This time on the old school review we take a trip to the other channel for WCW Bash at the Beach 1997 pay per view held a week following WWF in your house 16 Canadian Stampede. On this addition we take a look that the WCW product which was by this point was beating WWF product and personally fill it was much better than what the WWF were offering. The nWo angle and it's success at this point in wrestling history and try to answer the question why what made WCW the industies leader at this point and why the WWF was so far behind WCW.
WCW Takes Over Brother!
Wcw in 1996 finally did what most in the business never thought it could and that was make a profit and oh yeah out draw the WWF in tv ratings, ppv buy rates, house show attendence, live gate attendence and merchandising to officially take over as the industries leader. How did they do this I hear you say with the increadbly profitable angle forcusing on an outside invasion of a group of former (but wcw portrayed them as outside coming in from the WWF) WWF superstars Kevin Nash (diesel) and Scott hall (razor roman) who had taken over wcw. The pay off was that the 96 version of BATB when the outsiders vowed to add a 3rd man to there group dubbed the new world order of professional wrestling. That 3rd man on that fateful July 7th evening was none other than one of wrestling biggest stars during the 80's and early 90's hulk hogan. Hogan couldn't have been a better pick at the time as names like sting, lex luger, the British bulldog and even Bret hart where mentioned for the role but this was the right time for hogan to turn heel. Initially his feud with ric flair had seen wcw ppv buys jump 40% and since then his feud with Vader and dungeon of doom had drawn not as well as expected at the box office and wcw fans also tended to boo hogan during this period. Fans at the time where either sick to death with the same old week in week out with hogan on top or simply didn't believe in him as the all conquering american hero anymore but whatever it was hogan as a face on top was not working (take note wwe). Hogan, Nash and hall run rough shoot over wcw the next 5 weeks by showing up and destroying wcw signs and placing nWo logos over the top of them. In questionable wcw greatest angle ever wrestlers were attacked in the back by the nWo and wcw who took a play out of ECW book and showed good guys and bad guys coexisting and they had been attacked by the nWo (the 3rd wall had been torn down) on this episode of nitro (there was also a pretty rememberable scene on this same show which saw macho man dive on top of a speeding limo which drove off with savage grabbing whoever was inside that limo the next week this was never explained and savage never told us who he was trying to grab in that limo). Nash and hall also said they weren't with the WWF but now with the nWo and they were about to take over professional wrestling after a lawsuit was threated on wcw by the WWF head honcho vince McMahon. Hogan, Nash and hall teased a fourth man at the following months ppv called wcw hog wild (the less said about that ppv concept the better). That night hogan beat the giant to become wcw champion in typical wcw screwy fashion and spy painted the wcw title with the words nWo. As for the fourth man the nWo teased it ended up being ed lesile (Brutus the barber beefcake) but on that night hulks best friend get beat down by the nWo even thought ed had clearly turned his back on wcw. The fourth man indeed up being the giant (which made no sense whatsoever) who swerve turned on wcw. Over the coming months the nWo numbers grew at an alarming rate with the group mostly adding some notable and not so notable names like ted dibease, Michael wallstreet/IRS, Vincent/Virgil, randy savage, syxx PAC/123 kid and even wcw president eric Bischoff (well you had to wonder where the group got all it's power from right) But come the turn of 1996 the group come under increasing pressure as rowdy roddy piper was placed in hogans way at wcw starrcade 96. On that night piper beat hogan but didn't take the wcw title even thought wcw had billed it as such. The explaination given was that hogan had not stated in the contract signed by both pre starrcade didn't specify that hogan put the title on the line. The next month the concept got watered even more with the advent of the nWo souled out ppv, this isn't a review of that ppv but it was a mess and critical panned by critics at the time. It didn't stop Bischoff from pushing the nWo further and further as business suggested what he was doing was right for business because by this point nitro was regularly beating raw in the ratings (something that Bischoff would become so obsessed with it would came back to bite him in the arse a few years later). Wcw had taken over by now as the number one promotion in pro wrestling. If you've read my previous reviews your know by this point WWF business is in the shitter while wcw business was rocketing into space and was on route to wcw actually doing something they had never done before and that was turn a profit for 1996. Wcw super brawl was up next it featured another hogan and piper bout which was awful but again wcw did bumper business for this show so whatever they were doing at the time was right and was best for business. Bischoff opened up the purse strings to bring in basketball star Dennis rodman (during this period the worm was the bad boy of basketball and was followed daily by the press) for the wcw uncensored ppv. Bischoff agreed to sign the worm to massive 3 million dollars for 3 dates deal. On that night Rodman accompied team nWo (hogan, Nash, hall and savage) that night as they beat team wcw (piper, Jarrett, Benoit and mongo) to have the right to challenge for any wcw title they wished. Afterwards team the nWo celebrated there win over the wcw troops when sting rappelled from the ceiling with a baseball bat in hand and he destroyed the entire nWo in the process after months of just watching hogan and the his nWo cornies pummel team wcw. The ppv was a massive success drawing a massive 0.89 buy rate almost up 15% from the previous months show so maybe Bischoff was justified in bringing in rodman for this show. The next ppv wcw spring stampede which didn't feature either sting or hogan (as Bischoff was right in holding this match off until the end of year) instead it was headlined by a largely forgettable macho man vs DDP match. The shows buy rate dropped by almost 40% because of the largely b show build wcw did for this ppv. Thoughout June and July sting was back on nitro just watching the nWo again from ceiling. Meanwhile many insiders felt Bischoff who wasn't known for his patience lead many to believe he would hot shot the hogan and sting match to ppv for the great american bash ppv but stick firm to his plans. By this point wcw was so hot that the name wcw meant the company sold out arenas months in advance so did it matter that wcw great american bash 97 was another awful show but savage vs DDP in a falls count anywhere match was a worthy match but the rest of the card sucked. Which brings us to where this review begins wcw bash at the beach 1997. The build for this one was that the worm (Dennis rodman) could actually wrestle on this show (he couldn't wrestle at uncensored due to basketball season still ongoing in states) as he would team with hulk hogan to face wcw mainstays the giant and lex lugar (the less said about how many times the giant was in and out of the nWo the better) and wcw forcused on nothing else thoughout July/august period and really you couldn't blame them as rodman was hot property at this point. Along with the nWo angle wcw also pulled ahead of WWF due to it's cruiser weight division and underrated mid carders becoming a pool awash with talented performers. While most of wcw main events sucked (piper v hogan comes to mind) the undercard was where it was at with the likes of Rey Mysterio Jnr, dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Ultimo Dragon, Psicosis and Juventud gerrera all stealing the show from hogan and his boring predictable main events. So I asked the question how did wcw beat the WWF in a nutshell do exactly what McMahon and WWF didn't do. During this period wcw forcused on more real life characters while the WWF was still awash with cartoon gimmicks which just wasn't cool anymore or apart of pop culture because now wcw was cool and apart of pop culture which meant they had officially taken over as the industries leader.
Results
WCW Bash at the Beach 97 July 13th held in Daytona Beach, Florida Ocean Center Att:7,851 and a ppv buy rate of 0.78
We open the ppv with a poor video package which does very little to explain why hogan and rodman are facing lex luger and the giant in the main event. Tony Schiavone, Bobby The Brain Hennan and Dusty Rhodes welcomed us to the show proper and went into hype mode to sell tonight's big main event and who would be DDP mystery partner to face savage and hall. Mortis (Kaynon) and Wrath/with James Vanderberg (Jim/James/Father Mitchell) Vs Galcier and Ernest the cat Miller. If you've forgotten or just don't know who these four are then let me remind you. glacier was eric Bischoff big creation he felt he needed a character which was geared towards children and it was basically a rip off of a character called sub zero who was in the popular video game franchise called mortal kombat. Glacier was given over 3 months of hype on wcw tv thoughout June/September period of 1996. When he finally debuted he beat the gambler (I have never heard of him before) on wcw pro tv tapping on September 9th. Glacier carried on his winning ways by racking up wins over big bubba Rodgers on nitro thoughout September then the character disappeared until December. When he returned he racked up wins over hardbody Harrison, Jim nord and other wcw lower end guys until March of 97 when he was placed in his first official feud in wcw. It was another mortal kombat style character called Mortis (Chris Kaynon) over the next few months Mortis lost every single match against Glacier while glacier remained undefeated and then wrath showed up and the whole thing is even starting to make my brain hurt just thinking about it and I think you get the picture these 4 character ain't exactly foundry remembered but I thought i would just point out that wcw may have been hot at the time but they was still plenty of wrestlecrap on show still. The match started out with the cat exchanging some sloppy kicks with Mortis which the crowd seemed kind of hot for. Glacier is in and he elects a good baby face pop from the crowd and is all over wrath. Wrath goes up to the second rope and walks it like taker but it's less spectacular and misses glacier anyway. The cat comes in after Mortis and wrath start double teaming glacier and the pair give glacier a double drop kick. Wrath takes advantage of glacier at the 3 minute mark with a Matt Morgan curban footprint. Wrath throws glacier to the outside and follows him out while on the outside wrath grabs a chair and wrath puts glacier head up against the post and holds the chair near his face and Mortis from out of nowhere gives glacier a superkick it sounded impressive and looked impressive. Back in the ring Mortis and wrath give glacier a Power bomb/neck breaker combination and cover him but the cat breaks up the pinfall at two. Wrath then gives glacier a reverse Boston crab while Mortis goes up to the second rope and drops a leg drop on top of Galcier head while glacier is still trapped in the reverse Boston crab and only another two count. Mortis then misses a moonsault to glacier and glacier makes the pipping hot tag to the cat. Some more sloppy kicks by the cat to Mortis and wrath and now all four men are battling it out in the ring. Glacier is back in and he gives a goggy Mortis a clothesline and follows it up with a DDT and covers Mortis but vanderberg who is on the outside pulls out a chain from his pocket and wraps it around Mortis foot while putting Mortis's foot on the ropes for a two. Glacier grabs vanderberg who is now up on the ring apron while Mortis gives glacier a superkick with the chain on the boot from behind. Glacier goes down in a heap and Mortis covers glacier for the 1,2 and 3. Winners Mortis and Wrath. Crappy finish aside I really enjoyed this bout and would say i was expecting it to be shit but was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. DDP is shown sitting in the back talking to as the announcers called him the internet guy. DDP is answering online questions which are being read to him by the internet guy it ends with DDP mocking the users screen name which was something cow related, I kid you not. WCW Cruiser Weight Title Match Chris Jericho (Champion) Vs Ultimate (Ultimo) Dragon. I didn't really touch on it much in the build up part of this review but wcw cruiser weight division was so good and innovative at the time that it really made wcw stand out and made it look different from the WWF at the time and at this stage of wrestlings history proved why wcw was such hot property in 97. Chris Jericho theme was incredibly cheesy it was clearly some cheap 80's hair metal inspired theme but as I watched this on the network I can't confirm weather it was his original wcw theme. Early on Jericho hits a back drop on dragon who then lands on his feet. Dragon goes for an arm drag and Jericho lands on his feet , the two are in the corner now and Jericho goes for a monkey flip but again dragon lands in his feet and the two have a stand off as the crowd cheer the two's early exchange. Rapid fire kicks by dragon to Jericho while Jericho is in the corner. Snapmere and nerv hold by dragon to Jericho and dragon then goes and stomps on jerichos head in a nasty looking but well controlled spot. Both men exchange arm drags and then Jericho gives dragon a powerbomb and senton splash for a two count. A we want sting chant echos throughout the arena as the announcers go on about the nWo for the millionth time (this became a staple for wcw announcers to talk about the nWo rather than the incredible action going on in the ring). Snap suplex by Jericho to dragon and he covers dragon for another two count. Jericho is on the offensive now with a back breaker,moonsault and a double under hook powerbomb (Mitsuhuru misawa's tiger driver) then covers dragon this time for a very near fall indeed. Both men are now battling it out on the top rope and Jericho gives dragon a drop kick which barley connects and the announcers have to cover for Jericho and dragon while dragon takes a tumble off the top to the apron to the outside (this blown spot looked very awkward indeed). Dragon is on the outside and Jericho climbs back up top and dives out onto dragon. Back up on the top turnbuckle again and Jericho somehow gives dragon a snapmere off the top rope and dragon lands ass first on the mat and rolls to the outside. Jericho dives out onto dragon again and this time dragon catches Jericho in mid air with a drop kick. Snap suplex by dragon to jericho on the floor and dragon goes for the move he invented and is named after him the Asai moonsault and lands on top of a dazed Jericho. Dragon rolls back into the ring and the referee begins his count and reaches 9 before Jericho rolls back into the ring. A Hauncanrana attempt by dragon to Jericho but Jericho rolls through and has dragon pinned for another two count. Jericho goes for the lionsualt and connects to dragon and has dragon covered for the two. Jericho goes for the lionsualt again but this time dragon nips up and drop kicks Jericho in mid move and air that looked incredible. Dragon covers Jericho but only gets a two count, dragon snapmeres Jericho and gives him a dragon sleeper. Jericho reaches the ropes but dragon almost takes jerichos head off with a lariat. Dragon senses victory and goes for another powerbomb attempt but Jericho again counters it and has dragon pinned and gets the 1,2 and 3. Winner and still WCW World Cruiser Weight Champion Chris Jericho. Apart from the blown drop kick spot this match was another great outing between the two and I would recommend any of you go out and search this Match down on the network. Mean Gene is out by ringside he plugs the hotline before introducing raven who is sat at ringside with stevie Richards. Gene asks raven if he might be DDP mystery partner this evening and he doesn't give any kind of answer whatsoever but cuts a cryptic promo on DDP instead. Stevie then brings up tomorrow night on nitro that raven has a big announcement and before stevie can say anything he is cut off by raven who decks stevie which sends stevie flying. nWo Japan The Great Muta and Masahiro Chono vs The Steiners Rick and Scott. Early on Muta and Scott have a very good exchange indeed as Muta gives Scott a huancanrana and some stiff kicks while Scott gives Muta a belly to belly and a tiger driver. Steiner then gorilla presses Muta and Muta crawls to his corner to make the tag while Scott calmly walks over to Rick and tags him in. Headlock and shoulder block by Chono to Rick and then Chono gives Rick the mafia kick and covers him for a two count. Rick fights back while Chono has a headlock on tight and then both men have a test of strength which Rick wins. Rick then gives Chono a back drop to the outside and then Chono has some back and fourth with some fans in the front row. Scott and Muta are back in and the action picks back up again between the two. Scott gives Muta the exploder suplex and another belly to belly and then places Muta up top and goes for a Frankensteiner but Chono comes in and gets ahold of Scott and gives him an electric chair while Rick is arguing with the referee. Muta does his patterned handspring elbow to Scott and then a snapmere and Muta drops his elbow drop onto Scott for a two count. Chono and Muta double team Scott but he makes his comeback by belly to belly surplexing both Chono and then Muta. Scott clotheslines Chono back to the outside and gives Muta a running bulldog for another two count. Scott then puts Muta back up top and this time gets his Frankensteiner then covers Muta but only gets a two count. Rick comes in and knocks Chono off the apron to the outside and Chono crashes into the guardrail. Muta battles back and goes to give both steiners a handspring elbow but Rick catches Muta and gives Muta a back drop. Rick then hoists Muta onto his shoulders and Scott climbs up top and hooks mutas head and DDT Muta off of ricks shoulders to the mat to get the 1,2 and 3 over the team nWo japan. Winners The Steiners. This was another soild match and that is so far 3 out of 3 so far for wcw. Lucha Libre Rules Six Man Tornado Tag Juventud Gerrera, Lizmark Jnr and Hector Garza Vs La Parka, Psicosis and Villano IV/With Sonny Onho. La Parka looks ridicules as he wears a sambro to the ring. Mike tenay who is on and off the announce desk all night returns to explain what luchadore rules mean as at this point tenay was actually the professor and was calling moves and explaining the background of the wrestlers rather than telling stories like he does today in TNA. There is some unfamiliar mat wrestling early on between Psicosis and lizmark as both men exchange holds on the mat. Garza is in along with Villano IV and garza drop kicks him and then gives Villano a arm drag but Villano lands on his feet but garza follows it up with a tilt a whirl back breaker. Juventud is in along with la parka and the juice gives the chairman a spinning huancanrana. Parka dumps juvie to the outside and sonny Onho gives gerrera a karate kick. Parka comes to the outside and holds juvie up as Onho readies himself to kick juvie while Psicosis distracts the referee but juvie ducks Onho kick and hits la parka instead. This leads to Onho having to pull out some cash and flash it at parka and Psicosis who back up Onho into the guardrail on the outside. Back in the ring Psicosis whips lizmark into the corner and goes for a cannon ball but lizmark moves and Psicosis lands ass first on the top turnbuckle. Juvie is back in and he drops Psicosis, La Parka and Villano with a drop kick then climbs up top and drops a leg drop onto all three heels. The heels roll to the outside as the faces juventud, Lizmark and garza all dive out onto parka, Psicosis and Villano. Juvie rolls Psicosis back into the ring and leaps up onto the top rope and dives into Psicosis but Psicosis drop kicks juvie in mid air. Psicosis puts juvie on the top rope and climbs up top and rolls juvie off the top and into a pinning position (I can't remember what this spot is called but looks very impressive indeed) for a two count. Lizmark dropkicks Psicosis and all three heels end up on the outside again while the three baby faces step out onto the ring apron and all three hit a moonsault out onto the heels. A crazy spot involving all six men which I can't even describe here for you it looked insane oh as tenay called it the Mexican star. Garza goes up top and hits Villano with a twisting corkscrew planca but Villano recovers and gets up quicker than garza and goes for a leg drop but misses now garza is up who hits a standing moonsault and covers Villano for the 1,2and 3. Winners Juventud Gerrera, Hector Garza and Lizmark Jnr. Now that's 4 out 4 very good matches to start this show it's almost if this was a trend of wcw in the mid to late 90's. The announcers talk about the nWo some more once tenay is gone and by now I've had enough of all this nWo talk. Career Ending Match Kevin Sullivan/With Jimmy Hart and Jacqueline Vs Chris Benoit. There was a reason these two really hated one another and that was to do with a women called Nancy Sullivan. You see in wcw everyone was working everyone else at this point in history to keep the internet fans guessing and other wrestlers and employees confused (confused yet because you should be). Because to ram home the point Benoit and Sullivan didn't like one another then wcw booker Kevin Sullivan instructed his then wife Nancy Sullivan and Benoit to act if they were a real couple on the road and in front of the boys and in oh a shock horror moment nancy and Chris actually ended up becoming an item. Now Sullivan really didn't like Benoit and Benoit really didn't like Sullivan (because Benoit felt Sullivan was holding him down and up and comers like himself and push older acts like hogan and his nWo cronies, which is all true), so that was why this feud was very real and why both men had So much heat with the other. Both men exchange left and rights as the bell rings and the crowd come to life then Benoit gives Sullivan a suplex up and over to the outside. Sullivan then whips Benoit into the guardrail and jackie attacks Benoit with some left and rights of her own. Both Sullivan and jackie then beat down Benoit as the ref tries to pull jackie off. Benoit gets up and nails Sullivan and grabs jackie and atomic drops her and jackie falls into Sullivan and both take a trumble. The two brawl down the aisle way and near the entrance way. Before I go any further let me explain as the set for this show was a beach set up to link in with the ppv name bash at the beach and was set up with palm trees, sand, life guard towers and surfboards. Anyway Sullivan whips Beniot into the surf shack hut and a load of surf boards land on top of Benoit. Jackie jumps on top of Benoit and scathes and claws at benoit's face, meanwhile jimmy hart climbs up one of the life guard towers but Benoit throws jackie into Sullivan and grabs the tower and pushes it over and hart ends up crashing into the palm trees. Both men then brawl through the crowd and out into the aisle way again while in the aisle way Sullivan gives Benoit a piledriver onto the concrete. Sullivan then gives Benoit a double stomp to the chest and rolls Benoit back into the ring. Benoit is back up and meets Sullivan in mid ring with a clothesline and then whips Sullivan into the corner. Benoit rushes Sullivan but Sullivan ducks and Benoit crashes into the top turnbuckle and falls to the outside and then jimmy hart is back putting the boots to Benoit on the outside. Sullivan comes to the outside and chops Benoit but Benoit fires up and delivers some of his own chops to sullivans chest. Benoit then crotches Sullivan on top of the guardrail and it's right in front of raven and stevie. Raven gets up and stares right at Benoit as Benoit stares back at him pausing the match for a second then Benoit rams Sullivan into the guardrail head first and then rolls Sullivan back into the ring. Benoit then crotches Sullivan on the top rope but then pulls Sullivan off by his hair and gives him a standing snap suplex and covers Sullivan for a two. Sullivan gets nasty and bites Benoit in the stomach and the crowd pop for that but then Benoit bites Sullivan ear and the crowd pop big time for that. Both men exchange left and rights yet again in mid ring then Benoit takes down Sullivan and slaps on the crippler cross face. Sullivan is in the hold forever and begins to pass out and the referee drops his hand not once but twice and on the third attempt Sullivan just raises up his arm. Benoit locks on the hold tighter for what seemed like forever and eventually Sullivan reaches the bottom rope with his foot but Benoit pulls him away while tony adds about Sullivan the hate is driving him on not to tap so after all of that Benoit just releases the hold. Benoit picks up Sullivan barley and both men exchange left and rights again and then chops and by now both men and by now both men are exhausted. Sullivan suplexes Benoit into the turnbuckle and Benoit is tied up in the tree of woe and then Sullivan rams his knee into Benoit. Jackie is back in with a wooden chair in hand and she teases hitting Benoit but decks Sullivan instead and the chair implodes on impact shattering into a thousand pieces. Jackie leaves the ring and walks down the aisle way saying screw you taskmaster (sullivans wcw moniker). Benoit recovers and climbs to the top rope and hits a missle headbutt for the 1,2 and 3. Winner Chris Benoit and Kevin Sullivan must Retire. Benoit quickly leaves as Sullivan has hart berate him in the ring and now hart walks out on Sullivan. The taskmaster is on his knees and is a dejected man and the crowd applaud his efforts (yes the evil taskmaster had just turned himself face) as the announcers put him over but so smart fans are heard chanting na, na , hey, hey goodbye. Another very good match and that is 5 for 5 now but something tells me wcw can't continue to keep up this form for much longer. WCW Us Heavyweight Title Match Jeff Jarrett (Champion) Vs Steve 'Mongo' Mcmichael/With Debra McMichael. Jeff Jarrett was like so many former WWF superstars who made there way to wcw in the mid to late 90's and so far his jump has sereved him well being awarded a main event spot at wcw uncensored and now a us title run. Early on Jeff stalls by pushing mongo and screaming at him ain't I great so mongo shoves him back and Jeff rolls to the outside. While on the outside Jeff says I don't have to beat you, you have to beat me mcmichael. Jeff begins screaming at debra mcmichael on the outside and the announcers hint that there is some kind of tension between the two. Mongo and Jeff lock up and mongo takes down Jeff rather awkwardly and Jeff rolls to the outside and mongo goes and follows Jeff to the outside and Jeff cuts mongo off and rams mongo head into the timekeepers table. Mongo no sells and whips Jeff into the guardrail chest first. Back in the ring mongo gives Jarrett a gorilla press slam and then a back drop for a two count. Mongo backs Jarrett into the corner and then goes for a running knee lift but Jarrett moves and mongo in slow motion hits his knee on the turnbuckle pad. Jarrett works over the knee of mongo and teases the figure four but debra gets up on the apron to distract the referee she is holding a brief case she then drops the case into the ring and Jarrett picks up the case and nails mongo for the 1,2 and 3. Winner and still WCW Us Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett. What a useless match very short only 5 minutes and the swerve turn you could see coming a thousand miles away so wcw couldn't make it 6 out 6 after all. Afterwards Jeff and mrs mcmichael leave hand in hand as debra is heard saying id do anything for that belt. We get thrown to Mean Gene who says he is appuled by what he has just seen he then goes into selling mode to plug the hotline. A video is shown plugging wcw next ppv event the money pit that was sturgis show wcw road/hogg wild event. We go to the back where Hollywood hulk hogan and the worm Dennis rodman are in a room filled with nWo flags and we now go into back and white rather than colour. It's a long winded promo by rodzilla and Hollywood and there point is they will beat the giant and flexi lexi (lex luger) tonight. Mystery Partner Tag Team Match Scott Hall and Macho Man Randy Savage/with Elizabeth Vs DDP/with Kimberley and mystery partner Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig gets the usual mystery partner reveal and gets a big pop from the crowd and even the announcers seem happy that wrestling hottest free agent was here to help DDP and wcw well that was how the brain put it anyway. Savage and DDP start out the match early on with lots of stalling and posing to the crowd. Eventually the two lock up and DDP backs savage into the corner and then fires some elbows into savages jaw for good measure. Savage rolls to the outside to regroup with hall, savage rolls back into the ring and tries to spit at DDP but DDP moves and spits at savage which lands in savages chest. Macho is irrate and he flies back to the outside and tries to go after Kimberley at ringside but ddp comes out and stops him. Both teams regroup and hall and Hennig are tagged in. Hall throws his tooth pick at Hennig while Hennig spits his gum at hall which gets a pop from this nasty crowd. Both men shove one another and lock up Hennig is backed into the ropes and whipped by hall to the other side of the ring when Hennig comes back he gives hall a running knee lift after hall had put his head down. Hennig follows it up by giving Hennig a atomic drop and a running clotheline to the man who likes to take surveys. Hennig tags in DDP who comes in like a house on fire with a running back elbow to hall and then a piledriver to hall. DDP then goes over and knocks savage off the ring apron. Hall recovers and Irish whips DDP into the corner, savage is back in and the two double team DDP in the corner. Hall tags savage back in who goes up top and drops a double axe handle into DDP back. Savage berates kimberley on the outside and then team nWo double team DDP some more. Hall is back in now as the crowd get behind DDP by chanting his name. Hall throws DDP to the outside where savage is waiting and savage whips DDP into the guardrail while hall distracts the referee in the ring. Savage then picks up DDP and sends DDP into the ring steps on the outside, savage gets crazy again and chases Kimberly all the way around the ring when he gets back to DDP he picks him up and rolls DDP back into the ring. Hall tags savage who chokes DDP while on the mat and savage tags hall who goes to work on DDP ribs. Hall tags savage again and savage gets caught by DDP with a reverse atomic drop. DDP makes the hot tag to Hennig who goes to whip hall into the ropes but hall reverses it and Hennig goes Into the ropes but DDP has the top rope held down and Hennig lands on the outside. Hennig isn't happy and punches DDP in the ribs and rolls ddp into the ring and walks out on DDP. Back in the ring hall gives DDP an outsiders edge and then tags savage who goes up top and drops an elbow down into DDP chest for the 1,2 and 3. Winners Team nWo Macho Man Randy Savage and Scott Hall. Afterwards the heels kick DDP while he is down then celebrate and leave as DDP is helped out by Kimberly in the ring. Another useless short match which was incredibly rushed and was lacking any action whatsoever but the crowd really seemed to enjoy it. Now I'm starting to have that usual feeling whenever I watch a wcw ppv that the under/mid card is going to be where all the action is at while the upper and main events will have very little if any action whatsoever. Icon Vs Icon Rowdy Roddy Piper Vs The Nature Boy Ric Flair. Piper vs flair a match I may have a problem reviewing objectively as I am such a mark for both guys largely due to there antics in and out of the ring. But here I wasn't expecting much piper was a shell of his former self ever since his hip replacement in 96 and flair was not the man he once was come 1997. The match started out with both men locking up and flair slaps on a headlock to piper. Piper throws flair off into the ropes and piper takes down flair with a choke hold which elects another massive pop from this crowd (this crowd was hot all night long in fact). Flair rolls to the outside and piper follows and both men exchange chops by the guardrail. Back in the ring piper gives flair a shot to the kidneys and flair does his fish flop bump. Piper backs flair into the corner and piper mounts flair for the ten punches spot which the crowd counted along to. Flair goes to the outside again and piper comes out and the two brawl on the outside. Back in the ring again and both men poke one another in the eye and then flair gives piper a low blow. Flair goes to work on pipers knee and gives him a chop block which sends piper onto his back. Flair gets into brian (mark Curtis) hiledbrand face and Curtis pushes flair away into the awaiting right hand of piper. Both men trade punches and chops then piper goes for a kick to the gut but flair catches it and takes piper down and slaps on te figure four. Piper tries to turn the hold serveal times and then eventually does so, so flair has to release the hold. Swinging neck breaker by piper to flair for a near fall. Flair battles back with a second low blow then flair backs piper up into the corner and chops piper as the crowd lets out a woooo. Piper cuts flair off with a boxing jab and then does the jab spot over and over. Piper gives Naitch a back drop and then clotheslines flair up and over to the outside. On the outside both men trade chops in front of the fans then flair backs up and kicks roddy in the gut and rolls into the ring begging off as piper follows. Piper decks flair while flair is on his knees with a right hand but flair cuts off roddy with a punch to Roddys belly. Flair then goes to Irish whip piper but piper counters and applies a sleeper to flair. Flair counters the hold by lifting up his foot into pipers balls for a third low blow. Flair goes up top but as usual gets caught by piper who flings flair off the top to the mat below. Piper slaps on a figure four of his own and eventually flair turns the hold so piper has to break it now. Flair goes into his trunks and pulls out a pair of brass Knucks and goes to nail piper but piper counters the punch and pulls off flairs Knucks and put them on himself and nails flair with a big right hand. 1,2 no as Benoit and mongo flairs fellow four horsemen teammates hit the ring. Benoit distracts the referee while mongo comes into the ring and gives piper a tombstone piledriver and puts flair on top of piper. 1,2 no again as piper just kicks out. Flair and piper then have a state down and then slug it out in mid ring with left and rights and from out of nowhere piper applies the sleeper and after a few moments flair goes to sleep. Winner Rowdy Roddy Piper. Piper celebrates afterwards as the crowd goes wild. Again another stinker of a match if this had taken place eight to five years earlier it would have been a classic but here both men were past there prime but then it wasn't supposed to be a knock out drag out affair it told a simple story but in reality it sucked and I was really looking forward to it as well. Main Event Team nWo Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman/with Macho Man Randy Savage Vs Lex Luger and The Giant. Obviously there was a mass media attention on rodman at the time and here the media (they may have just been plants put there to act as camera men) followed the worm and Hollywood to the ring all the while the announcers played up how this was one of the most important main events ever in pro wrertling. Rodman also seems to be sporting a huge bruise under his right eye and also seems a little under the influence here early on he didn't even take his shades off maybe he had been partying a little to hard that day because at points it looked as if rodman couldn't even stand straight. Anyway into the match hogan and lex started out both men locked up and broke the hold twice then posed for a bit as it looked like to the world that rodman who by this point had rested his head on the top turnbuckle was sleeping. Another lock up and lex powers hogan into the corner and taunts hogan by flexing his muscles. Lock up attempt by lex but hogan kicks lex very low indeed and slaps on a headlock to lex. Lex powers hogan off and gives him a shoulder block sending hogan to the mat and then hogan rolls to the outside as the crowd cheer and boo. Another fake lock up by hogan who kicks lex in the gut and Irish whips him Into the corner and follows him in with a clothesline. Scoop slam by hogan to lex but luger battles back with some clotheslines of his own and hogan runs to his corner to hug rodman as the crowd are now booing (no more cheers for the cool heels). The referee declares that a tag and the worm steps into the ring and oh my the announcers went into hyperdrive to sell how important this was it was as if rodman was the second coming of Lou Thesz or something. The two circle one another and rodman delays any contact whatsoever (building the anticipation) first by going to the outside then breaking a lex lock up by going to his corner to break the lock up. The crowd let out a rodman sucks chant by now then rodman still in his shades locks up with lex and gives flexi a arm drag and the announcers almost filled the cup (a jay and silent bob reference) by that point. The way they over sold that arm drag was as if rodman was the next frank gotch or something. Another lock up and lex arm drags rodzilla not once but twice and rodman is now on the outside into the awaiting arms of savage and hogan who regroup on the floor. By now rodmans shades have fallen off thankfully (was he really taking this gig seriously?). Back in the ring rodman and lex lock up and lex slaps on a headlock but the worm backs lex into the ropes and then rodman gives lex a shoulder block. Lex pops right back up and bounces off the ropes at rodman but rodman leapfrogs lex not once but twice but not a third time as lex clotheslines rodman who then rolls to the outside again. Lex tags the giant while rodman tags hogan which gives the announcers time to calm down. Hogan and giant lock up and hogan goes low on the giant and gives him some big right hands which doesn't knock the big man off of his feet. Hogan gives the giant a pair of clotheslines and still he is standing. Yet again hogan locks up with the giant and backs him into the corner and rakes the eyes of the giant but giant no sells which sends hogan back to the outside to regroup with rodman and savage. Meanwhile back in the ring The giant signals for a chokeslam and the crowd pop for this taunt directed at the nWo on the floor. Again the hulkster locks up with the giant and the giant gives hogan an atomic drop. Hogan retreats to his corner and tags rodman who is more than up to the challenge to face the giant according to the dream. The two lock up and run the ropes and rodman goes for a leapfrog but the giant catches rodman in a bear hug position to a massive pop. The giant follows it up by atomic dropping rodman this time then chokes rodman and picks rodman up and gives him a Khali like tree slam. In comes hogan but he gets caught and the giant rams both rodmans and hogans heads together. Savage distracts the giant and rodman tags hogan who rakes the eyes of giant and then rams the giants head into rodmans out extended leg in the corner. Some double team by rodman and hogan including a double clothesline as well as quick tags between the two. Rodman is in and gloating over the giant and the giant chokes him but rodman gets away and tags in hogan. Hogan gives the giant the big boot but giant doesn't go down in comes rodman and hogan and him double hip toss the giant.
Giant recovers as team nWo pose for the media at ringside and the giant makes a hot tag to lex. Lex poses for hogan and rodman and hits both with a double clothesline. Rodman then low blows luger and hogan gives lex a back drop and covers him for a two count. Scoop slam from hogan to lex and he gives lex the leg drop but covers lex to arrogantly and only gets a two count. Hogan tags rodman who locks up with lex and backs lex into the corner and rodman gives lex a back elbow smash while in the corner. The worm then poses some more to the crowd as they boo rodman then drives his boot into lex's throat. Rodman and hogan pose some more (this is getting tedious by now) as lex makes another tag to giant who comes in and drives hogan and rodmans heads together yet again. Then out walks sting (but it's not sting it's the fake sting you wouldn't find this out till nitro the next night) who nails the giant with a baseball bat shot. The fake sting then looks up above to the ceiling and leaves as the announcers say sting has just betrayed wcw. Lex comes in and gives hogan the torture rack and hogan quits in the confusion for a rather flat finish. Winners Lex Luger and The Giant. Afterwards luger grabs rodman and gives him the rack and then he gives it to savage and then team nWo retreat to the back beaten while team wcw celebrated. Yet another dud of a main event from wcw and the announcers were just plain annoying at this point.
Round Up and Rating
I think well i hopefully think I've answered my question to open this review was what made wcw so much better than WWF at the time. Well in my opinion it had to be the undercard it was packed with action but the upper and main event matches were very poor indeed. I guess it was true what they said if wcw had the foresight to book it's exciting undercard performers in main event positions in a year or so (as this was 97 then why not in 98) then maybe tv ratings, ppv buys and house show attendence wouldn't have dropped off so rapidly by the end of 1998. But this isn't where wcw went wrong this was what they were doing right and the undercard was where the action was that during this period and that this point hogan and his cronies were still very much draws on top even if there matches tended to suck. Overall I'd say this ppv was a card of two halves the first Half was tremendous and worthy of a look any day of the week but the second half was not and I would say don't watch the last four matches there very dull indeed. As for a rating to this show I will have to give it a solid 5 out of 10 and like I said above would recommend the first hour and 25 minutes of this show but not the last hour and 20 at all. As for next time it's time to go and move forward and review the most infamous wrestling ppv in history WWF survivor series 97. So until then thanks for reading this and as bill apter would say see you at the matches.
By Billy_Jay_222 @billy222me or @RantsWrestle
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