Superstar Sleeze

Just watched the whole thing today in one sitting and was pretty underwhelmed and I didn't even get it for free! The opening promo should have been done on a previous RAW to really drive home the point that The Authority will be gone and if they win then everyone else besides Cena is gone. I hate, hate lopsided stipulations so adding that Zigs, Show, Ryback and Rowan would have been out of a job would have helped the build immensely. Way too much Matadores shit in the match. They are so terribly bland and are totally exposed next to the Usos who are just so much better at being a fun, high-energy tag team. Mizdow is over without doing much of anything is awesome. The post-match was genius. Mizdow has made Miz watchable that does an award of some sort. I didn't hate the women's elimination match as most. Paige took some great bumps and showed great intensity. Summer Rae's chickenshit character was amusing. Alicia Fox is incredible and hope she gets a run against Nikki. Bray Wyatt has just fucked Dean Ambrose and he did not even let him put lipstick on first. This feud has been so boring and pointless. It is just typical WWE booking hey we have two over characters lets just put them together randomly. Wait, let's make it PERSONAL, first. Who gives a fuck if still does not explain anything Bray Wyatt has done? How hard would it have been to have Wyatt try to recruit Ambrose have him reject Wyatt. "Ooooooo Dean, you can't fight the Authority alone, let me help you." Then Wyatt gets pissed and screws him at Hell In A Cell. Jesus, this is not fucking rocket science. Instead it is let me save you from your daddy issues by attacking you and screwing with your match. What a moron. The match is fine by typical WWE standards. It is a lot of ebb and flow where shit is always happening, but nothing is really happening. They are going to have a TLC match. Who cares? I was actually looking forward to Nikki/AJ because Nikki has gotten pretty good. Brie is now a heel, hilarious! Nikki/Fox should be most excellent. This is my theory regarding the main event, which I was totally spoiler free (well I knew Sting was returning, but that is it). Watching it live and for the first time, this is a really exciting and dramatic match, but on various rewatches it will lose a lot of its luster. The reason the match was over like rover was because the outcome actually felt like it mattered. You had a sense of urgency and motivation that does not exist in other matches especially stuff like Ambrose/Wyatt. Hunter/Steph really, really added to the drama and Cena was a great cheerleader and you felt that energy. I loved, loved Show KOing Herny at the start. Such a perfect opening. Team Cena with an early fastbreak to pop the crowd and really have Hunter and Steph sweating. Ryback getting eliminated so early and so ho-hum really, really bothered me for a while. My brother helped me try to see past it, but it really seemed to piss away a lot of heat for a guy I really like. Rusev had an awesome showing and I knew they would protect him and was not disappointed on that front. Harper and Rowan just did not do it for me. I am glad crowd was excited, but I didn't it was anything but average big man work. So Big Show KOing Cena out of nowhere. I agree that it was done spur of the moment (I have not watched RAW) and makes sense based on past history. But just like everyone was complaining about old man Sting hogging the spotlight. I say fuck the Big Show. I don't care about Cena/Show part 1,024. I know Cena can FU Show and win why do I need to see it again. Ryback had just as good of motives as Show. He cast his lot with Cena because he thought it would be the winning side. If he saw a hurt Cena and Ziggler, he could have made the same decision and Shellshocked Cena. Ryback would have gone over huge. Just switch Ryback and Show that would be so much better. Cena getting KO'd and pinned was very shocking. As soon it was 3-on-1, Ziggler was a lock to win, but he was perfect in this situation to ragdoll for the heels, be super over with the crowd and never give up. His selling is a little too off/on and he definitely dies too much, but overall it was pretty gripping to watch. Sting debuting was pretty cool and HHH is not the worst option, but just seems lame like there is no real connection. I'd like to see Sting go against someone a younger on the roster. Poor Rollins, he is becoming like the new Edge, but I think he is a lot better than that. I was hoping he would be a more old school heel like a Flair or Bock, but it seems he is more Edge-ified by the day. The main event is WWE doing what it does best: interesting spots and angles in the context of wrestling match where there are consequences. I don't agree with all the decision. I am especially annoyed with the handling of Ryback, but I want to see WWE more of this. What made this match great was first and foremost was that outcome felt like it had a real consequence and that made the action more dramatic and entertaining. There was no move or spot that was all that unique, but it was the context that made these moves and spots more exciting. The second was most of the wrestlers were treated as individuals with unique motivations and roles. I don't agree with all the decisions and I think MOTYC talk is way overblown., but I like to see WWE move more in this direction.

Is it WCW management's fault for Sting flopping as champion or should Sting take personal responsibility? Does anyone else exist on the WCW roster besides Hogan and Savage? Hogan and Savage are feuding, sort of, well they fight each other, then tag, has anything happened these two months after Souled Out in WCW? You decide in the latest edition of Riding Space Mountain. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/11/dropping-ball-wcw-february-march-1998.html

This is exactly the topic I wanted to discuss. I am glad I am not alone in at least contemplating Sting is more at fault than is historically presented. Sting just seemed so apathetic in the ring. It looked like he rather be anywhere else. His weird stand up, never fall down, staggered selling was annoying. His lack of emotion did not come off as cool badass, but just kind of sad. His one decent spot was the Stinger Splash to the railing to set up yet another one of his shitty heat segments. He could not even no-sell anymore properly.He would sometimes just sort of stand up and no sell, but not in a way to rile the crowd up. People go after Hogan for plodding, but Sting made Hogan look like Rey Fucking Misterio the way he was moving. The only argument I can see to explain for how Sting was acting was that he was trying to reinvent his wrestling style to match the new darker, edgier gimmick. He just does not portray silent asskicker. Sting just is not that person. I mean this as a compliment...Sting is excellent portraying the the overgrown child who is hopped up on sugar. Crow Stinger and Surfer Sting are just way, way too different for someone with limited acting ability to get both characters across. If Sting just literally wrestled the same he did before just in white face paint, he would have been way better off. Sure people would complain that he didn't change, but fuck it is better than shitty matches he was having. It was like white/black facepaint literally sucked all the charisma from his body. Still, this is all speculation, the simplest explanation may have been that he just could not have bothered to care. I have said it before I don't blame WCW one bit by resetting to Hogan. Hogan was clearly still trying in his matches and was invested in making the product work. I don't agree with all his decisions, but give me Hogan's effort over Sting's apathy any day. The Goldberg title switch was ballsy I'll give WCW that.

I heard you missed me. I brought my pencil now give me something to write on. Anybody who has been following the 1998 Match Discussion Archive knows how I have been having some fun rewatching some 1998 WCW and reliving my childhood. This blog post does not just contain match reviews from the surprisingly excellent Souled Out 1998, but also makes the case for how healthy WCW was at the point in history. WCW always could fall back on a strong roster, but in January 1998 they seemed poised to continue to follow their successful 1997 with the same focus on strong long-running stories. The avenging angel Sting was the focus of 1997, it seemed the impending New World Order civil war would carry the company to another banner year. However by bungling a surefire hit storyline, WCW signed their own death warrant. But this blog deals with happier times, Souled Out 1998 when the midcard and main event combined to put on one of the best complete PPVs of the NWO era. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/11/wcw-souled-out-1998.html

This match rules the school and is my pick for the best GHC Tag Team Title match of the decade. The young, upstart juniors weather the storm from the Ace and his punk best friend and then in a shocker give them a run for their money. The turning point where KENTAFuji finally turns the tide is one of the great transitions of all time. It is an immediate shit just got real. It made to be worth so much because how well they had established Misawa's & Ogawa's supremacy. At the beginning, KENTAFuji tried to jumpstart the match and Misawa calmly elbowed his way through trouble into the amazing KENTA FIP segment, which was amazing by all three wrestlers. I loved the cutoff where KENTA whipped Misawa into the railing and he rebounded with a swift kick to his back and then wiped Marufuji out with an elbow. Finally, Marufuji going for the big bombs upon getting the hot tag. He hits one on Misawa, but falling short when Ogawa runs him crotch first into the post. The Marufuji goes on a bit too long, which my complaint that will keep this from the Top Ten. At this point Misawa & Ogawa have owned KENTAFuji and then that double turning point with Marufuji Sliced Bread and KENTA explosive knee on Ogawa. It is such a cool momentum shift. I loved the finish stretch just great action all the way to the awesome climax. Tighten it up a bit and it gets into my Top Ten, but as is a definite Top 15 match. ****3/4

Tenryu was just crushing it in this match besides the worst powerbomb ever. He worked over that cut relentlessly and was just an offense monster. I loved the Northern Lights Bomb on the outside. Tenryu's weird, lame submission hold and Tenzan's weak comeback knock this down a peg for me. One of the few match where I actually thought the strike exchanges added to the drama because of Tenzan bleeding profusely, Tenryu's selling and Tenzan's Zidane headbutt. If Tenzan could have had a better finishing stretch, I could see this as a 2004 MOTYC. As is, it is a great match that will make the bottom ten-ish of my list. ****

Scott Hall w/Madonna's Boyfriend vs Larry Zbyszko w/Dusty Rhodes - WCW Souled Out 1998 Hall is the master of making old guys seem like credible threats. At Slamboree 1997, the Wolfpac put Flair, Piper and Greene over huge and here he made this match so much fun. I loved him starting off cocky and Zbyszko showing him up with some amateur moves. Hall gets more and more frustrated as this goes on. They do a great job building that tension that if Hall can just walloop Larry with a right that the match will be all over. Eventually Larry can't keep it up because of Louie Spicolli (Madonna's Boyfriend is such a great gimmick name) and Hall catches him with a wicked right while he is down. The crowd tells me why Larry may not have been the best choice for this role because there is a pretty big Larry Sucks chant. Then a Hall Sucks chant follows and back to Larry Sucks. This is not some sign-songy bullshit. You see people in the crowd pointing at each other telling to shut up. I was getting into the heat and Hall did a great job manhandling Larry Z. Then of course in the moment everyone wanted to see here comes Big Dust. What a moment! The crowd was jacked for this and everyone was on their feet to see Dusty deliver the Bionic Elbow. Then he hits the Living Legend and Dusty reveals the nWo shirt and I am pissed. Hall should have gone over Larry Z and they should have built to Dusty vs Hall! Tony and Bobby reacting in shock and disgust came off really organic like they were shoot pissed off. It added to the moment, but I think Dusty lacing it up one more time for WCW would have been huge, but maybe he physically just couldn't go. This was a really fun match between Hall and Zbyszko, who both knew their roles well. Hall was great clowning around for Zbyszko, but when it came time to get heat he got mean. You can't ask for much more for a heel exactly what you want. Larry is not the most likelable guy and thus was not a great fit for this role, but he did wrestle a strong babyface performance. Last good Scott Hall match? ***1/2

Juventud Guerrera/Super Calo/Lizmark Jr/Chavo Jr. vs Psicosis/La Parka/Silver King/El Dandy - WCW Souled Out 1998 Perfect opener in getting the crowd energized for the rest of the card. I always thought Super Calo was anything but cool with his silver surfer mask and shades, but he was not half-bad. It may have been that Psicosis was bumping for him. Psicosis was great as usual bumping around for everybody and wish we got more of him. Surprisingly what really grabbed this crowd's attention was a wicked intense chop exchange between Silver King and Lizmark Jr. I know that Silver King is known for working a bit of a stiffer style in Lucha and have always wanted to check more of him out, but Lizmark really surprised. I thought he was easily the second best guy in this match. He was kicking ass in there. Juvy got his 450 splash in, but I was a bit surprised he did not get more time to be featured. I know everybody loves El Dandy, but this match did not showcase his talents. The dive train was fucking excellent and definitely the best part of the match. Chavo really did not do much besides get the win to set up his big push into an angle with Uncle Eddie. Without a doubt, the big star of the match was La Parka. Even though, I have not watched La Parka's new Lucha stuff, I am always so happy to hear how well he is doing because he is always one of my favorites as a child. He just owned this match with all his antics. It was so immediate how much charisma this guy had and the crowd totally latches onto him. I loved him falling flat on his the apron. The corkscrew Asai moonsault was sick. The crowd ate up La Parka's chair rampage. Doing his strut on the chair and then the way he walked away so proud was hilarious. La Parka is the MAN! Very fun spotfest. ***1/2

Kevin Nash vs The Giant - WCW Souled Out 1998 This was way more entertaining that it had any right to be. There was major heat for this and it felt like a real Clash of the Titans. Can't think of a time after this where The Giant ever felt like such a big deal. I guess Maywheather? WWE eventually found their footing with him as an upper midcarder they could plug into the main event when needed. Here, he felt like one of the hottest superstars on Earth. Nash to his credit seemed very willing to put him over and stooge for him. They did some great spots to build the tension and then The Giant just steamrolled him with great action. Nash actually busted some shit I have never seen from him, a fucking leapfrog and a tope. I don't care if the tope does not look like Psicosis the fact he tired was pretty damn cool and out over the aura how much this match meant. The Giant catching Nash and throwing him into the post was awesome. Nash is a big dude and it was crazy seeing Giant pick him up and just move him around at will. They sort of lost steam until the end when Giant was signaling for the Chokeslam. Hot coffee is back, BABY! Nash hits a low blow and then GANSO BOMB~! Seriously, a very scary looking spot and I am glad The Giant was ok. All in all an entertaining clash between two super heavyweights when I expected shit. Souled Out 1998 maybe the best PPV of the NWO era, everything has been at least good and am actually going to watch the entire PPV because how good the marquee matches have been. ***

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Scott Hall - WCW Uncensored 1998 Crow Sting is just a shitty wrestler. The Avenging Angel character is wicked cool and a really genius idea, but fuck Sting just sucked at this point of his career. Hall was pretty damn funny with all his stooging and falling outside of the ring on his ass. I was always a mark for his staggered Giant walk after a chokeslam. Sting could not fucking sell cheap central heat to Eskimos. The Sting falling face first into Hall's junk was also pretty funny. Should they really be having a comedy match with Sting and the World Title? No, they shouldn't but it was the best part of the match by far because Sting could not work anyways. There is interference, a ref bump, Dusty Rhodes drops an elbow, but Sting hits the Slop Drop to win. Nothing match. If Hall was wrestling in the midcard and doing this schtick, it would have been awesome.

The GAB Savage match is absolutely incredible. One of my favorites from either wrestler ever, it is without a doubt my WCW 1995 Match of the Year. Ric Flair vs Arn Anderson - WCW Fall Brawl 1995 "If God Were A Pro Wrestler His Name Would Be Ric Flair", Amen, brutha amen. And look a Flair 3:16 sign! I have always fallen on the positive side of things in this controversial match because it was a compelling story between two men who said true to themselves from start to finish. The Enforcer is a double tough sumbitch that has been content (or proud) to be the Champion's best friend and protector. Anderson's game plan has always been to neutralize an opponent by taking a limb away rendering him powerless to be picked apart. We have seen this countless times in WCW especially in the amazing Dustin Rhodes Saturday Night 1992 match. Anderson could brawl, but he was a brawler per se. He wrestled with intent to maim and win. He was violent, but in an out or control frenetic way. He had purpose and that is every bit as violent as a bar room brawl. The story never called for Anderson to come in and tee off on Flair to beat him up. He wanted to prove his mettle against the measuring stick of pro wrestling and he was going to do it his way. He was going to take away Flair's arm and beat him down to humble him. He was going to prove he was every bit the pro wrestler that Ric Flair was and it could have been just easily him in that top spot. Flair says it all in the beginning "Are you sure you want this?" You could interpret that two ways. It is Flair cocky as ever saying I am going to beat you 1-2-3 and you are going to look a fool. Or is it the Nature Boy that does not want to fight his friend. From the outset, Flair was shown up by his Enforcer on the mat and standing up. He would ball up those fists and get tagged in the face. It woke Flair up to the reality that he was in a fight with his best friend and if he did not get his ass in gear then he would be the one humiliated. It was not two men who loathed each other, it was their pride at stake. When the chips are down, Flair will do whatever it takes to win a match. In a stroke of genius, for over a decade, Ric Flair would go up and over the turnbuckles run down the apron and either he get struck or thrown off the top rope. On this night, Anderson expecting to deck the prone Nature Boy, Flair finally pulls down the ropes sending him head over heels onto the floor. It was such a great spot and finally the Dirtiest Player in the Game is on top and he ain't too proud to use a ref's distraction to take a cheapshot at Anderson. In a way, at this point, Anderson has won, he has proven that Flair would be forced to go into his bag of tricks to beat. Anderson was the better pure wrestler, but Flair was the better cheapshot artist. It was time for The Enforecer to get his hands dirty and on the floor he starts the rapid fire punching to the head. At about this point, they do lose me a bit because it does become a bit of the Flair show as they just start throwing shit out as part of the grand finale. Flair gets a suplex on the floor and then a delayed vertical, but then the next thing you know he is hanging upside down. Anderson goes for the DDT and Flair hooks the top rope, but then Flair is getting thrown off the top. The Figure-4 stuff was incredible and super heated. I loved Anderson blocking, the struggle, Flair spit and then Anderson fires up. Anderson did a great job selling the knee and just when you think it is over. Pillman whacks Flair and Anderson hits the DDT. The Enforcer beat the Nature Boy at his own game by calling in the reinforcements and having that all-important Plan B. My minor quibble aside about the run up to the finish, I thought this was a great match that stuck to the story and was a match that only these could work. Arn Anderson was Arn Anderson he was not the Flair opponent du jour. My major qualm with the match was that Flair was ostensibly the face coming in, worked heel in the match and then got turned full-on babyface by the finish. I know Flair's preference to work heel and I think it was the right call to have him wrestle match as a heel because it served the story better. It felt they were going for a double turn in the match and then finish cements where they were going into it. I have lessened on this because Anderson/Sting does not have the same cache as Flair/Sting teaming and it was a good desperation tactic by Anderson to tear a page out of Flair's book. I would put this over Pillman/Badd, which on rewatch felt really, really long and overwrought. This match had the heat and the big match atmosphere, but there were too many lulls and it never felt like they ratcheted all the way up to a real boiling point, which you would have loved to see. ****

Exactly when I make references to telepathy or psychics, Miss Cleo is always my go-to. Spivey just looked like a styrofoam chia pet. Wrestlecrap had introduced me to this angle years ago and finally seeing it, it is most definitely Wrestlecrap.

Finally a reverse chinlock wins a match! Brutus Beefcake in all his forms is a shitty wrestler, but was he ever worse than as the Zodiac. His stooging and bumping was the lamest shit I have seen since Akeem. The first five minutes with Sting and Tenta was actually pretty fun. Sting was his usual hopped up on sugar self which is perfect for starting the match. I really liked his leap from one ring to the other. Tenta played a good big man foil for Sting. When he tries to replicates Sting's leap he ends laid out across both ropes allowing for Sting to kick him in the gut. It was fun shit. Then The Zodiac comes in. NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! The match does not pick back up again until Luger accidentally nails Savage or was it an accident? I really liked WCW main event booking at this time. It is a booker's dream having Hogan, Savage, Luger, Sting, Flair and Giant at your disposal. It is great because everything weaves them together in interesting and unique fashions that plays off old history. It comes close to achieving the full booking potential of pro wrestling. The WWF/E's overly simplified linear booking where the only person who exists in your world is the person you are working a program with has always bothered the shit out of me. Of course, there are deviations from this path, but for the most part WWF/E has followed this paradigm. The beauty of wrestling should be all the interconnections and shifting pieces in interesting, organic fashions by overlapping issues. All six main events have real motivations to hate or support one and another. Any permutation of face versus heel is interesting not just because of the characters, but because the motivations are in place to add to the match. I wanted to say something positive about WCW booking at the time because this match sucks. Hogan comes in and throws powder in everyone's face. The Desert Storm Match was way cooler. Hogan/Sullivan was not as fun as I expected, but The Giant's debut was pretty sweet. Talk about making a rookie a main event star immediately. WCW would eventually bungle The Giant, but I would say at least up until Hog Wild '96 and really through Souled Out '98, he was a legitimate main event with plenty of heat. I'd argue that from his debut through Souled Out '98, The Giant was never used more effectively in his career. Yes, he became a better wrestler in the WWF, but was never the credible main event player that he was in WCW. This is pretty counter-intuitive to the "Vince books big guys better" and "WCW fucks everything up". Yes WCW eventually fucked it up, but they actually got quite a decent run out of him first. Don't watch this match. Watch Nitro, it is way more fun and interesting.

Seemingly every wrestling fan from this era have fond memories of Harlem Heat, being a little younger, I never really got the big deal. It must be the entrance music. No memorable matches, feuds, angles or promos (besides Hogan, we comin for you...) leaves me scratching my head. It must be the entrance music. This match affirmed all my feelings regarding Harlem Heat. By far, the worst match I have watched in some time. It just dragged and dragged. I was actually pretty excited for it because I like Buck and Slater and was hoping them to carry Harlem Heat to a good match. It was kick-punch-hold forever. I couldn't figure out who the fuck was the babyface or heel. Turns out they were both heel, but the four of them were the lamest heels ever. Parker and Sherri become so bored they literally say Fuck It and go to town on each other. The Nasties apparently hate the hicks from the sticks more than the brothers from the hood. It is weird because you know it is going to start a Nasties/Harlem Heat program not a Stud Stable/Nasties program so why wouldn't the Nasties attack the new champs rather than helping them. Are the Nasties faces? I love what WCW is doing the main event scene at this point, but the undercard blows except for DDP, he is a hero to millions and a role model for the Free World.

DDP is my man! This is the match that got me a board the DDP bandwagon. He just tried so hard to get this match over by heeling and bumping and clowning as best he could. I have never seen a Renegade match, but he will leave you yearning for the Ultimate Warrior. Renegade's existence actually shows you that for all Warrior's faults he definitely had a unique charisma and aura to him. Great DDP performance and is there more before this? Or is this the first of many fun DDP matches to come?

This was not even so bad it was good. Gary Spivey is just funny looking and has nothing that resembles charisma. I only know him because of this angle. Was he actually famous in 95? Why is a psychic a motivational speaker? This was as bad as everyone has ever said.

Party's over, grandpa. You can have your pablum and P's & Q's, but nostalgia will only take you so far. Sure it appeals to your fellow bell-bottom-wearing, Three's Company-watching hippies, who revel in their glory days, but if you want to build a bridge to the future wrestling fan then you need a wrestling fan, who can speak today's vernacular and relate to their wrestling woes and ills. You need someone with Animal Magnetism to make all the men pack their ear buds in and all the women swoon. You need someone with a melodious and dulcet voice that will be filling their ears with aural candy. You especially need somebody with some HAIR!!! You need...you need..Reading that back, nobody my age would understand that promo so I guess you don't need me. So keep on churning out the awesome podcasts with or without me. This was a fucking blast. Though, I do look forward to my triumphant return to Titans of Wrestling to discuss...well that is Kelly and mine's secret. I'll be back to discuss Tito/Martel/Steamboat later this afternoon.

WCW Crusierweight Champion Rey Misterio Jr vs Chris Jericho - WCW Souled Out 1998 I thought they worked smart match around Rey's knee going above and beyond the typical Jericho works Rey Jr.'s knee over. Again it is so refreshing to watch a midcard match where both acts are over, huge "Jericho Sucks" and Rey is generally well-liked by WCW fans. Jericho is great at false sincerity early interacting with the crowd I wish they would give him the mic to cut a promo beforehand. The early part of the match establishes Jericho is a dick and has the weight advantage. Rey is able to overcome this with his speed, but eventually this cost him his mobility when he goes for the proto-619, which he used as a fake out move. I liked how after that Misterio tried other tactics to stay in control like grounding Jericho and even going after Jericho's illustrious mane. Rey is really good at selling the knee, but how much is really selling, we don;t know. Rey goes for another high risk move but Jericho hotshots on the top rope. Jericho is great at showboating. Rey works through the pain and gets one last ditch high risk move (somersault plancha). He blows out his knee. Rey tries to persevere, but they work a great finish where Jericho counters the hurricanrana off the top rope into a Liontamer. The Liontamer and Crippler Crossface both over on the same show was cool. I love the Jericho character and they work the best possible match given Rey's limitations.

Raven vs Chris Benoit - WCW Souled Out 1998 "Raven Sucks!" chants ring out early and are eventually replaced by "Benoit! Benoit!" chants. Midcard acts that are over, well how about that! I am a pretty big fan of Raven character, but I freely admit he has very few great matches to his name, but this is probably his best in WCW. He really looked on his A-game punishing Benoit and working hims over with simple, but effective moves. The early surprise attack with dropkick off the apron and then using the railing and bulldog on chair were all great moments to keep relentless Benoit down. Benoit did a great job selling all these attacks and how even though he usually only has one gear: forward; Raven has effectively stymied. The one issue with this segment was Raven almost worked it too neutral. The reason he was getting heat was because his character was so detestable, but besides the sneak attack he was not really doing anything reprehensible. I think with some more heeling and bit more chickenshit, this would have built to an even better Benoit home stretch and a bigger crowd reaction. Still for Raven on offense this was really good shit. I love the Benoit transition being a drop toehold onto the chair calling back to Raven doing that to Scotty Riggs (one of most impactful moments of my childhood. I thought that was some fucked up shit back then). Benoit absolutely and royally kicks the ever loving shit out of Raven. Give Raven credit he was selling, bumping and stooging for Benoit and making him look great. I wish I watched the angle leading up to this because it would have made the beating all the sweeter, but I remember enough about Raven to get me behind Benoit. In what may have been the stupidest fucking thing of all time, Benoit does a diving headbutt onto a chair that is Raven's face. My Dad used to shit all over Benoit for just doing the diving headbutt. This just takes it to a whole new level. The finish stretch is short and compact and put everything that needs to be. They tease a bit of drama with Raven nailing a DDT out of a Northern Lights Suplex. So now you don't know who will win because Raven is beat up he can't capitalize. When he goes for it again, Benoit puts him in the crossface, Raven enjoys the pain of the Crossface before passing out. You put over Raven as this sick masochist and Benoit as a unrelenting badass. I think if Raven reminds us why he is a heel during that opening stretch that this becomes the match of the night on a surprisingly great card. As it stands, it is very good match, but just missing that little something. ***3/4

Charles, do you think Hogan and Savage were not motivated in their Sting matches. Hogan is not going to bump around for Sting, but he is not going to bump around for anyone face or heel. I think there has been ways to have good matches within the Hollywood Hogan formula and Sting just did not try to sell or fire up. Savage flew around for Sting like a lunatic and Sting was the one who looked plodding. Did Sting look more invested in this match? Yes! I don't think it was DDP was more motivated than the other two. It was because for some reason Sting was motivated. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs WCW US Champion Diamond Dallas Page - WCW Nitro 3/23/30 DDP is in that period of being a super hot midcard act like Austin in 97 or Rock in 98 that is useful to creating some really dynamic booking and fun matches. What I love from a guy like DDP in this spot is that he has a enough natural buzz and charisma that he generates a lot of interest and heat going up against one of the top dog in spite of the fact he is most likely going to lose. He still gains plenty of momentum from just being shown as an equal to the World Champion and there is no booking anxiety stemming from his jobbing. DDP does a great job throughout the match expressing through his body language and actions how important this match is. He is focused and determined to prove that not only he belong with Sting that he was a very credible threat to being World Champion. The intense lock up and just his posture made you believe he was taking this match very seriously/ Larry Z added a ton to this match by commenting that DDP may have jacked himself up too much and that the calmer, more experienced Sting may be able to take advantage of this. You see just that as Sting almost hooks the Scorpion Deathlock on a overzealous Page. Page sells how quickly it all could have been taking away. He doubles down and goes for the Diamond Cutter, but is thrown off. They hook each other in chinlocks and I am not too enamored with either of them going for it. I did not think either one needed to use the chinlock. Sting has looked the best he during this stretch because he looks to be trying harder on offense and also wrestling he did before the Crow gimmick. I think he was just more comfortable with that level of energy, facebusters and the out of control splash. Not everyone can reinvent themselves in the ring and once he got back to doing what brought him to the dance, he felt more natural and interesting. His selling still left a lot to be desired. I liked DPP getting the knees up on the out of control splash and he goes for the Diamond Cutter out of the corner, But Sting reverses into the Scorpion Death Drop to a huge pop. I loved the beginning and the finish. They definitely would go on to build off this foundation to have an all-time great WCW match the following year on Nitro. ***

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage vs Hollywood Hogan - WCW Nitro 4/20/98 The match I hated the most as a child, fresh off seeing my hero win the World Championship at Spring Stampede he faces Hogan in what is basically an extended squash.When you add together that Savage prefers taking heat when he is a face, that he was injured and Hogan loves working on top it really was not to be unexpected. At first, Hogan looked a little bit more plodding than he had in the other matches I had seen from this year. The badmouth was still there, but the same energy was not there. Savage was on top of his game acting like wounded animal that would occasionally lash out, but the pain would overwhelm. Not often you get to see Hogan work over a body part and it is admirable. Savage is great at peppering in heated hope spots that get the crowd to pop like using the belt and the Big Elbow, but he lands on the injured knee! Hogan goes back to the knee, spinning toe hold and a figure-4. This has been a great story in terms of Savage being too banged up and defending his title the next night and Hogan is just licking his chops. Savage going crazy and choking Hogan draws a big pop. The finish goes into overdrive with The Disciple attacking the ref. Beefcake has one of those faces that just can never recognize him when he changed gimmicks. Nash coming in powerbombing Hogan got a massive, massive pop. This makes the Goldberg title victory all the more intriguing because I am surprised they did not put the belt on Nash. Hart nails Nash and puts Hogan on top. It is not going to blow you away, but on WCW main event sliding scale this was pretty good. The novelty of Hogan working a body part was cool. Savage doing his crazed wounded animal selling keeps the match entertaining throughout. I have seen better Hogan performances on the year though. Resetting to Hogan makes complete sense now that I have seen the Sting title reign. He was in no shape to carry the belt. Savage as a one day champion is a fine transitional champion because he will be on the shelf soon and it sort of puts to bed the Hogan/Savage issue shifts to Hogan/Nash and Savage/Hart, which is not a bad one-two punch, but Nash is so interested in hanging out with his buddy, Hall in that miss their window to pop a big buyrate with Hogan/Nash on top. Bash at the Beach 1998, the two year anniversary of the NWO, Nash vs. Hogan on top would have been huge. Alas. I understand the reset to Hogan and I think they went with gutsier move to put it on Goldberg. I would have probably played it safe and put it on Nash. WCW just when you think you have them figured out they keep you guessing even all these years later.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Randy Savage - WCW Spring Stampede 1998 Fun fact: This is the first PPV I ever begged my parents to order because my favorite wrestler, Randy Savage was challenging for the World Title. Oddly, I had no recollection of this match until the end when all the memories came flooding back. It is weird because I still vividly remember the Hogan vs Savage match on Nitro the next night that royally pissed me off as a child. I don't know if it is the face paint, but Sting is just so frigging lame. The complaint seemed to be that Hogan took most of the SuperBrawl match and that is why it sucked, but as I expected Savage would be more giving, but still Sting did not look he gave two fucks. He was just going through the motions and his selling was just dogshit. Savage looked like a car wreck with the huge knee brace and the taped arm. Sting really needs to ditch the trench coat that's the second time sometime has attacked him before he could get it off. I loved Savage selling the punch and then punch through it. That's not someone no selling that is selling how fucking nutzo he is. Savage does his best to wrestle for one between taking bumps over the top rope, selling the arm and then taking back over on offense with good heel offense. Tony gets in one of his more infamous lines about the bales of hay being abrasive and the particulates getting into respiratory tract. He has a point, but man did it sound fucking lame. Sting just randomly stops selling, but not in the way that elicits a crowd reaction because he is hulking up. He will literally just stand up and stand there. It happened at least twice, It is honestly like he forgot how to wrestle. Liz gets in the ring and gives him a chair shot and then all the memories come rushing back. I know something big is going to happen BOOM! Liz takes a Stinger Splash. WOW! Savage is like kthxbai and looks to use the distraction to elbow Sting on the chair, but Hogan interferes. Sting hits the Slop Drop, but here comes Big Sexy to hit the Jacknife and pulls Savage to win. The booking fucked up Sting, yes, but he did not do himself any favors. He was shitting the bed in the ring. Resetting to Hollywood to transition to Goldberg was actually a pretty gutsy and intelligent thing to do. I am going to give WCW kudos for that. Savage tried as he might, but was too banged up to salvage this match. This is neck and neck with the SuperBrawl VIII for shittiest main event match of '98, but I think this one takes it because there was more Sting offense and Hogan's effort in SuperBrawl VIII is to be praised.

Hollywood Hogan vs Randy Savage - WCW Uncensored 1998 Worst match ever? No. For instance, I thought their Halloween Havoc 1996 match was much worse than this. Once again, Hogan looked game to have a good match and was very energetic. I really don't understand the complaints of the match plodding. They were cutting a good pace and Hogan never really rested once. I don't know if Savage's knee is already hurt, but they go into Savage babyface match mode, which means he gets the shit beat out of him for most the match. The big difference between this and Sting match is that Savage is selling incredibly well. You really feel like he is hurt and a bit discombobulated by all of Hogan's offense. Hogan whipped him pretty good with belt and wish Savage whipped back a bit harder. I liked the first Hogan cutoff sending Savage into the cage hard on a backdrop, which is the only spot to get universal praise from the reviews I read. If WCW were a bunch of pansies and let use see the double juice, I think this could be more entertaining. I am surprised how dead the crowd was for this because everything I saw was pretty decent and given the personalities I thought that would magnify the reaction. Savage hitting the double axe handle from the top of the cage was a crazy spot that woke the crowd up. The ref just letting them out of the cage to do some basic brawling and then head right back into the cage was lame. The finish was fucking atrocious with Savage & Sting standing off against Hogan & Disciple for an eternity only for Savage to deck Sting. Maybe the reason why Sting did not give a flying fuck was because he was booked like a dope. Stupid shit aside, this is not the worst match of all time. I think the cage inhibited them more than anything else because could have been helped by more brawling around the ring. It is a pretty average match, but Hogan and Savage both seem to have some gas in the tank.

I was watching Randy Savage vs Lex Luger from Souled Out 1997 and I enjoyed the match as a sort of sprint main event with great heeling and just that constant motion from Savage. He was just suffocating Luger. Luger was great at selling especially verbally. The Luger comeback in the ring was cliche, but the end of the show the last image is Savage getting racked and Sting putting Hogan in the Scorpion Deathlock. WCW sending the fans home happy coupled with the great chemistry that Savage and Luger had I found the match to be pretty enjoyable. So I figure given the names and timeframes I am sure the reviewers shit on this match because of their blind dislike for these two wrestlers and the WCW main event scene. Part of me wanted to understand what people did not like about a match that I thought never dipped below average once. The following is from Sharpshooter Review published on 411mania in 2010 Main Event:Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage. Man, this would have been a great match in 1989. Too bad it’s1998, though. Michael Buffer does his typical announcer. LET’SSSSS GET READDYYYY TO SUCK IT BUFFER! They are playing a song I remember from some porno. Oh wait, it is just nWo’s music. Both wrestlers get barely a reaction from the crowd, as the crowd’s burnt out from, well, good wrestling. Savage runs away from Luger. Elisabeth hits Luger in the back. Savage sends Luger back in the ring. Savage comes off with a double axe handle for two. Savage has a nice bald spot going out. OOOOHH YEAH! Savage is giving the ref some heat because he is a heel. Savage chokes Luger because he is a heel. Elisabeth chokes Luger because she is a heel. But how could Elisabeth ever want to be with Luger? He does nothing for society. All he does is waste space! I take it all back. I swear, Luger! We all love you! They’re outside the ring brawling, for a lot longer than ten seconds. TNA steals so many WCW ideas! Now what’s the deal with companies stealing stupid ideas? Back in the ring, Luger hits the powerslam. Hall and Hogan come out, but Hogan stops Hall. Savage goes right into Hall, and then Luger puts in the RACK ( 7:02 ). nWo all do a beat down on Luger, but Sting makes the save. Luger puts in the RACK on Nash. Sting puts in the Deathlock on Hogan. Blah. ½* --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't mind him shitting on the match. I expected that. I really thought there was a systemic disconnect between how smart/internet/hardcore fans may view wrestling motivations in a modern context. Savage did NOT do all those things because he is a heel. He is a heel because he did all those things in the context of how, why, when, where and to whom. It such a simple point, but it is so critical. The first is a man playing role and needing to check boxes in order to accomplish a task. The second is a man that has performed certain actions that are reprehensible and despicable causing you to loathe that man. The first perspective is totally cold and analytic. The second is emotional. How you would react if someone swiped a referee for no apparent reason? Pro wrestling should hit in you in the gut. It is something you feel. I get that not every heel performance is going to raise your dander or have your fist shaking at the TV, but to view wrestling in a manner like Wrestler X did a spot because he is a heel or he is a face or because he is a coward or a blue collar working man or an egomaniac or an respected champion defeats its purpose. Your choices and actions define who you are. You want to understand why someone did something, but throwing a blanket, catch-all term is a disservice to great wrestling. The information my co-workers, friends and family evaluate me on is on things I say and do. Each new action allows them to re-evaluate who I am and all the different facets of me. If this re-evaluation is not taking place, wrestlers and wrestling becomes static. If we just chock up decisions of wrestlers to who they are at specific time, we are not learning about them. The disconnect between mind and gut that wrestling causes matches to become passionless and artificial. In a lot of ways, that is how I feel about current WWE save for a few like Rusev and Sheamus. I recognize what I am watching is good to great wrestling, but it is at the point where the wrestlers and agents just know what good wrestling is supposed to look like they just go through the motions. I think fans really do dictate the wrestling we see. Maybe not in terms of the pushes, but how the action is worked. You will explicitly see at least one match a RAW worked with the intent of getting a "This is Awesome" chant. My brother and I have a new favorite game where we guess how many spots they are a way from the chant breaking out. "Martin, I am telling you they are one spot away", "Brutha, they need at least two more nearfalls.". No one is really trying to win the match, get themselves over or an angle over. The intent of the match is merely entertain the fans. Wrestling should be motivated internally by wrestlers who want to win matches in the context of who they are and what is happening to him. Along the way, they should entertain you otherwise it is a shitty gimmick, angle or match. If the number one is to entertain then everything evaporates. The fans have influenced that greatly in way they respond to matches with a more head-first, gut-second approach. Modern wrestling is not aimed to hit you in the gut. It is played out for your head. It is because wrestling fans have become so disconnected from the product that the wrestling matches we watch now reflect that disconnect. Thank God for the WWE Network and Randy Savage & Lex Luger matches to save the day. Souled Out 1998 main event was a very inspiring main event.

Of course, everything in moderation and like I opened with in my response, I am sure it was not good and I am not going to seek out, but the way Charles described it shows the redeeming qualities of booking like that. One reason I have really dug Miz matches his return is because they all had interesting hooks. At first, it was don't hit me in the face. They really played up how big of a deal it would be for someone to hit them in the face. When Ziggler finally did at Summerslam, I popped, but I didn't feel like the reaction was as big as it should have been because A. it was not the finish and they still went for 5 more minutes & B. Fans aren't really trained to care about cool like hooks like that anymore. I think Mizdow stuff has incorporated in a really cool way for the most part. Now you send out most midcarders and really everything looks and feels same-y. Even in that Miz/Ziggler series, how did each match build on each other. They really did not. I have watched enough 80s WWF to know that within a single loop the match between two people were almost identical, but from loop to loop the plot advanced. Something new happened. Matches should be designed to get at least one person over or the angle over. These matches that just exist to entertain me just don't entertain me anymore.