[1996-03-24-WCW-Uncensored] Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs Ric Flair & Arn Anderson & Meng & Barbarian & Lex Luger & Kevin Sullivan & Ze Gangsta & Ultimate Solution (Triple Cage Tower of Doom)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Every bit as horrible as memory serves, but kinda had to be here in some capacity.

[Tim Evans]

The Frying pan bit and the botched finish always makes me laugh. I forgot that this wasn't the Yeti match as that was 95.

[El-P]

The last vestige of Hulkamania running wild against evil monsters. It's so stupid it's almost great. The match is horrible of course, but the sheer absurdity of this idea makes it so pro-wrestling and so Hulk Hoganish that it has to be seen at least once. The Ultimate Solution was called the Final Solution at first. Nice idea guys...

[Zenjo]

It's always awesome seeing Zeus. His only other Yearbook appearance was 7/7/90. He'd put on some weight but his wrestling ability was as good as ever. There was so much to appreciate here. The amazingly bad wrestling, the confusion over the rules, Zeus, the deadly frying pans, the Final Solution, Zeus, 2 men beating 8 in a handicap match, Flair being the one to do the job, Zeus. A Wrestlecrap goldmine.

[PeteF3]

MegaPowers, Monster Maniacs...now, according to Buffer, Hogan and Savage are the "MegaForce." Schiavone & co. have the chutzpah to wonder where Brian Pillman is, having advertised him right up through the end of Main Event, even though he'd already been crippled in the car wreck by this point. This whole thing seems like an engineering disaster--I don't know how the audience can be expected to see anything, and having wire mesh floors in addition to the cage itself is just asking for trouble. Horrible action, nonsensical rules, even MORE nonsensical booking (Flair and Arn are eliminated at the beginning and the big payoff is a showdown against Z Gangsta and the Ultimate Solution), fights going from the cage to the ring and back, and the hilarious finish. Schiavone: "Luger is obviously a fresh man, he hasn't been hit with a frying pan!" Probably the Worst Match of the Year but also essential viewing in its own way. Kind of ironic that the "Alliance to End Hulkamania" would actually accomplish its goal in this match.

[soup23]

Now, I'm not going to call this a masterpiece by any means, but I do think the hate goes a little too far. It isn't like Hogan ran through all of the heels and pinned them one by one. It took the frying pan for him to Macho to gain the advantage. The finish was fine with Flair taking a knockout shot and it set up some interesting stuff that could have happened down the road with Luger. Also, the crowd heat was here with the fans still chanting loudly for Hogan. Is this good, not really, but I don't think it is anywhere close to the worst wrestling main event of all time.

[PeteF3]

I should correct myself and add that Pillman had *not* had his car wreck yet, but everything about him being hyped and advertised despite not being there still holds true. It was another throat surgery this time, with the wreck coming at the end of the month.

[tim]

Horrible action, and from what we see it's clear the stipulation likely made no sense throughout the whole match.

[PhilTLL]

Merely reading about it cannot prepare you for how terrible the $5 frying pans are. They are so obviously those flimsy little college-apartment things you can dent by dropping on the floor.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs The Alliance to End Hulkamania (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Kevin Sullivan, Lex Luger, Meng, Barbarian, Ze Gangsta & Final Solution) - WCW Uncensored 1996

Scott Keith always had a funny line that The Alliance to End Hulkamania was Heat spelled backwards. 
 

This is one match that lives up to the hype. One of the worst matches of all time. I’ll review the match and then get into the booking. 
 

The first part is the Megapowers against the Horsemen in upper level of the cage but the floor is chain-lines so they can’t fucking move. It is just awkward clubbering while they move around gingerly. Horsemen do double Figure-4s but the Megapowers reverse them and throw powder into their faces. 
 

Onto the Dungeon of Doom chamber which Luger, Sullivan, Meng and Barbarian. Meng & Barbarian have the easiest pay day of their lives as they do barely anything and Hogan locks them in their own compartment and unlike the Horsemen they don’t comeback in the end.

Thankfully someone has the bright idea to get out of this godforsaken cage where no one can see shit whether it is the audience or those at home and the wrestlers Cant move. 
 

Hogan/Savage vs Sullivan/Luger is a decent brawl and they get good heat because Tupelo can see the action and it is spirited. Unfortunately Ultimate Solution & Ze Gangsta show up and drag the MegaPowers back the cage but thankfully the bottom level has a ring. 
 

With a name like Jeep Swenson I was hoping he would look cooler but Ultimate Solution is pretty lame. I have never seen the Zeus matches but he also sucks. Standard bad clubbering. Horsemen join in and the beat down is on. The Booty Man fka The Zodiac, Hogan’s mole, hands the Megapowers incredibly cheap frying pans to beat back TEAH but Luger comes in. He slugs Flair with a loaded glove. It looked pretty intentional. Classic pre-NWO Bischoff/Sullivan booking. Hogan wants Savage to hightail it but he goes back and pins Flair to win. Megapowers skaddle.

 

From action, match quality this is one of the worst matches of all time. It is brutally boring. The only redeemable part is the Hogan/Savage vs Sullivan/Luger outside the cage. 

From a booking perspective this match is overly criticized. Hogan/Savage didnt run Though all 8 men. It was not a squash match. Meng & Barbarian dont really count. Who cares about Zeus and Swenson. They needed frying pans and Luger clobbering Flair to win. If you want to see Hogan absolutely bury people then watch the post-match  to the SuperBrawl VI match where he runs through the entire Dungeon with a steel chair. Now that’s a bury job brutha. 
 

Where I do take umbrage is this match seems to be set up as the blowoff to Hogan vs Dungeon feud. Since Hogan has debuted in WCW he has had three arch rivals: Flair, Sullivan and Vader. Vader is not here. So this is the Unholy Alliance of Horsemen and the Dungeon. Instead of Hogan triumphantly pinning Sullivan, they opt for Savage pinning Flair after Luger’s punch. Savage vs Flair doesn’t happen again until June and Luger vs Flair doesn’t go anywhere. So why didnt Hogan just win the blowoff. 

Honestly I would have done Hogan & Savage vs Giant/Luger/Sullivan in a handicap street fight and put this baby to bed. Then you can do Flair vs Sting for the World Title as the co-main event. 
 

The lighting and the inability to move well in the Cage kills the first half. Then the ending sucked with Swenson & Zeus sucking and the flimsy frying pans. One of the worst matches of all time.