[1995-11-26-WCW-World War III] Diamond Dallas Page vs Johnny B. Badd

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This, the Havoc match and the SuperBrawl VI match have many of the same spots and a pretty basic layout, but I like them all as fun matches with two limited guys having smartly put together matches. I don't have much more to say about them than that, and this isn't something I'd call anything more than decent at best, but it's worth checking out.

[Tim Evans]

Kim's hair is out of control here. Johnny wins control of her by winning

[El-P]

This was a hot opener and exactly what an undercard title match should be. Better than the Fall Brawl match. DDP already had so much presence and heel charisma at that point, but the Diamond Cutter wasn't established yet as a killer move. Post match is good too, with Kim acting stunned then really happy about the result. Really fun undercard feud.

[PeteF3]

Really fun match that shows just how far a well-done, mid-card storyline and a smartly laid-out match can take you. Kimberly's acting has gotten a ton better over the past few weeks, too. I don't think of either guy as a big tape-watcher (I don't necessarily know *why* I don't think that, I just don't) but this has a very Japanese layout too, right down to Badd sort of methodically breaking DDP down with a series of big moves to end it, rather than finishing with a big counter-sequence. Kim is shocked at the result, and I think they were starting to tease Kim turning on Badd before either the story was dropped or Badd left.

 

Incidentally, Heenan and Schiavone were outstanding here. At times they even approached Brain-Gorilla levels of comedic bickering chemistry. A logical story involving a shameless scumbag like Page will do wonders for the announcing job, too.

[Superstar Sleeze]

I enjoyed this match, but yeah it was no more than good. Speaking of the layout, DDP was the king of the nearfall in the late 90s and he definitely used that to create drama more frequently than other American wrestlers. Badd was just coming off the Pillman/Badd, which was wicked Japanese and I would imagine that he liked the idea of building of his offense from the Pillman match.

 

I love 1995 for all the powerbombs. Everybody and their mother is powerbombing in WCW and it was awesome. Yeah it probably killed the move, but hey, I liked it.

 

As for execution, DDP is da man! Two huge bumps, selling the storyline with Kimberly (hot damn, love dat hair, I was born in the wrong decade), trash talking, cheating & taunting, fun schtick at the beginning and being all business by the finish. He was not at his levels of 1997-1999 where he could not be stopped and would not be topped.