Bret Hart assaulted
Backstage, Bret Hart was adjusting his attire while looking into a full-length mirror. Suddenly, ERIC BISCHOFF lurched into the picture, tapping Hart abruptly on the shoulder. Hart turned around and smirked at him.
Bischoff frowned, “Bret! Where’s Flair? I want to talk to him. He’s supposed to be here. Who the hell does this guy think he is anyway?”
Hart poked Bischoff in the chest with his finger, “Back off Bischoff. He’s been through a lot lately, getting injured and getting his pride hurt---“
Bischoff raised his voice, “I don’t care if he’s got a stubbed toe or a broken arm! He’s supposed to be a model leader? A team player? My guys…the New World Order…we’re leading this locker room now. You tell Flair to watch out and stay out of our way.”
Hart crossed his arms, “Whatever. Get lost.”
Bischoff just shook his head and walked off angrily. Bret Hart turned around and suddenly was face to face with GOLDBERG, who attacked immediately. Both men through punches, destroying each other with physical blows. Goldberg used a raised knee to double-over Hart. Goldberg then did the unthinkable and threw Hart right into and nearly through the mirror, breaking it into a million pieces. Officials flooded in and chaos ensued in the locker room. Bret Hart laid motionless.
Overall Rating = 81.0%
Raven vs. Booker T for the WCW TV Title
Raven came out with his thugs, THE FLOCK and stood alongside TYRONE who apparently was “too street” to wear anything but black. Raven snatched the mic out of the ring announcer’s hand and said, “This is your redemption day Booker T because if one of the FLOCK beats you for your TV Title, it will be all over. All the lies, all the masquerade, it will be OVER! Tonight, the Flock member who will teach you Truth will be….ME….QUOTH THE RAVEN….NEVERMORE!” he shouted.
Booker T ran down, his music barely having time to erupt a response from the crowd. Booker T whapped Kidman over the ropes, kicked Sick Boy in the jaw and delivered a straight right hand to Tyrone in quick succession, sending all men out. Van Hammer stepped up and delivered a hard right hand, but apparently it wasn’t hard enough because Booker T blocked it and tossed him the hell OUT! YEAH! Raven stood there stoically and smirked. Booker T turned around and noticed this and smirked too. He signalled for the crowd to ‘raise the roof’ and finally removed his TV Title, giving it over to the referee. The two men went nose to nose and the camera zoomed in to catch the drama. You could feel the tension in the air now that wasn’t crowded by talking and bullcrap.
Tyrone shouted something on the outside so loud that it could almost be heard on camera. Raven was the one to step back and turn, but then lurched forward again and delivered a right hand. Booker T delivered his own and then used a raised knee to double-over Raven. He bounced off the ropes and looked to end it early, but Raven moved out of the way of the axe kick. Raven football tackled Booker T in what looked like a move out of frustration and started pounding on him with right hands. Raven removed his ‘cool’ jean jacket and whipped Booker T with it. Ow. The referee confiscated it and gave Raven a warning. Raven choked Booker T and earned another one. Raven dominated the first few minutes and things looked grim for Booker.
Raven summoned the spirit of Triple H and used a running knee lift to down Booker T in a heap, halting any chance of the champ to get up and gain momentum. Booker T finally had his shot when Raven tried to whip Booker into the turnbuckle. Booker reversed it and splashed Raven, Stinger-style. Booker grabbed Raven and snap suplexed him, then drove the fist down into the forehead. Cover for the 1-2. Raven kicked out. Raven locked in a headlock on the mat, then rolled up Booker for the 1-2. Sick Boy was holding Booker’s ankle! But he still kicked out, so it was all good. Booker T turned around, right into a jawbreaker. Booker T was wobbily. Raven hit the EvenFlow DDT for the 1-2-3. Oh Boo. Sick Boy and the Flock celebrated. What a buncha cheaters.
Result – Raven by pin – NEW TV Title Champion
Match Reaction = 51.7%
Match Quality = 75.8%
Overall Rating = 61.0%
Entering the Rings of Saturn
Raven knelt down and delivered some more right hands to the dazed Booker T. Tyrone brought in a chair. Raven and Van Hammer held up Booker and Tyrone reared back, delivering a WICKED chairshot. Booker T went down and was busted open. Ouch. Booker T was hurt bad. Raven wasn’t done. He hauled him up and called for a second chairshot. Suddenly, PERRY SATURN ran out of the back and was carrying a SINGAPORE CANE! He had a t-shirt on that said ECW – HARD KNOCKS FOREVER.
Saturn destroyed the Flock, clobbering Tyrone, Sick Boy, Kidman and all the others in quick sucession. He swung his cane around him and shouted at Raven, who had escaped the cane by slipping to the outside. Saturn pointed the cane at Raven! He wanted Raven! Booker T blinked his eyes open. Saturn went over to help him while the Flock looked on.
Hogan and Bischoff deny tag-shot
The NEW WORLD ORDER music hit in the arena and out came Hollywood Hogan, along with sidekick Eric Bischoff.
Once they reached the ring, Bischoff took the mic and said, “Oh, so we’re getting a little uppity around here now that we’ve got a couple of big men like Luger and Sting forming a team? Well lemme tell all you fans something, there’s no bigger team than the New World Order. No way. And let me tell you something else, you looooove to hate us. You love us! You love me! If Sting and Lex Luger beat us and became champs, you’d HATE it. So we’re not going to have a title shot tonight. It will be a NON-title shot. It’s for your own good people!”
Hogan took the mic and laughed, “Sting and Luger, you two guys are in way over your heads here, brother. I’m the biggest icon in wrestling, dude, and I’m here to back up my boys. I don’t see anybody walking out with you, backin you up, brother. My man Big E over here is right, there’s no way in hell anyone here wants to see the dark man and the package as tag-team champs. What they want to see is what we give em’, brother! So whatcha gonna do about that, huh?”
While Hogan was laughing, some music came on in the arena and JJ DILLON came out on stage.
“Eric Bischoff, you may be head of the New World Order and well…that’s a large group of wrestlers here in WCW, but the executive committee still has power over the tag-team titles. You cant decide when and where the titles are up and when they arent. We do. So tonight, when Sting and Lex Luger take on the Outsiders tonight, it WILL be a tag-team title match and that’s final!”
Overall Rating = 95.9%
Scott Steiner vs. Marty Jannetty
Scott Steiner came out, hair trimmed short and was all business. He slapped a sign from a fan’s hands and tore it in half. Another fan shouted that Scott ‘sucked’, apparently having not a very high opinion of him. Perhaps he anticipated how this match would turn out.
Marty Jennetty might as well be skipping to the ring like a loon because he’s still wearing all the colors of the rainbow, summoning his former Rocker’s character. Marty jumped on the turnbuckle and raised his fist, to no reaction. Scott came over and clobbered him in the back with a meaty arm, then backdropped him hard. I think Marty slipped. Scott walked over and stood on Marty’s chest! Ouch! Get off! Scott flexed for the crowd and as Marty got up, Scott went over to deliver more offense but got a surprise right hand instead. Marty summoned his inner-Rocker’s energy or something and delivered a standing dropkick, sending the huge Steiner backwards into the ropes. Only problem is, Scott didn’t go down. He just grabbed Marty and destroyed him with a belly to belly suplex. He then did pushups!
Scott covered with one finger! 1-2. Unbelievable. What a horrible guy. Marty struggled to his feet again and had to use the ropes, but Scott came up expectantly and delivered a german suplex. He should start calling himself the human suplex machine. Scott picked him up and did it again. The referee shouted at him. Scott covered for the 1-2-3.
Result – Scott Steiner by pin
Match Reaction = 52.2%
Match Quality = 57.7%
Overall Rating = 59.1%
A Rude Offer
After the match, Scott Steiner demanded that his new music be played, but instead the music of Rick Rude came on in the arena! He walked out, dressed to the nines in a suit, with three blondes and summoned the spirit of Buff Bagwell when he smiled at the camera.
Rick took a mic and said, “Scott, when you’re out here, people pay attention but I don’t think they respect you,” he began. Steiner grew angry.
“Whoa whoa! Big guy, listen…what I mean is, they don’t realize what a great man you are! Just look at you! Talk about the largest arms in wrestling, we’ve got em’ right here folks. There’s no comparison. But let me tell you something else. You can come out here and beat all the guys you want, but you wont be anywhere closer to dominating this sport unless you do it right. And that’s where I come in! Now I’m offering my services and Scott, let me tell you, there’s many special…perks…when you come on board with Rick Rude!”
Rude chuckled as the ladies went over to Scott’s side to paw at him. Suddenly, the blue blooded music of the Steiner Brothers came on over the arena and out came Rick Steiner along with SUNNY! Holy ****! Sunny was LIVE on Nitro! The crowd stood up and popped, as if finally pleased to see something surprising.
Sunny smiled and winked at a shocked Rick Rude, who just stood there with his mouth open. Sunny patted Rick Steiner on the arm and took a mic of her own, saying, “Rick Rude, you might have a lot of perks to offer but I’ve got an even bigger….better…SET…” she chuckled, “Of perks to offer,” she concluded suggestively.
“Scott! I don’t want you to say anything. Hell, you can walk on out of here right now if you want, but listen, this is your brother. And your brother has backed you up for years. All I gotta say is that my favorite tag-team is the Steiner Brothers. If you come back, you not only get the…beeeeautiful Sunny as your manager but I guarantee a shot at the tag-team titles…no…matter…what! So you sleep on that….honey!”
Sunny smirked at Rick and winked at him again before Rick Steiner led her from the ring. They walked back up the ramp. Rick Rude looked back at Scott, still in shock. Scott put his hands on his hips and looked undecided. Scott left the ring and shook his head, walking off by himself.
Overall Rating = 74.2%
Kevin Nash & Hall vs. Sting & Lex Luger for the WCW Tag-Team Titles
Nitro was running long! Oh NO! They’ll just have to make Hall & Nash walk a little friggin faster to the ring because a THREE MINUTE introduction wont cut it here. And that they did, surprisingly enough. Nash leaned against the ropes nonchalantly and the two tried to look ‘too cool’ for this match or for WCW. Sting actually had the longest entrance, because tonight he turned up his black collar, put on his best leather gloves and strutted to the ring like he was the Crow, baby.
Luger wanted to start the match but Sting wouldn’t leave to the outside! Sting stood there! Luger finally just went to the outside of the ropes. Nash frowned, wondering what he was up to. Sting stood there, in his trenchcoat, black gloves, boots and tights, doing nothing at all. The crowd murmured. Nash approached cautiously and threw a punch at the gut! He went down in pain! WHAT!
Sting threw off his coat, revealing his flak jacket underneath, which he deposited over the ropes. Nash reached for a tag….but OH NO you don’t…Sting pulled him back by the ankles and growled. He slapped on a leglock, then got up and stomped the fingers of Nash. Ow, painful. Sting locked his fingers with Nash’s and twisted, torturing the man. Nash headbutted him bluntly. Nash grabbed the hair and did what he had to in order to get to his corner. Blind tag from Hall. Nash was still holding Sting’s hand as Hall entered, allowing for the blind kick. Sting went down. Cover for the 1-2. Aggressive kick out. Sting got up and HULKED UP! He was shaking. The building came alive. Sting reversed a whip off the ropes and clotheslined Hall down to the mat. HARD tag to Lex Luger. Luger picked up Hall, but Nash entered and cheapshotted him right in the stomach. Hall landed on Luger. The referee couldn’t seem to contain Nash.
Hall scoop slammed Luger, then dropped the elbow, once, twice, three times. He strutted then did a Stinger Call! What a jerk. He went back to stomping Luger in the corner, then tried to suplex him but couldn’t. Luger picked him up clean this tim and pressed him, dropping him hard. Nash entered illegally again, but it was too late. TAG to STING! Hall bailed and shook his head, wanting no part of that. Sting attacked and the two traded right hands. DDT to Sting. Cover for the 1-2. Nash had enough. DDT to the referee. DDT to Sting again. The referee was pulled from the ring by Hall and thrown over the guardrail. Hall handed a chair to Nash and he clobbered Luger as he tried to make the save. CHAIRSHOT to Sting. Right over the head.
Result - Sting & Lex Luger by DQ
Match Reaction = 72.2%
Match Quality = 63.2%
Overall Rating = 70.7%
The new member of the team is...
Suddenly, there was a sparkle of lights in the arena and in a flurry, RIC FLAIR came running out from the back with the most serious expression he has ever had in his life. Running to ringside, he kicked Hall right in the ribs and then threw him over the steps. Flair then slid into the ring to attack Nash and delivered a hard right hand. Nash dropped the chair, but recovered quickly. Nash whipped Flair off the ropes and stood ready to deliver the big boot, but the busted and bleeding Sting grabbed his ankles.
Flair bowled over Nash, clothesling him clean to the outside. The crowd went absolutely bananas. Flair went crazy, whipped the ropes with his fists and looked fired up, like he wanted more! The crowd went absolutely crazy, obviously pro-Flair.
He grabbed a microphone and said, “Lemme tell you something---Kevin Nash…Scott Hall…this right here is MY ring…these are MY friends…and I don’t care if you think you’re the baddest and the best. You’re not!! There’s nobody, no outsiders, no hot shots, no smart asses, no big men, no small men---there’s nobody in the world gonna come in here and take over when I’m around. And there’s absolutely nobody more WCW than the Nat….ure Boy…Ric Flair and I’m here to tell you just that one thing. Your day is comin’ and I’m gonna be personally on hand to see you both get tossed out on your ass! I hate you! I hate your guts! I hate you! You hear me? I hate you! I hate every one of you! I’m WCW! I’m the next member of Team WCW and there’s nobody in the WORLD gonna stop us! WWWWWOOOOOO!”
Overall Rating = 95.6%
The TV viewing figures for last night are now in: WCW recieved 965,055 viewers for WCW Monday Nitro (increase of 57,607 viewers from previous show)
Top Pops:
1. Ric Flair's save (successful!)
2. Sunny! (Only second out of crowd shock)
3. Randy Savage's return
Top Heat:
1. The Outsider's coming out
2. Eric Bischoff's mere appearance
3. Raven and Tyrone's beatdown on Booker T
-
Yes, there will be a brand new Nitro tomorrow. Sting and Luger will return, looking strong, ready to challenge the nWo. Eric Bischoff makes an appearance. Goldberg goes crazy. The unmasked Mortis is interviewed by Mean Gene. Is Scott Steiner a heel? Find out! Plus more Uncensored matches are made.
The main event: Sting & Lex Luger vs. The Outsiders
In the meantime, more CLASH news:
Thunder Presents: Clash of the Cruiserweights, LIVE from Baltimore
Super Calo vs. Damian 666
Hector Garza, La Parka & Silver King vs. Tenzan, Chrono & Yuji Nagata
Kidman vs. Dean Malenko (WCW Cruiserweight Title Match)
Mystery Challenger vs. El Dandy (Hair vs. Hair match)
Lizmark, Atlantis Jr. & Mark LeRoux vs. Ciclope, Super Loco & Nova (Lucha Rules Match)
Ultimo Dragon vs. Juvi (Ladder Match)
Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio
Eddie Guerrero vs. The Mysterious "Black Samurai"
-
Chapter Seven: Redeeming Spicolli
Before Bischoff could even begin to figure out just what the BOOK was or where it came from, there were dozens of things he had to do. There were dozens of avenues, dozens of choices, thanks to this book, that could help him know everything. It knew Sean Waltman aka Syxx was not going to resign, allowing Bischoff the advantage in resigning him, for example.
But now, the yellow book was predicting something a bit more gruesome than contract disputes and unhappy workers. It was predicting the death of a WCW wrestler. Bischoff had to get to San Diego before February 15th, 1998 or else Louie Spicolli was going to turn up dead. According to the pages, Spicolli died of a overdose of pain killers combined with alcohol.
Upon pulling up to Glenville apartments, Bischoff had discovered that the complex was as fairly rundown as they come and not what he expected from a WCW wrestler. The carpet of the dark hallway leading to Spicolli's apartment was faded and torn in places. Bischoff knocked on the door carefully, but there was no answer. A strange, eerie silence permeated most of the building, as if hiding something behind the numerous doors up and down the numerous hallways. Bischoff knocked again, as if his forcefulness might communicate his concern.
A bolt slid back and a shadowy face appeared at the door, "Yeah?"
"Lou?" Bischoff asked with a frown.
"Mister Bischoff?" Lou asked, opening the door.
Louis Mucciolo was no more than 28 years of age but looked like even the years he had were weighing heavily on him. His face was pale and lined, as if he hadnt slept or hadnt been eating, or both. Bischoff stepped in when he offered and looked concernedly at him. The smell of booze permeated the apartment.
"Lou...are you alright?" Bischoff asked.
"Hmm? What do you mean? I'm...fine boss. What the hell are you doin all the way out here?"
"I uh...well I just came out to tell you that you're gonna be on Thunder next week," Bischoff said, making up bookings as he went. It wasnt enough to pity Lou, if he was an alcoholic, underpaid or overlooked, but Bischoff did. Pity made him say that.
Lou squinted at Bischoff in disbelief, "Huh? Thunder? I thought I wasnt going to be working for a few weeks."
"Who said that?" Bischoff frowned.
"Bob Ryder. The head writer," Lou informed him.
"Well you're definately on for Thunder, Lou. I'll be there."
"But boss...no offense or anything, but you're never at Thunder."
"Well I'm definately going to be there for the bookings from now on..." Bischoff reassured him.
"If you say so," Lou said skeptically.
"Can I use your bathroom?"
After attaining permission, Bischoff walked back into the bathroom and shut the door securely in order to poke around. The pale green bathroom was like something out of the 70s and just as old. The tile was cracked, as was the large mirror over the porceilin sink. Bischoff opened the medicine cabinet. Inside were several bottles of pills. Bischoff frowned, looking at each of them. He pocketed one of them, which he knew were pain killers and took another as well, just for good measure.
After walking out, Lou got up from his lounging position on his broken couch and said, "So boss, can I get you anything? Drink maybe?"
"No no, I have to go now Lou. Listen, are you feeling alright?"
Lou laughs, "I already told ya, I'm fine. Shoulder's a little sore, that's all. I'm workin' through it, just like everybody."
Bischoff nodded, "Well...alright...but I think you should see the doctor after Thunder."
Lou shrugged, "Hey fine, whatever you say boss. I'm fine though."
"Alright, take care."
"Hey boss...wait..." Lou began. He offered a handshake. Bischoff raised his brow in surprise at the large man and shook his hand. It was easy to respect the gentle giant.
After walking out of the apartment, Lou was alive. And in that, Bischoff felt better. With the help of the doctor, Bischoff knew he had the pull to get Lou into rehab if he wanted and that was probably what he needed. But if that would really help Lou, he couldnt predict. Lou deserved a chance at redemption, that was certain. Lou's dislike for Bischoff was fairly obvious so Bischoff himself couldnt help but feel guilty for somehow contributing to the young man's addictions. Did the book suddenly give him a conscience?
-
2WRESTLING.COM Results from THURSDAY THUNDER
February 19th, 1998
Chris Benoit depressed
THUNDER fades in on the locker room area where Chris Benoit was sitting on a bench. Hunched over and dressed in civilian clothes, Benoit didn’t look very happy, depressed even. A shadowy look came over him as he just looked at the floor. Suddenly, some arms come down and Benoit was patted on the shoulder. The camera zooms out and shows DDP standing behind Benoit.
Benoit glances over his shoulder defensively, then returned to looking at the floor.
“Hey champ,” DDP said, “You’re not suited up.”
“Don’t call me champ. I’m no champ,” Benoit replied bitterly.
DDP stepped to the side and frowned, “That’s why I’m here, Chris. I know what you’re going through, to think you’re not good enough. Well, you are. Right now, I’m not able to prove it like you are because of this concussion, so…I was thinking….you should take on Buff Bagwell for the US Title.”
Benoit suddenly got up and with an angry poke to DDP’s chest, he said, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the number one contender, not me. I don’t need your handouts. Hell, I don’t even know what I’m doing here.”
Benoit excused himself and walked from the locker room. DDP put his hands on his hips disappointedly and shook his head.
Overall Rating = 71.7%
Ultimo Dragon vs. Disco Inferno
Disco was out first, with a dance and a wiggle. Ultimo Dragon’s music came on over the loud-speaker, but Yuji Nagata, the Villanos and Sonny Oono came out. Ultimo Dragon came running out from the back and narrowly avoided the group at ringside before sliding in. Oono shouted some insults up at him.
Disco locked up with Dragon, then used a quick go-behind to take down Dragon to the mat. Disco slapped Ultimo across the back of the head and stood up, pleased with himself. He motioned to himself as the crowd boo’d him, telling everyone that Ultimo wasn’t so great. Ultimo swept Disco’s legs right out from under him! Yay! Ultimo hit a standing swanton, then cracked Disco in the chin with a heel kick as he tried to get up.
Sonny Oono got up on the apron and started trying to distract Ultimo, but Nagata pulled him off! What’s up with that? Ultimo was able to turn around in time to anticipate Disco’s right hand. Blocked! Ultimo grabbed him and hit a Tornado DDT, slamming Disco down at a perfect angle. Cover for the 1-2-3. Ultimo jumped on the apron and immediately showed some emotion. I was flabbergasted! He shouted at Oono and Nagata until he was red in the face, then left the ring.
Result - Ultimo Dragon
Match Reaction = 54.4%
Match Quality = 82.0%
Overall Rating = 64.0%
Perry Saturn threatens Raven
Backstage, Kidman and Scotty Riggs were standing in the hallway discussing something. Out of nowhere, a large man comes flying into view, wielding a pipe of some sort. It was PERRY SATURN! Saturn destroyed Riggs with the pipe, clobbering him. Kidman swung wildly, but Saturn downed him as well, tossing him into the wall. Saturn continued to stomp on Kidman, tossing him over a table, collapsing it.
Saturn hauled up Kidman by the collar and put the pipe against his neck, choking him, “You piece of crap! Listen up! I’m gonna deliver somethin’ to Raven and it aint gonna be a handshake!”
Saturn dropped Kidman awkwardly to the floor before stomping a few more times.
Overall Rating = 61.6%
Juvi, Psychosis & Damian 666 vs. Silver King, La Parka & El Dandy
The group of Silver King, El Dandy and La Parka came out first, with Parka strutting out in front, leading the way. He played guitar on a steel chair, then shook his knees. Juvi and Pyschosis came out next, trailed by the cooky Damian 666, pained all black and white. Damian summoned the power of Gene Simmons and waggled his tongue at the camera.
King wanted to start the match, but Parka talked him out of it. Parka locked up with Juvi, who was lifted up and tossed down to the mat, flapjack style. Juvi was quick to his feet, but La Parka hip-tossed the younger man down as he charged. La Parka did a strut and walked like an Egyptian. Blind tag from Silver King! Oh my. King argued with La Parka. Parka pushed King into Juvi, who rolled him up for a 1-2. Juvi hit a standing dropkick on King and only El Dandy made the save on the pin. La Parka sat on the apron, crossed his legs and turned up his chin, pouting at Silver King’s actions. Funny stuff.
Juvi and Psychosis tagged in and out as they double-teamed Silver King, pounding him in the corner. It was when Psychosis hit a quebrada off the second rope that King raised the knees to finally stop the momentum. Hot tag to El Dandy, but Juvi was ready for him. Standing dropkick right to Dandy’s jaw. Juvi climbed to the top and slipped…oops. Boy, the match was almost perfect. Anyway, he got back up and hit the 450 for the win.
Result – Juvi, Pyschosis and Damian 666
After the match, Silver King stole La Parka’s chair and clobbered the heels! El Dandy celebrated with him, but La Parka stormed in and grabbed back his chair. La Parka stormed off.
Match Reaction = 46.4%
Match Quality = 68.8%
Overall Rating = 60.0%
Jericho wanted the title
Jericho was introduced and came out with a microphone. The crowd immediately began to boo him, “Shaddup and keep your fat behinds in your chairs, I’ve got somethin to say! You know, there’s not been one /word/ about my win at SuperBrawl. Have I got any interviews? Have I got any press? No! Hell, my poster should be on every wall in the back for all I give to this stupid company. I want the cruiserweight championship and I want it RIGHT NOW!” he whined loudly.
“Dean Malenko, get out here right now! You know, I don’t know how many times I have to beat everyone in this company! Are you listening? I beat everyone! Everyone! Now I’m gonna beat you! You---“ he started, but was interrupted by Rey Mysterio’s music.
Overall Rating = 84.6%
Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio
Mysterio ran out with great speed, having apparently recovered from his leg injury. After he jumped on the apron, Jericho charged and tried to clock him with a right hand. Mysterio dodged and jumped from the ropes onto Jericho’s shoulders, pummelling him with right hands. Jericho toppled over backwards. Cover for the 1-2. Jericho got up and yelled at the referee, yelling and complaining. Mysterio hit a standing dropkick then followed up with a heel kick off the ropes.
Jericho got up wobbily. Mysterio signalled for something as he went to the top and jumped high off the turnbuckle. Jericho caught him! Jericho squashed him with an overhead release suplex. Jericho stomped Mysterio, then worked that leg over with a series of kicks and illegal heel grinds. When the referee tried to break it up, Jericho pushed him. The referee pushed him back! Mysterio took advantage, rolling up Jericho for the 1-2. Jericho barely escaped. Mysterio pounded on Jericho with right hands then tried to climb the turnbuckle again but couldn’t make it. Jericho disturbed the ropes, then got up there quick to suplex Mysterio all the way down to the canvas. Jericho wrenched the leg as he locked in the Liontamer.
Mysterio crawled toward the ropes, but didn’t have any strength in the legs left. Jericho pulled him back and Mysterio finally tapped out, being in tremendous pain.
Result – Chris Jericho by submission
Match Reaction = 71.2%
Match Quality = 78.0%
Overall Rating = 76.7%
After the match, Chris Jericho destroyed Mysterio, kicking at the previously injured leg. Jericho retrieved a steel chair from the outside and locked it around Mysterio’s ankle, looking ready to break it. Suddenly, Dean Malenko ran down to make the save, sliding in. Malenko and Jericho went toe to toe, exchanging blows. Malenko clotheslined Jericho from the ring.
Eddie sat down
A pre-recorded interview was shown. The scene faded in with Gene Okerlund, who was sitting in a plush chair, “Ladies and gentlemen! Sitting with me here today is perhaps the single most newsworthy man in WCW today! Eddie Guerrero!” he let out energetically.
Eddie was sitting across from Gene, dressed in a silk shirt and slacks. He smirked at Okerlund.
“Eddie, in the span of just over a month, you’ve stolen a man’s girl, screwed a man out of the World Title and joined the New World Order. And just to spite this man! This man is none other than Randy Savage. Now what have YOU got against Randy Savage?”
“Gene, when Hollywood Hogan told me about this plan to screw over Savage, hell I invented a reason to hate him! I’m the man now, not him. That’s why I’m sittin’ here, essa, and not him.”
“Well I for one am not impressed by your actions, Eddie Guerrero. Competing is one thing but you went out there and stole his girlfriend!”
“I didn’t ‘steal’ nothin’, holmes. I just used a little latino heat and she came runnin’! Haha!”
“Let me tell you something, that doesn’t impress anybody! Certainly not me. So where is she now, Eddie?”
“Essa, I got what I wanted, I got my spot and I got my headline. She’s kicked to the curb, holmes! I got new women who want some latinoooo heat! Haha!”
Okerlund shook his head and pointed at the camera, “Tony, back to you.”
Overall Rating = 73.5%
Alex Wright vs. Scott Norton
The announcers reminded us that Wright’s job was still on the line here. That added quite a bit to the match, but it still wasn’t quite what I expected. It wasn’t Norton’s methodical style because he was sharp but something about the match just wasn’t on. It didn’t help that Wright slipped only about a minute in, taking a move a little more stiff than he should have.
Norton just dropped the elbow and continued, trying to overpower his opponent. I don’t know if I could watch Wright get slammed from over top Norton’s shoulders, not because it wasn’t a good move, but it sure looked painful. Maybe Norton was working stiff here for Wright’s screwups earlier in the match, but not being an expert, I couldn’t tell. Wright was slammed hard twice more before finally being put into a headlock to rest.
Wright worked out, jabbing Norton with elbows. Wright slid free and bounced off the ropes so he could hit a flying crossbody for the 1-2. Norton kicked out forcibly, then got up and went to reach for his opponent, but Wright ducked under the lumbering arms of the larger man. Wright climbed the turnbuckle no handed and tightroped the top rope in order to jump on top of Norton’s shoulders perfectly. The best move of the match. He rolled Norton into some sort of upsidedown cradle for the 1-2-3. Wright survived for another day.
Result – Alex Wright by pin
Match Reaction = 45.6%
Match Quality = 61.6%
Overall Rating = 46.0%
Mike Tenay announcement: The CLASH returns
Mike Tenay was standing in the ring as the show returned from commercial. He raised the mic and said, "Tonight, as promised...tonight I have an announcement which I think will excite WCW fans all over the world. I have the utmost pleasure to announce...The CLASH is back! That's right fans...we're going to gather some of the best talent, combine them into some of the best matches and give YOU some of the best entertainment in history of wrestling as we know it. Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, the midnight express , Dusty Rhodes, they've all appeared on the Clash of the Champions but in one week we're going to present the Clash of the Cruiserweights. WCW has some of the premier cruiserweight talent in the whole world and we're pleased to bring you this Clash, with stars from Mexico, Japan and beyond. Fans...we're not only going to bring you Clash of the Cruiserweights...but there's going to be even bigger and different Clashes in the future. Now if we can only capture some of the greatness!"
Overall Rating = 77.7%
Syxx skit
The music of CHRIS BENOIT hit in the arena! But boo hoo, it was a New World Order trick, because out came Syxx and Curt Hennig, of all people. They were dressed as Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko respectively. Hoo boy, here it comes.
Syxx had on his flat, blonde rug that drooped on his forehead. He strutted around the ring and had what looked like inflated muscles under his jazzersize shirt and puffy pants. Curt Hennig also had on a wig, a black one that made him look more like Charlie Chan than Dean Malenko, but it was all good because he had the cold, stare-straight-ahead look down pat. Syxx went to every corner and raised his fist, then took a microphone.
“Hey! I said hey!” Syxx began, while trying to keep a straight face. He frowned some more, “I’m the friggin’ Crippler and I’m talkin’ here so you people better listen! Look it says Crippler on my t-shirt! Haha!”
Syxx held the mic out to Hennig for some comment, but then snatched it back, “No you shaddup, you’re not supposed to talk! Haha! Listen…listen, aaaargh! Arrggggh! I cant wrestle tonight because I’ve got hemmoroids! That’s right, I always have hemmoroids---that’s why I grunt so much! Haha!”
Syxx held the mic out for Hennig again but then pulled it back, “Oh no no no! You cant talk! Just stand there! Hey, don’t look at me like that! No---“
Suddenly, the REAL Chris Benoit suddenly came out unannounced and ran down toward the ring. The crowd actually stood up to see what was going on. Hennig abandoned the ring and his persona as Benoit slid in to attack en masse. Benoit grabbed Syxx by the hair! Syxx slipped away and Benoit was left holding the wig. Yikes. Benoit whipped the wig outside at the two buffoons.
Benoit picked up the mic and saved the promo by screaming too loudly, “This crap is gonna stop! You know what, Syxx…Hennig…Hogan…Nash…whoever the hell wants it…if Sting or Lex doesn’t get to you first, I’m gonna go through all of you ONE by ONE! You hear me? You’re going DOWN!”
Overall Rating = 78.7%
After commercial, the New World Order music hit in the arena and we were set for the obligatory comments from everyone’s favorite bad guys. Or good guys, according to Scott Hall, who came out next.
“Hey yo, you need to settle, Chris Benoit. Lemme tell you somethin’ chico, you don’t make threats to the New World Order. You take a pill and get a massage, pal. That’s what you do, because---“
Suddenly, the music of DAVEY BOY SMITH hit in the arena! He stalked out from the back.
Overall Rating = 59.7%
Davey Boy Smith vs. Scott Hall
Hall stood back from the ropes and begged off from Smith as he entered. Smith put his hands on his hips and stared down Hall. The crowd began chanting BULL-DOG, BULL-DOG and he obliged them by going right after Hall. Hall clobbered him with a right hand, but the big guy was uneffected! Smith destroyed Hall with a clothesline, worthy of Bradshaw.
Smith picked him up clean over his head and bench pressed him, then dropped him. Hall fell like a bad habit. Hall writhed in pain as Smith flexed for the crowd. Smith walked over and got caught with an uppercut. Hall followed up with successive kicks to the midsection, then Hall kicked his legs out from under him. Hall choked Smith on the middle rope, then wrenched the ropes around Smith’s big arms, literally tying him up. Smith couldn’t budge.
Hall stomped Smith’s back, kicking it repeatedly, over and over until it was red. The referee tried to break Smith free, but Hall pushed him down. After another try, Smith was free, but was badly hurt and could barely stand. Smith blocked one punch, then another until finally he was able to muster some offense. He tried powerbomb Hall but couldn’t get him up. Hall fell, but suddenly rolled up Smith for the 1-2-3 using a handfull of tights.
Result – Scott Hall by pin
Match Reaction = 68.4%
Match Quality = 59.6%
Overall Rating = 71.1%
Syxx vs. Dean Malenko for the Cruiserweight Championship
Syxx came out first, bouncing and jumping around. Dean Malenko came out, looking as cold and as unemotional as ever. The Cruiserweight Championship was held up by the ref and shown to the crowd.
The bell rang. After circling each other, Syxx tried a sweeping roundhouse kick -- Dean back and then held his hand up. He wanted a test of strength. Syxx merely crotch chopped instead. Syxx took some offense and chopped Dean over the chest until he was in the corner. Lockup, Dean went behind, Syxx reversed, Dean reversed again! Syxx stepped away and shook his head, looking frustrated. They trade slow, right hands, then Syxx hit a slingshot senton on Dean. Syxx clotheslined Dean from the ring and then jumped on him from the apron. Syxx rolled him back in, questionably quick. Back in the ring, Dean shoulderblocked him through and then rolled him up for a 1-2. Syxx was down, looking tired. Dean applied the surfboard, rocked back and all of a sudden Syxx was up in the air.
Referee Mickey Jay noticed that Dean's shoulders were down and counted a 1-2. Syxx barely escaped that one. More chopped, this time by Dean, back into the corner. with a chop in the corner. Whip reversed, Dean up and over the turnbuckle, nearly falling to the floor awkwardly, but landing on the apron instead.
Syxx used a baseball slide to knock Dean from the apron all the way to the floor, where he collided with the guard rail. Syxx was fired up and ready for more. The referee began the count, but Dean slid in, just in time. Syxx whipped him off the ropes, but Dean ducked a clothesline and connected with a spinning heel kick. Dean was down and in the corner. Syxx reared back and went for the bronco buster but missed! Good! I didnt want to see that ugly move. Dean picked up Syxx and hit a nasty looking neckbreaker, then used some sort of gut-wrench powerbomb on his opponent. Dean leaned into the pin attempt but got only a 1-2. The crowd was groaning with anticipation for the end. Dean was sweating, looking tired.
Syxx used the ropes to get up and tried to roundhouse kick Dean again, but he caught the boot! Dean twisted the leg and Syxx fell. Dean kept Syxx in that painful ankle-lock, using the submission in the middle of the ring. Syxx turned over and kicked Dean in the chest, then rolled out of the way. Dean coughed in aggravated pain. Syxx tried to roll him up but Dean reversed it and stood up, locking in the Texas Cloverleaf. Syxx writhed in pain, and after a few moments, tapped out. Your wiiiiiiiiiiinner...Dean Malenko.
Result - Dean Malenko by submission
Match Reaction = 67.8%
Match Quality = 85.2%
Overall Rating = 80.0%
The TV viewing figures for last night are now in: WCW recieved 603,844 viewers for WCW Thunder (decrease of 9,367 viewers from previous show)
NEXT TIME on Thunder...Clash of the Cruiserweights I
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2WRESTLING.COM Review of MONDAY NITRO
February 16th, 1998
Lex & Sting
The fireworks hit on the stage and the arena erupted with noise. It was time for Monday Nitro, LIVE from Mobile, Alabama. Lex Luger’s music hit in the arena and he walked out toward the ring, high-fiving fans as he came down. Once he was in the ring, he flexed for a moment and then took a mic.
“Listen, I didn’t come out here to rock the boat, but let me tell you something. I’ve been watching things very closely lately and I’m getting sick of what’s going on. You see, these guys---the New World Order, well they’ve got a tight unit. They kick people around when they want---hell, they do everything as a group. They walk in and beat up guys like DDP, Booker T, whoever, whenever the heck they feel like it. And we don’t do a damn thing about it!” he shouted.
“And this is directed at you, Sting! You’re the WCW World Champion, but you disappeared for months when we were fighting these guys, hell you disappear all the time. You don’t come down out of the rafters very often Sting and lemme tell you something, you shouldn’t be waging a one man war. Sting, I’m not out here demanding…I’m out here asking…for a change. Come down out of the rafters and start saying stuff that MEANS something, Sting. But more than any of that, what I want you to do is stand WITH us, as leader of Team WCW---a team that can fight together! Shouldn’t we help each other? If you’re not man enough to lead us, then you better take off that belt and place it right here in the middle of the ring! You hear me? Where the hell are you? C’mon already---”
Apparently, Sting had been sufficiently called out when his dark, brooding music hit in the ring. He came out on stage and the crowd popped for him. He was wearing the World Championship. Sting walked down to the ring and entered, then went right up to Luger. Sting looked him in the eye for several moments, then stepped back and removed the title. He looked at the title for several more moments, in an aching, dramatic moment of contemplation. He then simply placed it on his shoulder. Sting stared down Luger.
“Sting…you’re my best friend----hell, you’re the best wrestler in this company. Are you gonna do the right thing or not? Say something!” Luger shouted frustrated. Luger offered the mic to Sting.
Sting took the mic but then dropped it to the mat. Sting turned and walked out of the ring, back up the ramp. The crowd began chanting STING! STING! STING!
“Sting! Sting! C’mon man…Sting! Come back, man! Don’t do this alone!” Luger shouted. Sting didn’t come back. The show cut away to the announcers, who discussed SuperBrawl. Clips were shown.
Overall Rating = 76.4%
Mortis vs. Norman Smiley
I think we’ve reached the bottom of the barrel as far as the popularity of Mortis goes. Anyway, I think I could hear some jeers as he came out with James Vandenberg. Smiley wasn’t getting much of a reaction either, even for the Wiggle. The announcers began putting over the Wiggle for the first time. The Brain contemplated the physics of the dance.
The match began when Mortis tied up Smiley in a side headlock, then used a bulldog takedown. The slow match continued for several moments until Smiley was able to work out of an armbar and reverse it into an armdrag toss. Smiley followed up with a standing dropkick that rocked Mortis, then the two traded right hands. Mortis bullrushed Smiley into the corner to try to stop the momentum, but Smiley used the turnbuckle to jump on his shoulders and roll through for a 1-2. Mortis picked up Smiley by the collar and slapped him around a bit for that attempt, then Smiley ducked a clothesline. Smiley bounced off the ropes, slid through the legs and hit an inverted DDT. He then did the Wiggle and an elbow drop for a 1-2-3. Must have been the Wiggle Elbow or something. Erf.
Result - Norman Smiley by pin
Match Reaction = 20.8%
Match Quality = 70.8%
Overall Rating = 31.2%
Mortis unmasked
After the match, Mortis couldn’t believe that he had lost. He used the ropes to stand up as Vandenberg berated him on the outside. He snatched the chain leash from Vandenberg and whipped Smiley with it just as he was celebration. Mortis snapped the chain over his head and whipped the back of Smiley. Now that actually looked painful.
Suddenly, FIT FINLEY ran down and bulled over Vandenberg in order to slide into the ring to make the save. Mortis turned around and whipped the chain at Finley, but it was caught! Finley tugged on the chain and clotheslined Mortis down hard. He then raised a fist and called for some more punishment. The crowd clapped some, thankfully alive. Finley hit a piledriver on Mortis, then wrenched his mask off. The blackened make-up of the light-skinned man underneath made him look pale and clammy. He seemed to have long hair as well, that came down over his neck.
Finley held up the rubbery Mortis mask for everyone to see, then slid from the ring and left. As soon as Mortis awoke, he blinked his eyes in surprise and rolled over, hiding his face in his hands. Vandenberg rushed in to help him, but Mortis clobbered him and threw him from the ring like a rag-doll. His dark, black eyes widened and glared at Vandenberg. He stalked from the ring, heading up the ramp.
Overall Rating = 42.0%
The Faces of Fear vs. ADB & Scott Montgomery
This was a garbage match that where I really wanted to see cruiserweights. The program was thrown backstage to MIKE TENAY, where he was interviewed and said that he would have a special announcement on this week’s THUNDER. He said it was big. Anyway, when we cut back to the arena, “The Muscle” Arthur Dexter Bradley was grinning like Buff Bagwell. The fake “Dr. Death” was also standing there, looking entirely too serious, as Meng and The Barbarian came down.
Meng slid in and went bananas on Jimmy Hart’s team. Hart jumped up and down on the outside, yelling at the troops. ADB tried to pound back on Meng, but was trapped in the corner. Meng summoned up the power of a samoan Ric Flair and hit a series of knife-edge chops on ADB. Then, he karate chopped him in the neck. As if choking, ADB went down. The Barbarian was tagged in, but ADB was apparently playing possum, because he hit him low. Too low really. He got a warning from the ref. ADB tagged in Montgomery. Montgomery suplexed the Barbarian and then stomped a mudhole in him.
Suddenly, STEVE WILLIAMS ran down to ringside with a STEEL CHAIR. He chased Jimmy Hart around the ring in what seemed like a keystone cops rerun. Jimmy Hart got up on the apron to protest to the referee. Montgomery reached over and tried grabbing Williams as he ran by but ate only a facefull of steel chair as soon as Williams turned around. The Barbarian covered for the 1-2-3.
Result - The Faces of Fear by pin
Match Reaction = 41.1%
Match Quality = 66.7%
Overall Rating = 48.1%
Five minutes w/ Jimmy
After the match, Meng entered in again and tossed ADB out with his partner. Hart tried to escape but The Barbarian grabbed him by the collar.
The bandaged Williams took a mic and said, “You wanna play dirty, Jimmy! Well, guess what, I think you owe me five minutes!” he shouted.
Williams grabbed Jimmy and put him in a hammerlock, flapping him around like a ragdoll. The crowd applauded. Williams then put Jimmy on his shoulder and took him to the turnbuckle. He backdropped Jimmy from the turnbuckle! Ouch! Williams then ripped off his rose-collared suit jacket and whipped him with it. Jimmy flopped around like a fish, skreetching in embarrassing pain. Suddenly, THE HANGMAN ran down and pulled Jimmy Hart to safety. He pointed threateningly at Williams, but Dr. Death was in too good a mood to be dampered by the masked man.
Steve Williams smiled for the first time in WCW and shook hands with the Faces of Fear.
Overall Rating = 67.3%
Raven vs. Dean Malenko
The Flock escorted Raven down to the ring as things got deafly serious. Raven sat in the corner placidly and looked on as Kidman and Scotty Rigged riled up the crowd with some hand gestures. STILL cruiserweight champion, Dean Malenko, then came down and stood at ringside under The Flock cleared out.
When we finally got a start to the match, Raven ambushed Malenko as he came in, putting the boots to him immediately. Malenko pulled the legs out from under his opponent and worked the leg, pummelling it with stomps. Raven sold it like a champ. After a few minutes of working Raven on the mat, Malenko then summoned up the power of Flair and tried to lock in a figure-four. The crowd responded to this with praise. Raven kicked at Malenko and skittered away. He hot-shotted Malenko in the gut, then got a lucky DDT in. Raven called Kidman over and as he distracted the ref, some of the Flock took turns choking Dean.
Raven crushed Dean’s windpipe against the middle rope, then leaned into it. He then distracted the ref again and let the stronger Van Hammer choke Dean. Suddenly, BOOKER T ran down to the ring and jumped on the apron to alert the ref that Raven was cheating! Mickey Jay waved his arms and apparently didn’t believe him. Booker T was ordered to the back! The wronged Booker T walked around and took the law into his own hands, driving off the Flock with punches. Van Hammer took a toss into the guard rail. Raven jumped out and started going at it with Booker T! The two traded right hands. The referee threw this one out.
Result – No contest
Match Reaction = 63.8%
Match Quality = 83.2%
Overall Rating = 69.0%
Blackmail revealed
After the match, Raven slid into the ring and escaped Booker T on the other side. Suddenly, TYRONE stalked down and joined Raven at ringside. Tyrone stared threateningly at Booker. Booker T took a microphone and said, “Hey, didn’t yo punkasses get enough beatin’, huh? Why don’t you stop runnin’ and get in here right now, suckah!”
“Booker T, I got somethin’ but it aint a beatin. I got some news for all you Booker T fans,” Tyrone began, “I’ve known you for a long time Booker and I aint never seen anybody as stupid looking as you do, dancin’ around here for these fans. Raisin’ the frickin’ roof, playin’ like you’re from the street.”
Booker T went to the ropes and pointed to Tyrone, “You never been a friend, all you been is a liar and a cheat.”
“Well, lemme tell you something, I’m not lyin’ when I say that you aint from the streets. You’re from Texas! You’re from Houstan, Texas. And this guy right here---this guy you’re cheerin’ for, he drives a BMW. Hell, he’s got more stashed away than any of you chumps that like him so much. You get paid to tell people you’re from Harlem but you’re not! Hell, your name ain’t even Booker T! Gimmie a break. My mothah has more streets in her than you.”
Booker T put his hands on his hips and smirked, not knowing what to say.
Raven took the mic and said, “And there’s more we can say about you Booker. Or…or, you can put that Title on the line against one of the Flock next week. I’ll tell you what, if you win, you can go home with your persona intact. But if you lose, then we will personally bring your world crashing down.”
“Bring it on, suckah. I got nothin’ to hide. And that’s all I gotta say ‘bout that!” Booker T yelled angrily.
Overall Rating = 60.6%
Eddie Guerrero vs. Scott Steiner
Guerrero came down with a new swagger, wearing a new nWo shirt. Scott Steiner came out next. He cut his hair! Unbelievable. New fashion statements in WCW. Steiner tried to intimidate Guerrero with a flex but he wasn’t having any of it. They locked up, then Steiner muscled Guerrero away, tossing him down. Huge reaction for that. Geezus. Eddie looked around, as if in shock.
Guerrero approached Steiner again tentatively and the two locked up. At first, Guerrero backed Steiner toward the ropes but Steiner summoned internal strength and muscled Guerrero away again. He flexed and glared at Guerrero to another good reaction. Guerrero slapped the ring and summoned the power of Mick Foley, going full bore into Steiner, clotheslining both himself and Steiner from the ring. Guerrero kicked Steiner in the side while he was prone on the ground. The battle continued on the outside for several minutes.
Suddenly, RICK STEINER ran down and pulled Eddie off of Scott, breaking up the melee. Guerrero looked ready to clock Rick, but Scott ambushed him and tumbled him into the ringpost. Scott then shoved Rick too! He yelled at him! They argued for several moments. Scott went for the pin, but Eddie Guerrero reversed it and rolled him up for the 1-2-3. Eddie was playing possum! He laughs at Steiner, then barely escaped a beating.
Result - Eddie Guerrero by pin
Match Reaction = 73.7%
Match Quality = 57.6%
Overall Rating = 74.6%
After the match, Scott Steiner put his hands on his hips in disbelief. He slid out and pushed Rick again, screaming at him in frustration. Rick shook his head and tried to walk off, but then Scott stopped him. Scott clocked his own brother! Scott put the boots to Rick Steiner! Scott threw Rick into the ring apron, then grabbed a steel chair and destroyed him with it. Officials had to run out to stop the one-sided melee. The crowd was actually boo’ing Scott!
Overall Rating = 66.4%
Buff proposed to Madusa
After commercial, we were taken to the ring where Gene Okerlund was standing with Buff Bagwell. He had the US Title on his shoulder.
“Buff Bagwell, you pulled off a surprising win against Diamond Dallas Page at SuperBrawl and I think I speak for everyone when I say that no one saw it coming!”
“Nobody saw it coming? Mean Gene, /I/ saw it coming!” Buff said with a grin. Madusa clinged to him and laughed.
“Gene, I won the match fair and square. In the middle of the ring. And I guess we figured out who the better man is, right? Me! Because I’m Buff and I’m the stuff!”
“Alright alright! Buff Bagwell, you say it’s fair but I think we all saw Diamond Dallas Page get hurt during that match. If things were really fair, you’d wrestle him again in a rematch!”
“A rematch? A Rematch?? Gene! Forget it! I’ve already beat him! Haha! Nobody wants to see DDP get hurt again. He’d be suckin’ his lunch through a straw if he ever stepped in the ring again, Gene. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he never, ever challenged Buff the Stuff again. You know Gene, I bet you’re wonderin’ what’s next for me, huh?”
“Well actually, no I---“ Gene began, but Buff took the mic and smiled, “Well I plans. Madusa…Maddy…”
Buff looked at Madusa and pulled something from his pocket, “Maddy…listen…” he began and knelt down. “Will you marry me?”
Madusa nearly mugged Bagwell as he agreed, bowling him over with a big hug. Aww. The crowd boo’d that sappy crap. Suddenly, the music of DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE came on in the arena. DDP didn’t appear. Bagwell looked around, as if scared, then suddenly realized that the music had broken his calm persona.
Overall Rating = 52.2%
Bret Hart vs. Rick Martel
Was there some serious wrestling on this program? Yes, I say. Rick Martel stretched out and jumped in place as he waited for Bret Hart in the ring. Some of the crowd stood up for Hart, although I think it might have been out of respect. Hart came down to the ring and shrugged off his Hitman jacket. Martel then smirked and said a few words to Hart. Hart advanced on him, but Martel vacated the ring! Martel shook his head and didn’t seem to like that.
Bret Hart stood back like the honest guy he was and motioned Martel into the ring. After he slowed slid in, the two locked up traditionally. Hart used a snapmare takedown on Martel, then snapped a kick into his back. He used several more sequentially. Martel turned and put a shoulder into Hart, then hotshotted him with an uppercut. Hart stepped back against the ropes, but Martel used that to his advantage to his a few raised knees to jab Hart in the stomach. Hart then blocked a punch and whipped Martel off the ropes, clotheslining him down on the return. Hart put the boots to Martel and asserted dominance for several minutes.
After Hart worked the leg over, Bret Hart signalled for something and it was a tribute to Ric Flair. Hart locked in a figure four leglock and Martel tapped out!
Result - Bret Hart by submission
Match Reaction = 71.2%
Match Quality = 84.8%
Overall Rating = 73.8%
Bret’s advice to Flair
Bret Hart leaned against the ropes as he took a mic and said, “Ric Flair, let me tell you something, you don’t have anything to be ashamed of. You never backed down from anything in your life and maybe, just maybe, you were afraid of letting down these fans at SuperBrawl. When you tagged me in instead of beating Goldberg yourself, I saw it in your face. Ric, things change. People get older. But you still came out there, hobbled leg, bruised shoulder, beaten pride and more. Hell, I’ve been there myself. You and I both have wrestled guys twice our size and STILL come out on top. But if you’re recuperating somewhere, Flair…if you’re sitting at home---you shouldn’t be. You shouldn’t give up without a fight, no matter how hurt you are. Goldberg’s the biggest jerk this side of the business, but let me tell you something else---”
Suddenly, GOLDBERG’S pounding music erupted in the building. I’ve never seen the crowd pay attention to a segment this closely in months, especially when Goldberg came out by himself. He stalked toward the ring. Hart dropped the mic, pulled the straps off his shoulders and looked ready to fight!
Goldberg slid into the ring and went right up to Hart, nose to nose. These men hate each other. The crowd murmured for a fight. Some went WE WANT FLAIR! Some chanted for Hart. Goldberg stepped back and put his hands on his hips. He picked the mic off the floor.
Goldberg smiled viciously and looked at Hart, “Hey Bret….you’re next!” Goldberg walked off. Oh what a jerk. He denied us our fight.
Overall Rating = 95.9%
Eddie joined officially
Well, we were saved an entire show bleeding of New World Order, but we got it here. Eddie Guerrero, Hollywood Hogan, Syxx, The Outsiders and most of the other members went down to the ring. Hogan took the mic, of course.
“Hey dude,” Hogan said, pointing at Eddie, “We got here the biggest guys in wrestling, brother. And I guess we all owe you a handshake for playing along, huh? Haha!”
Hogan walked over and shook Eddie’s hand, laughing in evil pleasure.
Eddie took the mic and said, “Randy Savage didn’t know what hit him, essa. And what we got right here, right now, we can beat anybody in wrestling, /brother/. Arriba la rasa!”
Eddie pointed over at Scott Hall and continued, “You know what. Yo Scott, yo chico. I always wanted to do somethin’, essa. Listen…ahem AHEM!” he said, clearing his throat, “Hey yo! I gotsa question for all you people!”
Good lord, Eddie was doing a survery, “Me and the boys here were just wonderin’ somethin. We’re doin’ a survey! We gotsta know…did you come here to see….dubbya see dubbya?” he asked. Most of the people cheered.
Eddie then raised the mic, but smiled and paused. He handed it to Scott Hall, who smiled and chuckled, “Hey yo! You all came to see the N…….W……..O, didn’t ya?” The crowd boooo’d
“Haha! Yeah! Yeah, I thought so. Chalk another one up for the good guys!” Hall said.
Overall Rating = 71.0%
Lex Luger & The Giant vs. The Outsiders for the WCW Tag-Team Titles
Eventually, I believe they let Lex Luger and The Giant come out. Luger leaned against the ropes as the huge Giant stood in the middle of the ring intimidatedly. Hogan conferenced dramatically with some of the nWo, then Hall entered the ring. He smirked at The Giant and pointed to Luger. Hall wanted Luger! The Giant slapped in Luger!
Luger charged Hall and clotheslined him down hard. Luger put the boots to Hall. Nash reached over and tried to clip Luger, but missed. Luger glared at him and didn’t look too kindly at that cheat. Luger stalked toward Nash, but Hall ambushed him from behind. Hall tagged in Nash in order to double-team Luger. Hogan handed Hall something. It was a bent wire hanger. Nash tagged in Hall, then distracted the ref so he could use it. Ouch. Luger took a whip of the hanger off the chest. He goes down on the mat. Now the crowd began chanting WE WANT STING! WE WANT STING!
Do they want Sting? Yes they do, even several more minutes in. Now Luger was looking for a tag because getting choked with the big boot of Kevin Nash was not the situation to be in. Luger wasn’t even able to get out of the corner until Hall tagged back in. Luger seemed to get a second wind, blocking each punch in succession until he snapped a jab right into Hall’s chin. Luger exploded out of the corner, picked Hall up on his shoulder and slammed him down in the hardest sidewalk slam I’ve ever seen. It took all he had. Luger went down. He crawled toward The Giant. Hot tag to the Giant! Hogan and Eddie pulled Hall toward Nash. Hey, that’s cheating.
The Giant clotheslined Nash, clotheslined Hall, then clotheslined Hennig, clotheslined Eddie and other members of the nWo as they entered. Of course, Hogan got the better of The Giant with a punch and a low blow. He took off the belt and whipped the Giant with it. Luger tried to help him, but was thrown from the ring. The ref was thrown out.
Result – The Giant & Luger by DQ
Match Reaction = 70.3%
Match Quality = 57.6%
Overall Rating = 73.4%
Suddenly, the crowd went deafly quiet as all the lights went out! They up again and STING was standing dead in the middle of the ring! Everyone went absolutely ballistic for his classic gag. Sting clobbered Nash with the bat, clobbered Eddie with the bat and then turned it on Hogan. He tossed Hogan from the ring! Luger used the ropes to get up and looked shocked, as if not expecting Sting to be there. Sting offered him a handshake! They shook hands. They attended to The Giant together. Was this team WCW?
The TV viewing figures for last night are now in: WCW recieved 907,448 viewers for WCW Monday Nitro (increase of 176,619 viewers from previous show)
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Chapter Six: The Five Minute Preshow
Eric Bischoff tucked a certain, yellow book under his arm and with a confident smile, walked from the dressing room toward the gathering area. The dark matches were already finishing for yet another Nitro and the show was about to begin. While Arn Anderson gave his usual pre-show pep talk to those gathered near the curtain, Bischoff reminded himself of the segments going on tonight.
He tipped up his chin and noticed something, or rather someone coming right at him. With a glitzy swagger, Bret Hart approached Bischoff and held out his hands.
"Well?" Hart asked him.
"Well what?" Bischoff replied confusedly.
"Eric, it's five minutes to the start of the show. I dont even know what I'm doing tonight."
"I thought we were going with the speech we talked about last week," Eric reminded him.
"I dont think we even talked about a speech, Eric. See, this is what I'm talking about--"
"Alright, alright! Here, listen...this is good stuff. Imagine this, you just lost a match tagging with Ric Flair, right? You go out there and rip into him. Go heel for a while there and then setup a match with him for next week."
"No offense or anything Eric, but I'm not ripping Flair. They'll kill me for that. That's too much heat."
"That's the /point/. You're the bad guy."
"I thought we agreed I was going to be the babyface for a while," Bret pointed out.
"Fine. You talk about...um...how you were disappointed. Try to put him over instead."
"Well whatever, I think the show's starting. I'm up first right?" Bret asked confusedly.
"No no, Lex is up first. You really need to start coming earlier, Bret."
Bret just shook his head and looked at Bischoff with a smirk, "What's that?" he asked, looking at the yellow book.
"Uh...just a book," Bischoff answered, "About wrestling."
"Oh. Where'd you get it?" Hart asked curiously.
"I'm not sure actually. It was left backstage."
"Really. Well, how do you know it's yours then?" Hart asked.
And that was a good question. Where DID this book come from. Eric Bischoff would get to the bottom of it, because free advice is never free.
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2WRESTLING.COM PREVIEW
WCW MONDAY NITRO
Well, SuperBrawl VIII came and went to a good response, however the war still rages. WCW recieved 336,966 buys (0.77 buyrate) for Superbrawl VIII, versus almost 323,000 buys for the WWF's In Your House: Blaze of Glory held on February 1st. A slim margin considering the WCW's stacked card. No comment was made from WCW staff, only to say they were happy with what they had produced.
As it stands, SuperBrawl could be considered very much a transitional PPV for WCW. Sting remained World Champion over Randy Savage, but Hollywood Hogan returned and seems to have reunited the nWo against Savage. Other feuds might be carried over, as well. It seems as though Savage was setup from the beginning, by Hogan, The Outsiders and new nWo member, Eddie Guerrero. As if stealing Miss Elizabeth wasnt enough of a devastating blow, The Outsiders feigned loyalty and ushered in a false sense of security that Hogan later used to screw Savage out of the World Title.
Speaking of Titles, a NEW United States Champion was crowned at SuperBrawl, that of Buff Bagwell. 29 year old Bagwell enjoyed one of his first standout title wins by beating DDP in a contraversial fashion. It seemed as though DDP was injured during the match and it has been confirmed that he suffered a concussion after being dropped on his head. DDP nearly had to be stretchered from the arena.
SuperBrawl also strained others as well, such as Steve Williams, who was victimized by the DUNGEON despite winning the match against the mysterious Hangman. But who is the Hangman? Williams not only promised to not let the attack hold him down, but said after SuperBrawl that the fight would be taken to each and every Dungeon member.
As far as matches go, there was no harder match than that competed in by Ric Flair. It seemed to many viewers that Ric Flair was not only slowly, but breaking down. This week, BRET HART has a few words for Ric Flair. The question is, what will Hart have to say about losing?
WCW Nitro
February 15th, 1998
Mortis vs. Norman Smiley
The Faces of Fear vs. ADB & Scott Montgomery
Raven vs. Dean Malenko
Lex Luger & The Giant vs. The Outsiders
WCW has revealed the preliminary poster for Uncensored 1998 to be held on March 15th from Mobile, Alabama:
UNCENSORED: NO RULES, NO MERCY...
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SuperBrawl VIII
February 15th, 1998
New World Order and the Note
It’s time once again for a nWo arrival scene, where unity was the theme. Hall was wearing a dewrag to show his street side. Nash walked from the limo with Randy Savage, but then suddenly Buff Bagwell crowded the camera in order to grin arrogantly and flex. As the camera pushed to the side of Bagwell and Hennig, it focused on Savage again. A backstage member ran up and handed a note to Randy Savage.
Syxx slid off the trunk of the limo and eyed the note suspiciously. Savage read it just as Hall and Nash leaned closer, then crumpled it up into a ball.
“What’s with that?” Hall asked.
“Somebody bein’ funny,” Savage noted darkly, “If any of you see Eddie Guerrero, I want him. Nobody’s leavin’ tonight until he gets buried.”
“Don’t worry pal, we’ll take care of him,” Nash promised. The camera zoomed in on Savage, but those glossy sunglasses revealed nothing. He tenses his jaw and walked off with the group.
The show faded in and showed an excellent video package of STING. Highlights of Sting with Roddy Piper were shown, as well as his several confrontations with the New World Order, led by Savage. Tony Schiavone, Larry Zybysko and Dusty Rhodes all speculated on the main event, with Dusty going so far as to question whether Sting would be able to overcome the whole now group. They then threw it backstage where The Brain was standing in the dimly lit hallway. The Brain also gave his predictions, but said that he was even more interested in what STEVE WILLIAMS was going to do if he got his hands on Jimmy Hart tonight.
“Dr. Death” Steve Williams vs. The Hangman
What a master of the segue that Brain is. Tony Schiavone got really excited as Steve Williams was introduced, feeling some of the same sentiment as the Brain, I suppose. Half of his music was interrupted however as the Dungeon ran down the aisle and attacked en masse. The large Hangman seemed to be directing traffic, as Scott Montgomery and ADB kicked him down. John Tenta put the beaten Williams on his shoulder and carried him to the ring.
After Tenta deposited Williams for the Hangman, he covered for the 1-2. Williams kicked out and eyed The Hangman with the anger boiling up inside him. The Dungeon vacated the ring and let the match continue, cursing Williams on the outside. Jimmy Hart jumped up and down like a pinball, shaking his fists. The Hangman reversed an irish whip and threw Williams into the turnbuckle hard. He charged but was met with a stiff elbow. Williams kicked the Hangman right in the kneecap, then kicked him in the fat gut. The Hangman raked the face to halt the momentum, then hit a DDT. He wasn’t about to cover this time though, as he wanted to destroy Williams. He began by rubbing the face of Williams on the mat, then pressing his black heel to his forehead.
The Hangman stomped Williams, over and over, then choked him on the ropes. When he had to break it, ADB came over and the choking continued. Williams used the ropes to get up as The Hangman laughed at him arrogantly, holding his belly in amusement. The Hangman turned him around, but Williams blocked a punch, then another, then reversed a whip and clotheslined the masked man. Williams dropped his knee into the stomach of The Hangman, then reached down to unmask him. They struggled. Jimmy Hart jumped up on the apron, but Williams turned around and socked him one. The crowd popped for that for the first time tonight. The Hangman got up slowly. Williams came over and while The Hangman couldn’t see, hit the Doctor Bomb for the 1-2-3.
Result – Steve Williams by pin
Match Reaction = 63.9%
Match Quality = 67.1%
Overall Rating = 65.9%
After the match, Williams again tried to unmask The Hangman, but the Dungeon rushed in for the save. They pummelled Williams, ambushing him from behind. Jimmy Hart directed traffic as ADB and Montgomery put the boots to Williams each time he tried to get up. They tossed him into the corner and Tenta slammed into him, squashing him against the turnbuckle. The Hangman got up and helped out, taking his turn squashing Williams. Williams collapsed and started coughing up a little blood as the heels celebrated. The mysterious Hangman laughed loudly.
Overall Rating = 94.0%!
Ultimo Dragon vs. Yuji Nagata
Los Villanos escorted Nagata to the ring, but then he turned around and ordered them to the back! The twin Villanos didn’t know how to react, looking at Nagata in confusion. After some more prompting, the Villanos walked to the back and left Nagata alone in the ring, which he seemed happy with. Ultimo Dragon was introduced next and he came out dressed in a teal and black, which was a great color for him. He took off the elaborate cape as his music was cut off. Sonny Onoo ran down and yelled something up from ringside at Nagata.
Nagata put his hands on his hips frustratedly, then blew off Oono, not answering. He turned to the Dragon and offered his hand. Nagata was offering to shake! Ultimo tentatively shook hands and then the match began. After a grapple, Nagata turned it into a collar and elbow tie-up, but Dragon quickly countered with a wrist lock turn of the arm. The grip was tightened but Nagata used some overwhelming power to tug Dragon toward him. Dragon landed on his feet after being tossed backwards in a German Suplex attempt. Nagata took him down with an arm drag hip toss, but then walked into one of the Dragon’s! It turned into a series of counters and holds, faster than I can recount. Dragon finally hit a standing dropkick, then went to the top rope. Summoning the power of any Ric Flair opponent, Nagata leapt over to the turnbuckle and tossed Dragon down hard. Dragon landed on his feet, grabbed Nagata into a headlock, then delivered a powerful Tornado DDT.
Sonny Oono jumped up on the apron as Dragon was climbing to the turnbuckle again and knocked him off! Unbelievable. Dragon fell to the mat hard. The ref turned around and didn’t even see it. Suddenly, REY MYSTERIO ran down and pulled Oono from the apron, tossing him to the ground. Both men struggled to their feet. Dragon summoned up a second wind and used a Quebrada Press for a near fall, but Nagata reversed it. Nagata then tried to lock Dragon into his own Dragon Sleeper, but Dragon slipped out and clotheslined Nagata down. Dragon went to the top rope and his some sort of twisting, asai legdrop thing that looked very nicely done. Dragon rolled over for the 1-2-3.
Result – Ultimo Dragon by pin
Match Reaction = 53.8%
Match Quality = 81.6%
Overall Rating = 63.9%
After the match, Los Villanos finally found their way back to the ring and attacked Rey Mysterio. Oono and the Villanos kicked and stomped the injured Mysterio and Dragon. Nagata slid out and frowned at the scene, then grabbed Oono by the collar, tossing him away! Oono jumped up, stomped his feet and had a hissy fit! Dragon leapt from the ring and helped Mysterio to his feet. It was a standoff. Nagata shook his head and walked off with his group.
Flair limped in
Backstage, the locker room area was shown. Ric Flair was limping around as if trying to walk off his recent attack by Goldberg. Flair shook his head and didn’t look too confident, then noticed someone walk by. It was Eddie Guerrero! With him was Miss Elizabeth, who was clinging to him.
“Hey holmes, you’re in front of my locker,” Guerrero said with a smirk and a chuckle. Miss Elizabeth brushed his hair back into place.
Ric Flair put a hand on his hip and turned to look at Eddie, “You’re telling me, Ric Flair, that I’m in your way? Lemme tell you something partner, I was wrestling guys twice as big as you and ten times as good as you for years. I was wrestling guys up and down the country, wrestling to the BIGGEST and the LOUDEST arenas when you were still in diapers! I’ve had lockers, I’ve had limos, I’ve had women, all day, every day! People like you only /wish/ to have what I’ve had all along. I think you got better things to worry about than comin' in here claiming lockers.”
“Yeah, an argument with mi familia. But nothin’ like the problems you got holmes. I’m talkin’ about your broken down, busted ass, essa. I don’t see any stylin’ and profilin’, I don’t see any chicas. Nah, I see a short locker and an old man. You’re nothing now. I kinda feel sorry for you, essa. So you take all the room you want, I gotta go watch a match.”
Ric Flair put a hand on Eddie’s chest and glared at him sternly, but Eddie brushed away then walked off.
Overall Rating = 98.4%
Chris Jericho vs. Chavo Guerrero
We cut to the ring where Chavo Guerrero was standing. If Eddie was watching this match, it certainly wasn’t from ringside. Chris Jericho came out to a new video introduction on the big wall and his music cranked up. He slid into the ring and pointed across at Chavo, threatening him. The action began with a lock-up, until Guerrero wrenched Jericho around and threw him into the corner.
Guerrero hit a dropkick on Jericho knocks him clean over the turnbuckle down to the floor. Guerrero jumped from the apron and collided himself with Jericho with no regard for his own well being. Jericho reversed a whip and tossed Guerrero over the steel steps awkwardly. That looked bad. Guerrero grabbed his knee and looked like he was in pain. Jericho rolled him back in and covered for the 1-2. Jericho slapped the ring in frustration, yelling at the ref. Jericho stomped Guerrero on the mat, then worked some ground moves for several minutes. It was when Guerrero was locked in a camel clutch that he looked really in trouble, but then got to the ropes.
Guerrero helped himself up using the ropes, then as Jericho walked over to engage him once again, he walked right into a belly to belly suplex. Jericho snapped up but Guerrero hit a dropkick to drop him quickly again. Jericho was whipped over the ropes, then dumped over Guerrero’s shoulder straight to the floor. Guerrero climbed the turnbuckle and hit a crossbody right on the floor. They fought around the right for a few more minutes, until Jericho slid into the ring and caught Guerrero by surprise with a boot to the face.
Guerrero bulldogged Jericho for a 1-2. With much energy, Guerrero backed Jericho into the corner and hit him across the chest with some chops. Jericho came out of the corner with right hands, then hit a standing dropkick, toppling over Guerrero. Jericho tried to lock in the Liontamer but couldn’t get Guerrero over! Guerrero rolled into the corner and then as Jericho charged, Guerrero leapt over top and hit a victory roll for a 1-2. Jericho barely escaped. He backed off from Guerrero and used some kicks to slow him down. Jericho whipped him off the ropes tiredly and then the two collided. Both men were down. The ref started the count but Jericho crawled over and covered for a 1-2. Jericho rolled up both of Guerrero’s feet and used all his strength to get a 1-2-3.
Result – Chris Jericho by pin
Match Reaction = 64.5%
Match Quality = 85.2%
Overall Rating = 76.2%
Tyrone vs Booker T for the WCW TV Title
The Flock were shown at ringside as Chavo Guerrero hobbled up the aisle to the back. Raven sat stoically as the camera focused on him, then leapt the barrier and slid into the ring. He sat in the corner. Tyrone did the same, except with stood with his hands on his hips in the ring while waiting for Booker T.
“Win or lose,” Raven began over the mic, “Booker T will NEVER be the same after the TRUTH is revealed,” he said cryptically.
“Win or lose? I’m gonna bust you up, Booker T! Get yo ass out here, Booker, right now!” Tyrone said, grabbing the mic, “Don’t make me come back there and drag your busted ass down the aisle---“ he began. Booker T’s music hit in the arena.
Booker T ran down to the ring like a man possessed and slid in, attacking Tyrone. Tyrone and Booker traded right hands, then traded move reversals until Tyrone was able to finally clothesline his opponent down. Tyrone stomped Booker T, then picked him right off the canvas and held him in a bearhug. Booker broke out with some elbows, then hit an ear clap of all moves. Tyrone was doubled over for a moment, but Booker took advantage and hit a jawbreaker. Booker bounced off the ropes to take advantage but Sick Boy grabbed his ankle, nearly tripping him up. An angry Booker turned to yell at him but Tyrone took advantage and ambushed him from behind.
Tyrone slammed Booker T down hard, but only got a 1-2. Tyrone locked on a headlock while Booker was prone on the ground but again, Booker T fought to his feet. Big body shots from the elbow helped Booker T to escape, then in classic style, Booker T bounced off the ropes and hit the heel kick. Booker T covered for the 1-2-3 before anyone could even react. The Flock rushed in to attack Booker T, but he slid out and escaped. On the outside he held his hands up in victory, then apparently told everyone to raise the roof, as he gave the signal.
Result – Booker T by pin
Match Reaction = 42.8%
Match Quality = 62.2%
Overall Rating = 49.5%
Savage Backstage
After Booker celebrated with his TV Title, we were taken backstage where Savage was tearing up the locker room while he looked for Eddie Guerrero. He kicked over and toppled everything in his path. He looked in doors but Eddie was nowhere to be seen. Only Kevin Nash, Hall and Syxx could calm him down. The group held Savage back from doing more damage. The announcers speculated if Eddie and Elizabeth were even still in the building.
Overall Rating = 75.2%
The Outsiders vs. Dean Malenko & Chris Benoit for the WCW World Tag-Team titles
The crowd was really hot for this match, but not as much as I thought. Overall, I don’t think this one lived up to my expectations, but what it did do was impress me with the amount of intensity had between wrestlers. Not the wrestling necessarily, but the sheer energy and emotion put into the match by those involved. The Outsiders looked calm and collected, but when Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko came out, then stared them right down without blinking, things changed. Nash smirked at Benoit, but got a shove for his efforts.
Nash lifted the knee and then pounded Benoit with overhead forearms. That was about all the regular offense this one had, because just like on Nitro, this one spilled onto the outside and erupted into a brawl. A few minutes in, the referee could barely control the action as Hall just about used every trick he had to devastate Benoit. He tossed Benoit into the steps, over the rail, then into the side of the ring. Finally, Hall just decided to pick the steel steps up but Benoit hit a drop toe hold on Hall, colliding face with steel. Ouch.
In the ring, I think the legal men were Nash and Malenko. Nash was really pummelling Malenko, chopping and punching him in the corner. Nash threw him into the opposite turnbuckle, then tried to deliver a strong avalanche, but missed. Malenko crawled toward his corner and reached for the tag, but Benoit wasn’t there! Hall was busted open on the outside and was still struggling with Benoit. Hall could barely stand. Benoit leapt onto the apron and reached for the tag, but Nash had recovered by then and pulled Malenko back. Nash scooped slammed and covered for a 1-2. Hall climbed back on his apron too and tried to shake it off. Nash whipped Malenko off the ropes but he ducked the clotheslined and hit the deck, able to quickly tag in Benoit! Benoit charged, shoulder blocking Nash to the corner. Nash squashed the referee as well. The referee went down in a heap. Hall entered but got tossed immediately. Benoit was able to German Suplex Nash in a huge spot and then locked on the Crippler Crossface! There was no referee!!! Nash looked ready to give up! Another referee ran down to the ring and slid in, taking over. It was Mickey Jay. Nash tapped! NASH TAPPED! It was over!
Mickey Jay called for the bell! Jay retrieved the tag-belts and gave them to Benoit and Malenko. WAIT! Hall revived Charles Robinson, who began arguing with Mickey Jay. Robinson took the belts from Benoit and Malenko and handed them to the Outsiders! Unbelievable. Charles Robinson was disqualifying Benoit for the bump.
Result – The Outsiders by DQ
After the match, the crowd boooo’d excessively. Benoit put his hands on his hips and couldn’t believe what had just happened. Wasn’t that an accident? Malenko stared down Hall and Nash as they barely escaped the match.
Match Reaction = 71.7%
Match Quality = 69.7%
Overall Rating = 76.3%
Chavo and Eddie Brawl
We finally found Eddie Guerrero. He was in the parking lot loading his car, apparently ready to leave. Miss Elizabeth stood by his side. Chavo Guerrero apparently had gotten a hot lead because he too found Eddie and came up to confront him.
“Eddie! What the hell you doin’? Where you goin’?? Why didn’t you come out for my match? I thought we were familia, yo!” Chavo yelled.
“Just shaddup for once,” Eddie snapped. He slammed the trunk closed. Chavo grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around.
“You are NOT going to leave, Eddie. I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately but it’s got to STOP!”
“You’re right, holmes,” Eddie said, shaking his head, “I dunno what I’m thinkin’.”
Chavo nodded and stepped closer to shake hands, but Eddie clocked him, having faked the calm sentiment. Eddie slammed Chavo’s head into the trunk of the car, then put the boots to him. Eddie brawled with Chavo with a few more moments until, in a sick spot, Eddie destroyed the side window by putting Chavo’s head through it. Chavo went down and wasn’t moving.
64.3
Buff Bagwell vs. DDP for the WCW United States title
The announcers were irrate about Eddie’s dastardly turn on his own blood. They showed some updates during the beginning of the match, saying that medics had taken Chavo to the hospital. Meanwhile, Buff Bagwell was posing in the ring, flexing. Madusa was hanging all over him like a groupie. DDP came out second and began the match by locking up with Bagwell.
Bagwell tried to end it early and a few minutes in hit a jawbreaker for a close 1-2. Bagwell followed up with a stern right hand and a suplex. It looked like it took great strength to get DDP over and he nearly botched it. DDP grabbed the back of his neck and had to take a few moments to recover, trapped in the corner. Bagwell stomped him until DDP gained a second wind and blocked a right hand, delivering his own. DDP kicked Bagwell in the shin of all places, then clotheslined him down. DDP nearly fell off the turnbuckle as he was climbing up, looking wobbily. The announcers speculated on DDP’s condition. DDP was up there so long that Bagwell got up and clipped him with a right hand. Bagwell backdropped DDP from the turnbuckle and got a 1-2. DDP used the ropes to get up but slid to the mat once again. The referee asked him if he wanted to quit, while Bagwell stood there and smirked. DDP reversed an irish whip but couldn’t follow up, getting an elbow to the chin as Bagwell came off the ropes. DDP used the ropes to try to get up again and winced in serious pain. Bagwell took advantage, coming up behind to roll him up for the 1-2-3. DDP was down and it looked like there was yet another injury on the show. DDP rolled around in pain and couldn’t even lift his head.
Bagwell raised the US Title up in celebration, grinning all the while. Madusa kept his arm up and pointed to him. Medics apparently had to stretcher out DDP, but he didn’t want to go out that way. DDP fell off the stretcher and tried to walk to the back by any means necessary. The officials helped him walk.
Result – Buff Bagwell by pin
Match Reaction = 69.5%
Match Quality = 50.4%
Overall Rating = 73.0%
Bret Hart and Ric Flair vs. Goldberg & Steve McMichael
Ric Flair came out in a sparkling blue rope but he was limping. Bret Hart came out next and at least he was in prestine condition tonight. Flair shook hands with Hart. Goldberg and McMichael came out as a solid unit to the pounding music of Goldberg that was echoing in the arena. McMichael put on that all-american smile and taunted Hart from across the ring. He started the match with Hart, locking up with him. Hart used a quick snapmare takedown into a front facelock to frustrate McMichaels.
Hart nailed McMichael in the ribs with a knee, then stood up and decided to work the right leg. He grabbed it and nailed it with some kicks, then some falling elbows. After a few minutes of Hart’s ‘psychology’, Hart tagged in Flair and used some double-team moves to attack McMichaels. Flair put the boots to McMichael and dropped him with a stiff knife-edge chop, then tagged out a little sooner than I expected. The crowd was leary, as was Hart, who gave him a look. Flair shrugged. As Hart continued the match himself, the crowd chanting WE WANT FLAIR, WE WANT FLAIR! And this was California. And this was nearly 18,000.
Flair was tagged in! He entered and chopped McMichaels in the corner, then kicked him. McMichael blocked a punch and delivered one of his own, fighting out of the corner. Both men were trading furious right hands until McMichael took a stiff one and went down hard. Flair didn’t celebrate, but merely tagged in Hart. Curious move there because McMichael was able to skitter to his corner before Hart could prevent it. Goldberg was in now and he looked incredibly ready to wrestle. The crowd again chanted WE WANT FLAIR, but Hart was too busy fending off Goldberg. That same psychology didn’t seem to work on Goldberg, as he soon shrugged off work on his arm and work on his leg. Hart was sweating big time by this time and finally got a huge clothesline that nearly folded him in half. That halted the pyschology nearly for good. Goldberg tossed Hart into the corner and called for Flair. Hart made the tag. Flair was in!!
Flair blocked a right hand, then chopped Goldberg across the chest until it was beet red. Backed into the corner, Flair continued with the right hands. Then Goldberg smiled. Flair glared at him. Goldberg put his hands up and SHOVED Flair, toppling backwards several times. Flair winced in pain and as soon as he got up he got a sudden SPEAR as Goldberg exploded from the corner. Goldberg covered for the 1-2-3.
Result – Steve McMichael and Goldberg by pin
Match Reaction = 80.1%
Match Quality = 73.2%
Overall Rating = 76.7%
After the match, Bret Hart pulled Flair from the ring to save him from further harm. Hart frowned at Flair a little as he barely was able to support his weight in order to get him to walk to the back. Everyone could tell that Hart didn’t like being put in this situation, on the losing end of things. McMichael and Goldberg could barely contain their satisfaction. McMichael laughed and raised the stern Goldberg’s arm in celebration. Booooo.
Sting vs. Randy Savage for the WCW Heavyweight Title
Randy Savage came out with a stern expression, standing at ringside ignoring the fans to prove it. When the World Champion came out, the crowd stood up and cheered for him, but the dull roar wasn’t quite as loud as that for Flair. Almost even though. Sting shrugged off his title and the black trenchcoat, then just stood on the outside. Sting stepped forward and glared up at him. Savage jumped to the outside and attacked him.
Sting took the blows, summoning up the power of Sylvester Stallone as Rocky and took all the hits. Savage pounded Sting, kicked Sting, then threw him into the railing. Savage pounded on him some more. Sting was down. Savage rolled Sting into the ring and Sting wasn’t moving. Savage covered and Sting kicked out at one! Sting stood up, leaping to his feet and hulked up, if you’ll escuse the expression. Savage was shocked! Sting reared back and clocked Savage, then chopped him like Flair and scoop slammed him down.
Sting clotheslined Savage as soon as he tried to get up, then covered for a 1-2. Hall got up on the apron but as soon as Sting turned around to address him, Hall dropped down. Hall begged off. Savage came up behind and attacked Sting. Savage raked the back of Sting, then pinned him in the corner and pummelled him with right hands. Sting came out of the corner and fought back, but Savage clocked him and hit a sideslam. Savage covered for a 1-2. After Sting kicked out, he broke out of headlock quickly and clotheslined Savage again. Sting kicked at his leg and then it looked like he might go for the Scorpion Deathlock.
Suddenly, EDDIE GUERRERO came down to the ring with Miss Elizabeth. Savage got to the ropes so the lock couldn’t be applied and realized that Elizabeth was there. He immediately slid to the outside and confronted Guerrero with some angry shouts. He tried to grab Elizabeth but she wasn’t budging. Unexpectedly, HOLLYWOOD HOGAN walked down to ringside and separated the two. He redirected Savage back to the ring. Hogan then turned around to argue with Guerrero. Savage got back in the ring and barely avoided being counted out.Back in the ring, Savage beat on Sting with ferocity, kicking at him. As he bounced off the ropes, Guerrero tripped him up! Guerrero raised his hands as if saying that it was an accident! Hogan stalked over to Guerrero, but didn’t do anything. Hogan smiled at Guerrero knowingly then laughed and shook hands with him! Sting locked on the Scorpion Deathlock in the middle of the ring. Savage struggled in pain!!
With surprise, The Outsiders and Syxx quickly ran down to the ring because supposedly they were in support of Savage. But they stopped short and didn’t attack Hogan or Guerrero. Savage had no choice but to tap out!
Result – Sting by submission
After the match, Savage shrugged off the pain, exitting the ring to attack Guerrero. Suddenly, The Outsiders and Syxx walked over not to break it up but to attack Savage. Guerrero, Nash, Hall, Hogan and Syxx all put the boots to Randy Savage. Nash powerbombed Savage on the outside, then they carried him back to the ring in order to deliver more punishment. Guerrero went to the top rope and pulled off his shirt. He was wearing NEW WORLD ORDER colors underneath. He frogsplashed Savage. Eddie laughed and celebrated with the Outsiders, having successfully completed their setup. Hogan gave him a legdrop. Some junk was thrown in the ring. Hogan hugged Nash and they reunited, having set up Savage perfectly.
Suddenly, Sting rushed back to the match and the heels scattered. On the outside, Hogan raised the arm of Guerrero in celebration but the cheers werent for him but for Sting in the ring. He was holding up the World Title! He then pointed out toward the nWo, his stoic gaze never wavering.
Match Reaction = 76.6%
Match Quality = 64.4%
Overall Rating = 72.7%
74.4 Overall
18,597 Attending
WCW recieved 568,453 viewers for WCW WorldWide (decrease of 16,156 viewers from previous show); WCW recieved 336,966 buys (0.77 buyrate) for Superbrawl
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Nash saying ladies and gentlemen? Schiavone being calm and saying good evening? What is this, bingo?
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2WRESTLING REPORT:
WCW SUPERBRAWL Preview Show
February 14th, 1998
WCW WorldWide
Curt Hennig beat Fit Finley (79.3%)
Interview with Jim Neidhart (69.6%)
Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart beat Scotty Riggs and Van Hammer (55.7%)
Rick Steiner beat Rick Martel (72.2%)
Raven beat Ray Traylor (64.9%)
Lex Luger & The Giant beat David Taylor & Steven Regal (65.9%)
SuperBrawl VIII
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams vs. Jimmy Hart's Chosen One
This seems to be a battle of philosophies. Williams, the grizzled veteran, took out his aggressions on the latest, gimmicky schmoes to be introduced by Jimmy Hart, BUT Hart was not so easily defeated. He has regrouped with some youngsters, the veteran John Tenta and a mysterious man named the "Hangman." At SuperBrawl, Jimmy Hart gets to pick the wrestler of his choice to take on Williams, but in return, if Dr. Death wins, he gets five minutes in the ring with Hart.
Ultimo Dragon vs. Yuji Negata
Sonny Oono made Ultimo Dragon, or so he says. But Dragon is a self-made man and cannot stand Onoo or anyone associated with him, especially Yuji Negata. The most interesting development lately is the subtle disinterest Negata has been showing toward Oono's vendetta against Dragon. Will Oono crack the whip or will the fire finally show in Negata?
Chris Jericho vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Chris Jericho originally needed a big win over Rey Mysterio to impress Konnan and The Posse, but that was all for naught as a mysterious attacker nearly put Mysterio out. Jericho and most of WCW blamed Eddie Guerrero, but Chavo disagreed. With the recent rift between the Guerreros starting, will Chavo still have a chance to come out on top?
Tyrone vs. Booker T for the TV Title
Although only the surface of this feud has been scratched, Tyrone has undoubtedly come out of nowhere to challenge Booker T on a personal level. With the help of Raven, Tyrone has called a Booker T a fraud, a sham, and a liar, amongst other things. With that kind of threat to his pride, Booker T had to accept the challenge. Will this play right into the hands of Raven? What secrets about Booker T are yet to be revealed?
The Outsiders vs. Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko for the Tag-Titles
It is unfortunate that Chris Benoit & Malenko were ultimately behind the rift between the Steiner brothers. Benoit however, is proud of his #1 contenders spot and will be going for his first gold at SuperBrawl. If the Steiners vs. Benoit/Malenko match was any indication, this one should be an all-out brawl.
Buff Bagwell vs. DDP for the US Championship
This match has been coming since the beginning of the year and this is the payoff. Buff Bagwell has gained most of the edge since clashing with DDP, doing so by acquiring the loyalty of Madusa. Buff might just be outmatched however, when the two finally just have to put up and wrestle.
Bret Hart & Ric Flair vs. Steve McMichael & Goldberg
Steve McMichael formed a plan with Goldberg to fake his injury in order to destroy Bret Hart's friends. That went wonderfully and to top it all off, McMichael was able to one up Arn Anderson, therein proving to himself that he was better than the Horsemen. But can the two schemers beat the leaders of the two most respected factions in wrestling?
WCW World Champion Sting vs. Randy Savage
After showing some leadership ability, Randy Savage was named to replace Hollywood Hogan in the main event. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall have surpisingly supported him and left behind what was "Hollywood's" nWo. However, Randy Savage might just be the most unstable World Title challenger in WCW history. Eddie Guerrero recently appeared with Miss Elizabeth and Savage doesnt trust anyone around him. However, if a victory can be pulled off, Savage might just look like the strongest man in WCW.
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Man that was a 'meh' show to me. I tell you man, I can feel the whole Steiner Brothers thing. Infact I think Scott will make his HEEL TURN soon on Rick. Though I am not sure if he will be alone or join the nWo or something.
I've been dragging on this month! Five weeks between PPVs is hard work and you're right, it was a sort of a meh show with some meh concepts. Next month should be a good change, only four weeks.
The Story of the Wrestling Business
in The Dome Retro Room
Posted · Edited by Nottavictim
Starrcade 1994 was more successful than any recent show, exceeding them by a wide margin, 40,000 buys in fact. This was due to the marquee value of the main event, but certainly not the workrate. Vader and Hogan stunk up the arena, with Vader dominating, then Hogan making a comeback late to get the victory. This was the Hogan style. Not surprisingly, the workrate of the show came from the youngsters, led by Chris Benoit and Steve Austin.
However, the marquee value of the main event was not so easily dismissed. A majority of fans wanted Hogan to win, but Vader had to be built appropriately to be a legitimate threat. To do this, Vader press-slammed and threw Jimmy Hart out of the ring live on Nitro and inflicted pain on Hogan’s friends throughout the month. Vader also manipulated several other events. For example, the Giant tricked Hogan into the ring with him so Vader could run in, but Sting ran out too, at the last moment and saved the day. This Giant and Vader partnership was quite a big reveal for that month, as the two enemies of Hogan joined forces to becom a threat together. However, as Hogan added Sting to even the odds, it became a more fair war. In the end, the conflict was resolved at Starrcade with a Hogan win and a Sting victory over the Giant. Of course, many fans expected that, because faces were put over traditionally, at Starrcade. WCW did not seem to follow tradition this time, which critics said hurt the show.
The exception to this was the Canadian wrestlers and the stable itself, which seemed to inspire the fans as much as anti-hero Steve Austin. They were solid heels during December, with Davey Boy arrogantly flipping his dreadlocks and Owen gaining an evil laugh at just about every TV spot. He became more amused with his opponents than Brian Pillman, who was known for his arrogant cackling.
Starrcade 1994
Dark Match: Doom defeated The Kliq (Nash + Waltman)
Dark Match: Rick Rude defeated Saturn
Terry Funk defeated Owen Hart
Money Talks defeated Harlem Heat by DQ
Ricky Steamboat defeated Steve Austin
The Ice Man Chris Benoit defeated Lord Steven Regal for the US Title
6-Man Elimination: Davey Boy, Brian Pillman + Bret Hart defeated The Road Warriors + Paul Orndorff
The Rock n’ Roll Express defeated the Horsemen (Arn Anderson and Ric Flair)
Barry Windham defeated Dustin Rhodes w/Dusty Rhodes
Sting defeated Ric Flair
Hulk Hogan defeated Vader
Wrestlers still being pushed were anyone Canadian or Canadian-affiliated. Owen Hart started in WCW as a fun face, then turned heel thanks to his heat and confidence that he could be annoying. He was pitted against Bret Hart and as this feud built up, then he joined up with Davey Boy and Brian Pillman. In the storyline, Bret and Owen seemed to bury the hatchet in December and did favors for each other to prove this. On Nitro, Owen called in his favor by asking Bret to be in a 6-man tag with the Canadians at Starrcade. Bret reluctantly agreed, to keep the peace with his brother. The Road Warriors seemed distracted in the match, uncertain about Bret's new agreement. Animal could not bring himself to pin Bret Hart or take advantage as the heavy hitting Road Warriors usually did. To make the fans happy, they had a more interesting storyline with Owen Hart.
Early in December, Owen could not pin or defeat the resilient Terry Funk on Nitro. After Funk offered him respect with a handshake, Owen slapped him. Then in the following weeks, Owen used the mic to insult Funk’s age and compared him to his own father, saying he was too old to be in wrestling or even walking around with wrestlers like The Canadians. The crowd really got into him when Owen insulted Stu Hart. Stu Hart then showed up at Starrcade! Stu was on hand, thanks to the booking team position.
During Owen’s match versus Funk at Starrcade, Stu Hart walked down to the ringside. During the match, Owen was distracted and played up his cowardly heel character even more, whining and complaining about Stu‘s presence. Brian Pillman shoved Stu Hart after an argument and Bret Hart ran down to make the save. Owen walked to the ropes to yell his two cents, then Funk took advantage and rolled him up for the win. Afterward, Bret and Owen confronted each other in the ring again, but Stu slid in and got between them. In the end, it was Stu’s staredown that Owen couldn’t handle, the frowning eyes seemingly making him feel as guilty as he had ever felt. He hugged Stu and shook Bret Hart’s hand.
Another father-son confrontation occurred at Starrcade, between Dusty and Cowboy Dustin Rhodes. Except, in this case, Dusty had supported his son and stood by him even when Dustin continually argued with former friend Barry Windham. When Dusty tried to be peacemaker early in December, the attempt backfired and Dustin nearly ended up fighting with Barry in front of his father. At Starrcade, they met each other in the ring, but when Dustin tried to cheat to win a few times, Dusty at ringside prevented this from happening. Barry Windham came out with the win, but Dustin wouldn’t stop brooding. He stared angrily at his father, then he stalked backstage without him. WCW would certainly follow up on this in January.
WCW took advantage of some other hot wrestlers and pushed them at Starrcade. For example, Bobby Eaton had been teaming with Michael Wallstreet as money loving shysters. As Money Talks, Beautiful Bobby Eaton was a greedy and arrogant singles wrestler. They got an amazing reaction as Money Talks, even carrying and tossing around real money. They defended the tag-titles together at Starrcade, but by an unconvincing disqualification as the Rock n' Roll Express pushed the ref after trying to convince him about Beautiful Bobby's cheating. The Rock n' Roll Express cleared the ring however, and made the fans happy. Another hot wrestler was Steve Austin, who had been floundering for several months without Brian Pillman. Austin was later involved in a good match with Chris Benoit the following month, however the cheers continued. Bischoff was not happy with that reaction, so planned out some anti-wrestling promos for Austin, which of course struck a cord against Ricky Steamboat. Months of promos insulting Ricky Steamboat and others, in which Austin would call himself the best entertainer around, compared to Steamboat‘s old, aged style. To end it, they gave the win to Ricky Steamboat, even though it was obvious Austin was getting more over.
Another wrestler who was given attention at Starrcade was Chris Benoit, following up on the momentum The Ice Man started in November. Recalling the year, it was successful for him. Benoit had a short feud with Arn Anderson and Dean Malenko, having a series of good matches with Malenko in particular. He then had a brief feud with The Mountie, which pitted wrestling savvy against arrogant power. The Mountie cheated to win one time, but Benoit proved the better “wrestler” at Fall Brawl 1994 in September. A few months later he befriended Saturn, who tried to help him against the arrogant Steven Regal. Saturn was working well with a new, more driven gimmick of a scarred man beast. Saturn shaved his head and rarely spoke to emphasize his character‘s unwavering emotion and ability, which announcers put over as “genetic.” Regal paid Brian Knobbs and a few others to then beat up Benoit too, but they failed thanks to Saturn At Starrcade, Benoit not only took the US Title but beat Regal cleanly to do it.
Bischoff and The Booking Team sat down to analyze the roster in a meeting the week after Starrcade. Bischoff was gloating and in a good mood, now that the WWF was off mainstream TV and WCW had proved they could put on a good show. Dusty and Ric Flair weren’t so confident. Stu Hart reminded them that they still had no clear contender for the World Title anymore, as Hogan defeated just about everyone, including Bischoff’s WWF acquisitions. Flair mentioned Starrcade as an example of a PPV with good build, but then Bischoff added that Flair’s popularity was waning like the buyrates buyrates had prior to Starrcade. Another cheap plug for himself.
When the team came to no conclusion about any signings, Bischoff did not surprise everyone when he said Yokozuna asked for his release. Yokozuna was not even used at Starrcade and had no direction. He was merely a 1994 sacrifice to the human glass ceiling, as The Giant had. Bischoff could not believe what happened next.
Bischoff didn’t have long to bask in WCW's minor success during the war, as Jim Herd returned in January. Herd had replaced Scott Sassa as Turner’s Vice President because Sassa was put in charge of his own entertainment division of the company and pulled from what Herd called, “the basement,“ referring to WCW. Jim Herd immediately commented on the roster, called it “aged” and “elderly.” Flair walked out of WCW for this. Herd then sent him a “very heated” memo for doing so and told him to report to work on Monday. Flair did not come back to work. He also ’ordered’ the Booking Team to reduce the average age of the roster by not releasing younger wrestlers like Taka Michinoku, but the elderly veterans. Herd had no comment on whether Hogan was elderly or not. Then he ‘ordered’ them to come up with interesting gimmicks, and everyone in the locker room remembered how much Herd loved gimmicks, awful as they were. Jim Herd's most infamous gimmicks were The Hunchbacks, wrestlers with humps who couldnt be pinned and the Ding Dongs.
In WCW, it was pure dread.