GSR

A no time limit return grudge match after their bout last week went to a time limit draw. This might be billed as a ‘grudge’ match but we still get a shake of the hands. You can tell this is going long by the pace they’re cutting intermixed with plenty of stalling and jawing with the fans. We get the “ten minutes have gone announcement” and it feels as though nothing has happened. The two are nose to nose, they exchange shoves and it looks like this is finally getting going. Fairway with an armdrag and Tracey complains of a non-existent hair pull and pull of the shorts. That old staple! Smothers shouts out “there’s Jim Cornette and Danny Davis”, jumping Chip when he falls for the distraction. Big sideslam by Fairway after reversing the Irish whip although Tracey is soon back in control. He sits his opponent on the top turnbuckle but is too slow in following up, allowing Fairway to catch him with a tornado DDT. Chip heads upstairs, however Tracey hits the top rope causing him to lose his balance and crotch himself. This looked pretty bad as their timing was off, Fairway already starting to take the bump before Smothers had even touched the ropes. Lovely float over into a pin attempt from the superplex. Tracey slugs Corporal Robinson, who had made his way out and onto the apron, but Corp gets a bit of revenge, shoving Fairway out the way of a charging Smothers high knee, resulting in Tracey crashing knee first into the top turnbuckle. Again, like the crotch spot, the set up looked bad. Fairway’s response is to slap Corp, clearly wanting to win this on his own. Robinson’s going nowhere mind, continuing to loiter at ringside. When Tracey hits the ropes, more involvement from Corp who trips him up. Fairway then kicks that injured knee, slaps on a Texas Cloverleaf and gets the submission win. A bit of post-match mic work follows as they set up a third match for next week, Tracey insisting that he would’ve won here if it wasn’t for the interference of Corporal Robinson. Is it wrestling folk lore that just because a match went the time limit previously that the rematch automatically has to go longer? The opening ten minutes or so did nothing for me, purely because they were blatantly stalling and playing for time to drag this out. I lost count of how many lock ups we had. Things did pick up towards the end (I liked how Corp’s interference ultimately did lead to the submission) and they had no problem in laying those slaps in, but considering they billed this as a ‘grudge match’ it wasn’t really wrestled as one. A couple of bad looking spots in there too and I’m sort of glad that we don’t have the follow up.

Shawn Hernandez being Hotstuff Hernandez, while the size difference isn’t as much as I expected here when I saw the match listed. Hernandez with a great high leap frog, clearing Crash with ease, whic h he follows with a scoop powerslam for a two count. He whips him into the turnbuckles with authority as Crash just crumples to the mat on impact. The future ‘Hotstuff’ sits on a rear chinlock that Holly escapes from with some elbows to the mid-section. Double clothesline sees both men go down. Crash with a flying forearm before rushing his opponent, sending him backwards into the corner. Hernandez reverses the whip to the opposite one, however Crash avoids the charge and Hotstuff goes careering chest first into the turnbuckles. Missile dropkick and Holly picks up the win after a tornado bulldog. It would have been nice to see more of Hernandez’s athleticism and power as evidenced by that leap frog/powerslam spot but he seemed more content to rely on chokes and chinlocks.

Only a week late, but this is the title shot that Mike Awesome earned after winning the ‘Countdown to Armageddon’ battle royal on 10/18. Something just doesn’t feel right with how this has been booked, like its being done on the fly with minimal long term planning. Like why have Awesome in that three way? If Steiner is throwing his weight around, just postpone the shot until a later date. Also why would Awesome want to be involved in a three way when there is less chance of him winning the belt? Anyway I’m clearly concerning myself way more with logic than the writers! Booker starts out strong until Awesome reverses an Irish whip and then clotheslines him over the top rope to the outside. He steps out to the floor himself where he cracks a chair over Booker’s back before ramming him backwards into the ring apron. The back is clearly what Awesome is targeting, now bodyslamming his opponent on the ringside mats. The fans couldn’t care less about the psychology mind, more interested in chanting “we want tables”. Awesome throws him inside and a nice slingshot splash to the back for a two which he quickly follows with a DDT for another near fall. Running lariat in the corner and he then collects a table from underneath the ring, something that should appease these mutants. Stevie Ray on commentary mentions how by doing this he’s giving Booker the chance to recover and he should be staying on top of him as you can’t give a guy like Booker a second. Awesome props the table up in the corner and the commentary team are wondering why Charles Robinson is allowing this in a title match. Tony Schiavone must have had an epiphany as he mentions those “relaxed rules”, something that hasn’t been talked about for around five months now. Booker frees himself from the running powerbomb, but Awesome ducks the spin kick and release German suplexes Booker through the table. A pretty slack cover allows him to kick out, popping the fans who thought this one was over. Awesome misses a top rope splash and we get a succession of two counts until a ‘Book End’ sees the champion retain his gold. Good TV match and they did a great job of getting the fans into this with all those near falls at the end after it seemed like all they cared about at first was wanting tables. Awesome looked better than Booker here and I really like the psychology of attacking the back, softening it up for the coup de grace ‘Awesome bomb’ through a table (which never came). Some of Booker’s stuff didn’t look the best (the spin kick where he was supposed to clear Awesome and he rescued the sunset flip out of the corner as I thought he’d jumped too soon) but this is well worth checking out, especially if you want to see Mike Awesome work, as opposed to the garbage style you would normally expect out of him.

Michael Buffer on ring announcing duties to give this the ‘big match’ feel. Mr Belding is in the front row and Booker leaves him hanging as he makes his way into the ring. Steiner hasn’t even made it through the curtain and is already chewing out producer Ricky Santana over the fact that they’re not the main event tonight. ‘Big Poppa Pump’ with a back elbow to the jaw to escape the hammerlock. Booker responds with a back elbow of his own followed by a flying forearm as Steiner rolls to the floor for a breather. A knee to the mid-section stops Booker in his tracks and Steiner slugs him before punting his downed opponent in the ribs. He gets the better of a shoulder tackle, however is felled by a spinning heel kick. The Irish whip is reversed and Midajah completely misses grabbing Booker’s ankle as he hits the ropes, though he sells it like she did (you’d think she would be paying closer attention after what happened in the Steiner/Awesome match from Nitro). With his back turned, Steiner then clotheslines him over the top rope to the outside. He whips Booker into the guard rail, cracks him over the back with a chair before tipping him over the railing. Steiner slams Booker through the commentary desk while at the same time bad mouthing Stevie Ray, threatening to “bitch slap” him too. Booker ducks the clothesline and hits a neckbreaker, although the axe kick is cut off with another ‘Steinerline’. Samoan drop off the middle but Steiner would rather flex and do push ups than go for the pin. Belly to belly for a near fall. ‘Big Poppa Pump’ runs into a big boot and Booker then leap frogs out the way of the charge as Steiner sails through the ropes to the floor. Booker heads up top but Midajah pulls his leg causing him to crotch himself. Steiner climbs up with him for the superplex, however Booker blocks that with a head butt. Missile dropkick that Steiner barely kicks out from. Axe kick connects, but before the Harlem side kick does, Steiner waffles Booker with a lead pipe that Midajah had passed him. Steiner attacks Charles Robinson, tying him in the ‘tree of woe’, yet clearly didn’t think things through as there is no-one to call for the submission when he puts Booker in ‘the recliner’. Scott Armstrong runs out to take Robinson’s place and Steiner attacks him too. A third official, in the shape of Slick Johnson, comes out and calls for the bell, disqualifying ‘Big Poppa Pump’. Johnson ends up getting clubbed with that pipe which Steiner then swings at security. Jeff Jarrett tries to calm the situation and play peacemaker but Steiner is not in the mood for listening, shoving him as he’s completely lost the plot. A fairly uninspiring match that felt pretty repetitive. Just as business was starting to pick up we get the DQ finish and although Steiner is portrayed as this crazy ass, uncontrollable dude who will do what he likes and when he likes, you have to question the logic of attacking the match referee moments before you put your submission finisher on your opponent!

Jerry Lawler has called a meeting with the MCW talent and wants them all to put aside their differences for a bit and listen to what he has to say. He explains that he went to Power Pro Wrestling last week to tell everyone why he is no longer a part of their show and what he thinks is wrong with them. The next thing he knows, Brandon Baxter, Derrick King and these clowns get in his face and take advantage of him. He says how he gave them fair warning that if they tried anything he was going to show up back on their show today and bring all his friends with him. They all seem quite up for this with Thrasher wanting first dibs on Randy Hales, while Joey Abs says that he’ll break all 80lbs of Derrick King in half. Lawler tells them that they may have to force the doors down to get in the studio, but when they do he wants them to drag anyone they can find into the ring and show them what they are all about. Tracey Smothers is wired for a fight and ‘the King’ has to calm him down as he’s ranting about hating Channel 5 and hating Randy Hales. Lawler finishes up by saying that the Power Pro show goes on air live at 11:00am and as soon as they’re done here, they’ll jump into their cars, head over to 1960 Union Avenue, TV 5 and kick some butt! This is being held outside and it looks like they’ve just set up a ring in a car park somewhere. Smothers resorts to raking Krush across the eyes in order to try and get him to slow down, and while that works momentarily, a huracanrana followed by a dropkick from the Southern champion leads to Tracey rolling to the outside and calling for a time out. He’s getting some grief from some kids out there and warns them to “shut up or I’ll smack you on the back!” Krush leans over and pulls him up onto the apron by his hair, however Smothers with a couple of back forearm strikes before clotheslining Krush across the top rope. He pulls him to the floor where he throws him head first into the ring post. Tracey gets a two count after a low blow and is in the referee’s face asking him “can’t you count?” before wondering where the “Tracey sucks” chant is now? Rear chinlock and Smothers puts his feet over the ropes, but out of the official’s view, for added leverage, until he eventually does catch him. DDT and Krush kicks out as a despondent Smothers yells “what does it take to beat this guy?” Tracey whips him into the corner, tip up, Krush ducks the clothesline and catches Smothers with a leg lariat. Axe kick to the back of the head. He heads upstairs but Tracey shakes the ropes causing him to lose his balance. Superplex, float over and a great near fall as Krush just about kicks out, saving his title in the process. Frustrated that he still can’t put his opponent away, Tracey collects a chair from ringside. That backfires on him though as Krush superkicks the chair into his own face and then lands a face first suplex onto the chair to retain the gold. Smothers cracks Krush across the back and over the head with the chair post-match until he’s run off by the ‘Kliq 2000’. Cool little opening that links the two Memphis shows as Lawler rallies the troops and plans his revenge for what happened to him the week before. In regards to the match Tracey worked hard here, both with Krush and also in the way he gets the crowd into things, to the point this is one of the best, if not the best of Krush’s outings for the year.

Mark Madden can’t remember the last time he saw this much talent in one ring. This is Steiner’s first match since Ric Flair laid down the law to him and when he starts jawing with the fans pre-match. Madden says how he thinks Flair wouldn’t mind if Scotty actually killed a fan or two. That comment doesn’t sit well with Tony Schiavone who tells Madden that he’s out of line and to never say anything like that again. Swinging neckbreaker by Buff, he then tags his partner who crushes Jarrett against the turnbuckles with a ‘Stinger splash’ but is attacked from behind by Steiner. Sting reverses the Irish whip to the opposite corner and nails him with a running lariat. He goes to whip Jarrett into 'Big Poppa Pump', however this time it’s Jarrett with the reversal, Steiner snatching and planting Sting with a belly to belly. When a suplex come throw only gets him a two, Steiner is in the face of referee Slick Johnson causing the commentators to panic that he could be out of here if he puts a hand on him and Ric Flair happens to be watching. Sting floats over on the press slam attempt, hits a DDT, and makes the hot tag to Bagwell. Jarrett doesn’t bother to wait for a tag himself although ends up getting clotheslined over the tope rope to the floor. Double underhook DDT for a near fall. Buff with the ‘Blockbuster’, but before he can go for the pin Jarrett breaks a guitar over his back. Johnson happened to be looking away so didn’t see it, however I’m not sure how he didn’t hear the sound of the guitar breaking or see all those remnants of wood in the ring! As Sting and Jarrett fight their way up the aisle, Steiner puts the unconscious Bagwell in the recliner for the win. Better than I expected with Sting playing the FIP role and Bagwell only being used at the start (briefly) and for the finish, so keeping him away from the action for as much as possible! Surprisingly hot crowd here too.

Florida’s favourite son, ‘Bad’ Barry Horowitz gets his usual favourable response from the crowd on arrival and I wonder if he’ll do what he does best and get them to turn on him by the time this one is over? A drop toe hold by Myers sends Horowitz crashing head first into the mat and he then takes to the floor to compose himself. When a lone voice amongst the “Barry, Barry” chants tells him to “get in there” he informs the fan to “shut your stinking mouth” and that he “doesn’t need no Crystal River redneck telling him what to do”. That’s my boy! Myers starts working over Horowitz’s arm and when he can’t wrestle his way out of the arm bar, grabs the ‘Extreme Shah’ by the collar and backs him into the corner. As the ref gets between them for the break, Horowitz with an immediate shoulder to the mid-section followed by an uppercut. He doesn’t stay in control for long though and Myers is back on that arm bar. Horowitz avoids a double axe handle off the top and it looks like ‘the Shah’ injured his leg on landing. A quality Northern Lights suplex by Horowitz for a two count, although I’m surprised he’s not targeting that leg. Cradle suplex for another near fall, something I can’t recall ever seeing out of him before. Having no luck in pinning his opponent’s shoulders to the mat he changes tact with an abdominal stretch. Myers powers his way out of it only to run into a high knee. Horowitz is back with the abdominal stretch, the official eventually catching him using the ropes for leverage and ordering the break. Double clothesline sees both men go down. Myers blocks a Horowitz right hand and responds with some of his own, however this isn’t 1995 ECW and those shots are met with silence. Horowitz grabs ‘the Shah’ on his attempted tip up and ‘Alabama slams’ him to the mat. He says “that’s it”, pats himself on the back then locks on Octopus hold for the submission. Myers work on top wasn’t the most expansive or diverse, using arm wringers, arm bars and nothing else. Things picked up for Horowitz’s control and, although the abdominal stretch led to the weakening of ‘the Shah’s’ back and him ultimately tapping to the Octopus, there was probably an over reliant on it even if Horowitz was grabbing the ropes, the trunks, jawing with the crowd and turning it into a cradle on one occasion to keep it fresh. It’ll take a lot for me not to enjoy a Barry Horowitz match but I do think this would have benefited from having five minutes knocked off its duration.

Johnny Moss and Serena Deeb also work as trainers at the Performance Center (I think Moss came in to replace Johnny Saint after his six month stint came to an end). Does Terry Taylor still work down at the PC?

Ace Austin is like a 21st Century Phantasio the way he magically makes a cane appear out of thin air before walloping everyone with it. It’s actually a smart and innovative way of clearing the ring as with six men the opening could easily get messy with all those bodies in there. ‘Scramble rules’ so wrestlers come and go, rolling in and out of the ring to be replaced by someone new in order to keep the action moving. It may not seem much but by Austin attacking everyone before the bell it means that they take to the floor to ‘recover’ and when they’ve done so can then get involved in the match, again just a plausible simple thing to avoid this becoming a cluster. The match itself only lasts about eight minutes and is a fun, non-stop sprint. Some of the highlights include a Parnell Northern Lights suplex for a two, a release snap Dragon suplex by Ku, a lovely cartwheel into a round off by Austin, a Ku ‘low-pe’ (tope through the bottom rope), an Austin Fosbury flop to the floor, a great gutwrench powerbomb by Ku where he drops Austin on his own knees, a release Splash Mountain by Gray and a Parnell half and half suplex. The finish comes as Austin counters the half and half and hits a standing blockbuster for the win. Standouts are Ku, Austin and to a lesser extent Parnell. Ku especially with his hard hitting, aggressive style looks like someone to keep an eye on and who could go far.

NWA Texas Junior Heavyweight title match with ‘Playboy’ Joey Corman challenging the champion, Samir. Some lovely grappling at the beginning between these two, ending with Corman taking Samir down and the shaven headed champion complaining to the official about a non-existent hair pull. Nice press slam into a Michinoku Driver by Corman and Samir takes to the floor for a chat with his manager after kicking out of the cover. He counters the attempted DDT with a fireman’s carry take down but then fails to connect on the dropkick as Corman holds onto the ropes. Death Valley Driver and this time Samir barely kicks out of the lateral press. A quick fire series of pin attempts and exchanges and they put a black mark on what I’d been enjoying with a ‘stand off’ as both men then bow to the crowd! Samir with a thumb to the eye before tying Corman up in a submission. ‘The Playboy’ counters the huracanrana with a powerbomb as they add touches of Lucha Libre in there all whilst maintaining this break neck pace. Corman heads up top, but Samir dropkicks the ropes causing him to lose his balance. He rushes in, however Corman kicks him away and then snatches him for a Tornado DDT. Samir counters that with a Northern Lights suplex and that’s enough to get the three as he retains his Junior Heavyweight title. That finish felt flat and came out of nowhere, as if no-one was expecting it to be over after a Northern Lights suplex, yet despite that and the feeling that this was only just starting to get going, I enjoyed it. Two guys who I’ve never heard of, who were both technically proficient and worked a fast paced enjoyable match, mixing in aspects of Lucha Libre there too. Negative marks for the unnecessary and unwanted ‘stand off’ but this was a pleasant surprise.

It transpires that this is for the MCW Light Heayweight title, so it looks like Al K.’s statement saw him vacate the belt which was the best outcome possible as it means we don’t have to see him wrestle. Slight heel tendencies from Dragon as he makes his entrance, drawing away his hand as the fans try to slap it. In amongst the opening exchanges there is a beautiful arm drag by Spanky. A headscissors takes Dragon over the top rope to the outside where, as soon as he’s up to his feet, Spanky nails him with a springboard crossbody to the floor. Belly to back suplex for two and it’s nice to see Spanky actually drive Dragon into the canvas with this, as opposed to just releasing and letting him drop. Dragon uses the ropes to escape a backslide and catches Spanky with a suplex of his own. A vicious sounding knife edge chop, snap mare out of the corner followed by a stiff kick to the back. He works over the left arm before applying a cross armbar and Spanky is forced to reach for the ropes with his feet for the break. ‘Cattle mutilation’ and luckily for him he’s again close enough to the ropes. After being backdropped over the ropes, Spanky lands on the apron and a cool little slingshot roll up back in for a two. Slingshot senton, but Dragon gets his knees up. Spanky counters the attempted backdrop into a bulldog, and when Danielson charges, a drop toe hold sends him crashing head first into the middle turnbuckle. Dragon reverses position on the go behind and slaps on the shininomaki. Spanky fights his way out and hits a release German. Face first suplex and he heads upstairs for a Swanton. Dragon moves out of the way and although Spanky manages to roll through, is met by an almighty boot to the face. He takes to the floor to try and grab a breather but gets wiped out with a suicide dive. Spanky escapes the ‘Cop Killa’ and hits a ‘Snow Plough’ before heading back to the top. Dragon meets him up there however Spanky is able to fight off the attempted suicideplex attempt. In shoving him backwards he accidentally falls into the referee knocking him out. Frog splash but there’s no-one to count the cover. Dragon blocks the German with a mule kick, lands the ‘Cop Killa’ at the second time of asking and the official comes back around as we have a new MCW Light Heavyweight champion. If we are going to get a match like this every week then I’ve no problem with a few sub-five minute matches taking place on the same TV episode. Dragon and Spanky are given over ten minutes here and show what they can do; stiff strikes, focused limb work, innovation, scientific mat work, submissions along with some flying before really ramping things up for the final three minutes. I mentioned it in the write up but I really liked the way that Spanky executed that belly to back suplex, trying to maximise the impact it would have on his opponent. I also liked how, despite acting heelish on his entrance, Dragon wrestled thing clean right up until that low blow at the finish, showing that he’ll do whatever it takes to win even if that involves breaking the rules. Best Memphis match so far.

Crowbar is all dolled up like some 70’s pimp while Vampiro, who is out second, beckons Crowbar outside to start this on the floor. He’s more than happy to do so, but ends up getting blitzed by the nunchucks that Vamp was carrying. Vamp whips Crowbar into the guard rail before they finally make it into the ring. Some hard knife edge chops by Crowbar although he gets nailed with a spin kick after catching a leg. Crowbar crotches Vamp on the top rope to escape the side headlock as he then crumples to the floor. Things pick up from here with a Crowbar splash from the apron to the outside, a bulldog onto a chair and a face first suplex onto the ring steps. The action returns inside where Crowbar lands a belly to back suplex and a slingshot splash. He heads upstairs, however Vamp cuts off whatever he had planned launching him to the mat. ‘Van Daminator’ by Vampiro, but they’re too close to the ropes. Now it’s Crowbar’s turn to cut off Vamp’s top rope attack with a huracanrana. He lays a chair over Vampiro’s face and comes crashing down onto it with a slingshot somersault leg drop. Vamp rolls to the floor and staggers up the aisle with Crowbar in pursuit. They fight to the back of the arena ending up near the DJ booth. Vampiro whips Crowbar into the dancer’s cage when two druids show up and stack a couple of tables on top of each other. Crowbar goes to suplex Vamp off the stage and through the tables but one of the druids grabs his leg to prevent him from doing so. Vamp takes advantage of the situation; instead chokeslamming Crowbar through the tables at which point Charles Robinson stops the match. Post-match Vamp gets on the house mic and says the Crowbar’s blood is on Mike Awesome’s hands, holding him responsible for his actions after he superbombed him from the ring and through a table at ringside.

A ‘strong style match’ meaning the only way you can win is by submission or knock out. Benson Lee is announced as a black belt in some Martial Art that I have never heard of and is giving away a noticeable size advantage against ‘the Beast’. Lee throws some kicks to Severn’s thigh which look pretty bad and I’m doubting that he’s a black belt in anything! Severn gets a hold and launches him with a great amateur style overhead suplex, however Lee scrambles to the ropes before he can lock in the rear naked choke. A kick to the bread basket stuns ‘the Beast’ as he’s bought to his knees following a flurry of quick fire kicks. Dragon sleeper attempt, but Severn flips him over. Gut wrench suplex, he slaps on a cross arm bar and Lee taps. Severn suplexing and throwing Lee about was great but that’s about all there is to this.

Another late Metal find for my 2000 viewing and I certainly wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity of some more Derrick King (I’ve already watched his match against Perry Saturn from a fortnight later). Jonathan Coachman mentions that the big Ohio Valley show from last Wednesday was cancelled due to the weather and will let us know when they have a new date as they’re in the process of rescheduling. That’s got to be one of the earliest, if not they earliest mentions of OVW on WWF TV. Tazz whips King into the corner, DK puts a foot up as he rushes in, however Tazz snatches the leg, grabs him around the upper body and suplexes him over head. A stiff clothesline followed by some crossfaces and King has got in no offense whatsoever so far. Head and arm suplex. Another whip into the turnbuckles and, again expecting the charge, King with a tip up. There was no charge though and on his landing Tazz immediately sinks in the ‘Tazzmission’ for the victory. A squash in the true sense of the word!

I've re-posted this review courtesy of Jetlag due to there being an issue/glitch on the original thread meaning that it didn't load.

This was strange with Smiley in trackies and trainers, knowing that he had a ‘make up’ match (whatever one of those is) but not knowing who his opponent will be. As I mentioned previously, if you’ve got a ‘surprise’ opponent in WCW or don’t know who you’ll be taking on, just assume it will be Goldberg! The usual quick squash that saw Smiley do a random backward roll after falling down before getting speared and jackhammered. Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell appear on Thundervision and announce that at Sin it will be ‘Totally Buff’ against Goldberg & ‘Sarge’. Looks like this is running to the next PPV at least, and of all people is featuring DeWayne Bruce prominently. It was one thing having Goldberg face him in the run up to Starrcade, Lex using the Commissioner to his advantage and playing mind games, but now having him team up with him? This is such a backward step for Goldberg who should have moved onto Steiner by now.

You can’t fault WCW’s efforts at plugging Goldberg’s book as they’re at it again here, this time incorporating it into the Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell interview. Bagwell explains that WCW has ran him into the ground for nine years and he’s finally had enough. What better way to start things off than aligning himself with Lex Luger in a team they’re calling ‘Totally Buff’. Luger says that Goldberg might’ve thought it was over but it’s only just begun and they’ve plenty of surprises in store for him, starting tonight. As the bell rings to get this underway Bagwell immediately takes to the floor. Goldberg follows suit and chases after him, however lying in wait hiding behind the apron is Lex Luger who attacks him with a chair. The ref calls for the bell and this is over without either man putting a hand on the other, Buff DQ’d for the interference. Lex clocks the official with the chair too and they double team Goldberg until DeWayne Bruce makes the save. The man who has been a jobber in the company for over ten years is now singlehandedly taking care of two of the top heels. ‘Sarge’ eventually succumbs to a chair shot, although by which time Goldberg is back to his feet, kicking the chair in Luger’s face and nailing Bagwell with a standing side kick. That’s the signal for ‘Totally Buff’ to get out of there having had enough for today. I couldn’t believe that they continued to run the Luger feud after Mayhem, now they’re continuing it after Starrcade?

Nitro opens and we catch the end of a conversation between Lex Luger and Mike Sanders with the Commissioner telling Lex not to worry as he’ll make the match tonight. DeWayne Bruce arrives at the arena and is looking for Sanders. Disco Inferno sees him and wonders if the Power Plant is closed today, before questioning why has he got his bags with him “have they let midget wrestling back here?” ‘Sarge’ grabs him around the throat, slams him up against a door and starts brow beating him. Please don’t tell me they’re going to push ‘Sarge’? ‘Sarge’ ends up finding Sanders and starts throwing his weight around telling him that he wants Lex Luger. Sanders tells him that they have rules and procedures around here and one of them is that you can’t come in here and bark orders at the Commissioner. If he wants Luger that is fine with him, however he explains that tonight’s show is already booked so it will have to be on Thunder, but in order to get that match he has to do something for him in return. ‘Sarge’ is on his way to the ring dressed to wrestle while the commentators are still wondering what it is that the Commissioner wants him to do. It’s only when Goldberg’s music plays signalling his entrance does the penny drop, although they think he’s unaware that it’s his mentor who he will be taking on. Goldberg passes through the pyro and finally sees who is waiting for him. He makes it into the ring and says what he’s not wrestling him while ‘Sarge’ repeatedly tells him that “we’re doing this match”. Lex Luger is out and informs Goldberg that unless he “gets busy” his little buddy won’t get his match with him on Thunder, before reminding him that the bell has already rung and if he lays a hand on him he’ll forfeit this one and be gone from WCW. Goldberg is about to leave when he’s attacked by ‘Sarge’ who windmills him, laying in punches and kicks as he tries to get Goldberg to fight back, “C’Mon Bill. Fight me Bill” “It ain’t happening” “Yes it is”. Something eventually snaps and he spears ‘Sarge’ after reversing an Irish Whip. No spear though, thinking ‘Sarge’ has had enough. Goldberg is about to leave for the second time when ‘Sarge’ grabs his ankle preventing him from doing so. Now we get the jackhammer as it’s put across that ‘Sarge’ sacrificed himself to both get to Luger and to also protect Goldberg’s career.

Shane Douglas is pissed off because General Rection took away his meal ticket, Torrie Wilson. He thinks that someone in management mustn’t like Goldberg because they’ve booked him to face ‘The Franchise’ tonight and claims that he’s going to end the streak here in Lincoln, NE. Prior to the match starting he jumps to the floor, out of his opponent’s view, where he wraps a chain around his hand. Despite blasting him three times with the loaded fist he can’t drop Goldberg. He counters the side headlock with a belly to back suplex when out through the curtain walks Lex Luger who has DeWayne Bruce up in the ‘Torture Rack’. As Goldberg is about to leave and help his former trainer, Douglas attacks him from behind. Not smart. Goldberg powers out of ‘the Franchiser’, spear, jackhammer and he immediately takes off after Luger who has already scarpered. If anyone thinks Shane Douglas is a good or underrated promo, I suggest watching this. He takes five minutes to say what he could say in ten seconds and what he does say doesn’t go anywhere.

Lex Luger has requested some interview time and believes that with Starrcade just 13 days from now, the sands of time on Goldberg’s career are slipping away. He says that Bill is a “great guy” but he wants to talk about the man who played an integral part in making him the superstar that he is today, DeWayne Bruce, affectionately known as ‘Sarge’. ‘Sarge’ is in the front row and Luger gets everyone to give him a round of applause. Lex has got Goldberg’s autobiography with him and reads a few passages from it that put over ‘Sarge’. This is dying on its arse. He then accuses Goldberg of living the high life and ditching ‘Sarge’ who has to work all day in the dingy Power Plant just to make ends meet. Luger claims that he would never treat someone like that although Scott Hudson has serious doubts that he looked after Hiro Matsuda! M.I. Smooth’s entrance theme is a ripped off version of Sade’s ‘Smooth Operator’. I’ve never noticed that before, or maybe I’ve never heard his theme previously. He’s not backing down here and is nose to nose with Goldberg. Smooth throws some forearms to the jaw that stagger his opponent but the kick to the stomach has no effect and Goldberg responds with one of his own. After Smooth runs into a big boot, Goldberg with a great looking spear, lifting Smooth high off the canvas and then driving him to the mat. You should know what comes next by now. Before leaving he heads over to ‘Sarge’ gives him a hug and raises his arm.

Not only are 3 Count’s back’s feeling better but so are their ankles too as they no longer have that ankle weight Evan Karagias with them anymore. Karagias is accompanied by Jamie Noble to counter the likely interference from the opposition so that answers Mark Madden’s question from Monday night. Yang leaves the former 3 Count members to it as Evan backdrops Shannon over the top rope to the floor and takes an almost flat back bump in the process. Barmy! Quesadora into an X-Factor on Yang. Moore plants Karagias with a ‘Rocker dropper’ and then hits a ‘round the world’ arm drag on Yang. ‘Thesz press’ by Karagias but his punches from the mount are the pits. He’s every bit as interested in dancing and posing as he is wrestling, something that comes back to bite him on the backside as Yang clocks him while he’s not paying attention. Huge gorilla press from Evan, dropping Yang chest first over the top rope to the outside, followed by a scoop slam on Shannon for a near fall. Noble is in Leah Meow’s face for some reason letting her verbally have it, although she’s struggling not to laugh. Such a professional! Spinebuster by Evan and Yang makes the save. Helms pulls Karagias to the floor however he reverses the Irish whip sending Shane flying into the guard rail. Reverse tombstone by Yang and with everyone else occupied and no-one to break up the cover, he gets the three heading into the PPV.

RAZE’s PREMIER debut and the second appearance of Savoy after her match against Cole Pistol was cut short. Savoy throws some kicks at RAZE’s thigh and when she ends up catching one of them, looks for a flying arm bar that doesn’t quite come off. RAZE escapes the side headlock and then crowbars Savoy’s arm, pulling it all the way back into a regulation cross arm bar but has to let go as her own shoulders are to the mat. She uses her size advantage to bully Nicole around, throwing some knees to the mid-section weakening her stomach ready for an abdominal stretch. Savoy powers out, hip tosses RAZE to the mat and goes for a cross arm bar of her own, however RAZE maneuvers her own position so that now it’s Savoy’s shoulders that are to the mat. They trade forearms and RAZE eventually lays Nicole out with a stiff clothesline. Savoy fires back with some jumping knees and locks on what I thought at first was a standing guillotine (there’s only one hard camera filming and no close up shots) but think is actually a standing Kimura. RAZE bulls her back into the turnbuckles forcing Savoy to let go but then gets met with a kick to the side of the head. She swings aimlessly, failing to connect, as Savoy snatches an arm, flying arm bar into a cross arm bar and RAZE is forced to tap. There’s a great touch right at the end here as RAZE is about to reach for the ropes with her leg but Savoy controls the leg with her left arm to prevent her from doing so. I thought this was a decent little match and an improvement on Pistol/Savoy (even taking into account how that one finished due to the unfortunate injury). They eliminated the pure ‘pro-wrestling’ that was prevalent in that and concentrated more on the worked shoot aspect which, considering the size of RAZE and how she can use that to her advantage over her opponent, was a smart call. I mentioned it in the play by play, but I really liked the finish with Savoy controlling the leg with one of her arms to force the tap.