Going into the PPV my thoughts
Here I am, once again, seduced by what appears to be a stellar card, in WCW's most chaotic year, on WCW's least bought PPV of the year. Let's see if that optimism holds.Eddie Guerrero w/ Chavo Guerrero vs. Booker T for the TV Title
-Chavo lost a match somewhere so he has to accompany Eddie to ringside- Props to Heenan for telling us that being the TV Champ is hard because there are 3 shows
-Eddie works over the leg of Booker, in REALLY innovative ways
- Props to Chavo for not interfering
-Actually a really brutal Sidewalk Slam
- Surprising win with a Missle Dropkick by Booker, and Eddie beats up Chavo like a douche
7.25/10 for a couple botches, including a botched guard rail slam in the post match.
Konnan vs Juventud Gurrera
-Say what you will, Juvy is very photogenic, and I'm glad he lost the mask, but this is over Konnan being pissed that Juvy lost his mask.-Very cool calf kick off the steps shot by Juvi.
-Konnan legit throws Juvi across the ring, ouch
-Konnan brutalizes Juvi, so when he comes back, he gets a pop
- False finish awesome
-Quick rollup by Juvi, and Konnan beats him up.
8/10 pretty much the same formula as Guerrero/Booker but twice more brutal
The Powerbomb is made legal for Giant/Nash by JJ Dillon
Chris Jericho vs Dean Malenko for the Crusierweight Title
-Chris Jericho rips up a fans "Jericho Rules" sign and shouts "I'm too good to be his roll model" fantastic-Cool Leapfrog counter into a Sidewalk slam by Jericho.
-Other than this, a no-nonsense wrestling classic
8.5/10 look this up on its own
Gene Oakerlund walks right passed Jericho to interview a pissed off Dean. Gene says the Dean was the favorite, and then Gene says he's a loser and where does he go from here? Dean simply says "home" and dejectedly walks to the back.
Scott Stiener vs Lex Luger
Tony makes a very interesting point, that the douchey behavior has always part of the man's personality.-Some very generic power stuff
-Rick Steiner comes down, distracts Stiener for a elbow shot from behind from Luger and then a pinfall. The crowd goes apeshit for this.
-Scott goes to grab a chair, and gets, wrestling takedowned over the ropes by Rick, the crowd goes ape for this as well.
4.75/10 Great stuff overall, good advancement of the Stiener feud but not a great match.
DDP vs Chris Benoit vs Raven for the US Title
-Triple Threat rules here, falls count anywhere-Triple lockup!
-They go for it again and they each get turns nailing each other.
-Another Triple lock up but they fall out of the ring, and that leads to Raven and Benoit double teaming DDP.
-DDP knocks Raven down, but Benoit tries to steal the pin.
-Raven has DDP's leg hooked from outside the ring, and Benoit baseball slides Raven.
-Raven does a suicide dive, pivots in midair in a cool looking spot.
-Lots and lots of guard rail whips, which is one of those safe spots that actually looks like it hurts.
-Double bash with the cane while Raven's got the trash can on his head.
-They wreck the uncensored sign with DDP's body
-Raven grabs a table, falls and bonks Benoit on the head.
-Double Sleep Hold and Double Jaw Breaker.
-WOW Triple German
-DDP Cutters Raven off the top rope through a table but the table didn't break clean so it looks like a giant heap for the pin.
8.5/10, a wild ECW style brawl with some super modern looking Triple Threat spots, look this up on its own.
Kevin Nash vs The Giant
-Kevin Nash gets out of a hookup and makes karate noises and boxes, awesome.-Huge albows by Giant
-Nash is working on the neck of the Giant that he broke, great
-Giant goes for a Jacknife until the NWO jumps him.
-Giant fights off the NWO until Nash hits him with a baseball bat. Nash signals for a powerbomb, but Giant powers out and the NWO runs away.
4/10, should've ended clean
Curt Hennig w/ Rick Rude vs Bret Hart
-Hogan wanted a shot at Bret but Hennig wanted him.-Hennig tries a sneak attack but Bret simply turns around, awesome
-Is a technical wrestling match until Bret goes to kick Rick Rude, Rick hooks the leg, and Hennig hits a big boot on Hart
-Hennig is the best heel ever
-Bret moints a babyface comeback, even going as far as to kick out of the Perfect Plex
-Bret locks in the sharpshooter, and Rude makes the save just as Hennig taps
-Hennig and Rude beat up Bret, which makes sense, given that Hogan wants the NWO to beat up Bret.
8/10 would've been a 7.75 if not for the finish
Scott Hall w/ Dusty Rhodes vs Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
-Scott takes the belt and poses with it, Sting and Halll fight over the belt.-Hall hits a chokeslam and mocks The Giant
-Very slow paced, formulaic match so far. Although, there was a cool spot where they conk heads and Sting accidentally headbutts Hall in the crotch
-Dusty Rhodes sneaks in the ring during this and hits the Bionic Elbow, I wish more managers would sneak.
-The ref gets sandwhiched and does some of the best selling I've ever seen by a ref, the eyes roll into the back of his head.
-Kind anti-climatic finish with the Deathdrop, but it's made up for by Sting and Rhodes staring down and Sting telling Rhodes to suck it.
7/10
We get a cool promo for Spring Stampede 1998 in which Goldberg faces down a bull. (Will be reviewing Spring Stampede next because I'm on a 1998 WCW kick.)
Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage
-An average brawl, until they go outside of the cage to brawl, defeating the purpose of a cage match.-They go back in, only for Savage to do an axe handle off the cage.
-The Disciple enters the cage, and distracts Savage until Hogan can stand. Sting repels from the rafters, and it's two on two.
-They stand off until Savage decks Sting, spits on Hogan and walks out.
3.5/10 would've been a 4.5 if not for the finish.
Final thoughts
Really great matches all the way through, and, if I were watching this when it was live, even the sucked that sucked would be things that would intrigue me enough to continue following the product. I would recommend picking this and Spring Stampede 1998 up simultaneously, great stuff, like I said, but really just a blowoff PPV to hype the next month of product.