WCW's Highway to Hell

[El-P]

WEEK 33 (August 16 to 19, 1999)

 

Get off my TV character of the week : Sid Vicious. Interrupted no less than 6 matches during Nitro and Thunder. It's just unbearable. Can't work worth a lick, cuts horrible promos. This is ugly I don't understand why the booking comitee went this route after Sid was brought up by Nash. I guess they thought they had no one else. Wait, Goldberg is still doing nothing of note. This Sid superpush is the worst and most boring thing thus far this year (yeah, worse than tons of shitty stuff that at least was so ridiculous it was entertaining).

 

Title switch of the week : Lenny Lane wins the Cruiserweight title from Rey Mysterio Jr. (Thunder). It's really a "slip on a banana peel" win, not the right way to put back some focus on the cruiserweight title. And Lenny & Lodi doing homophobic baiting gimmick doesn't work for me. It's dated, stupid and rather offensive.

 

Match of the week : Chris Benoit vs Disco Inferno (Nitro). Yeah, Benoit the US champ defends against the Disco Inferno. Best exemplifies the glass ceiling. Really good match though, I always enjoy Disco working hard. Benoit and the Revolution get involved with Sid & Rick Steiner on Thunder which may sound like they are actually gonna work with some higher ranked talent, but...

 

1996 match of the week : ICP vs Public Enemy (Nitro). Seriously, why even hire back PE ? They worked so well the first time around in 1996 I guess, when putting people through tables seemed fresh, hardcore and original. This is 1999, PE still can't work but they are taking space on TV again. This is visually interesting, as both PE and ICP wear the exact same kind of clothing. ICP goes through a table. Ladi ladi ladi, we like to party... Raven is fat and bored. Leaving very soon.

 

Horrible main event of the week : Hulk Hogan vs Sid Vicious (Nitro). It bombed at Mania in 92, it should be a big match in 99. Sid is fast forward material to me at this point, he's unbearable. He managed to surpass Stevie Ray in term of pure suckiness.

 

Really nothing happens anymore. Really seems like a transitionnal era, which it effectively was. They are going toward a Hogan vs Sting babyface match as their big main event feud. The heel side is totally dead.

[Death From Above]

Didn't Lenny and Lodi actually come out with a portable closet at one point actually labelled "CLOSET" so they could... come out of the closet?

 

That was the worst.

 

And yeah Sid sucked a lot in this whole run. The crowds really didn't give a shit either, they should have aborted the whole thing.

[Ditch]

And yet the Sid angle payoff was about a million times better than even a standard 'good' WCW angle payoff.

[Death From Above]

Well that sort of sums the company up doesn't it. Things nobody cares about would somehow play out well. Things people cared about would end up like Starrcade '97. The whole company is a magnificent study in "... what happened?"

[goc]

The best parts of WCW were things that Hogan, Bischoff, Nash etc. weren't paying attention to. Then you could get awesome stuff like the Dean vs Jericho feud w/Dean in the Ciclope costume. They COULD do long term feuds with a good payoff it's just that they never happened in the main event.

[ButchReedMark]

Dean vs Jericho didn't get an awesome payoff at the end though. It just went on and on and on after the Ciclope incident, finally ending with Jericho beating Malenko on a Dusty (if I remember correctly, might have just been a normal DQ though) in a "FINAL MATCH EVER!!!!" on an episode of Nitro.

[caley]

I basically joined up here because I wanted to say what an awesome thread this was! It ALMOST (I repeat almost) has me wanting to do a tribute thread in which I watch all of 2000 WCW (You know from the period where they dumped Russo and everybody quit and the Wall became the top heel to the part where it looked like maybe they would turn it around after getting rid of Russo again) but I don't think I'd be able to make it.

 

ECW match of the week : Hardcore Hak vs Mickey Whipreck (Thunder). This is pretty surreal. Whipreck had injured an ankle in his debut match against Kidman, so he was off TV until then. Good little match. They had no idea what to do with Whipreck, no idea why they signed him.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe there was a story making the rounds at the time that Whipwreck was signed so they could get him to show them how to make the breakaway ring/platform that was used in ECW which was, apparently, Whipwreck's idea. Then again, outside of Kanyon being thrown off the Triple Cage through the breakaway platform, I don't remember WCW using the prop, so maybe that was untrue.

 

For some reason, the announcers kept hyping Bobby Duncum Jr. as an Internet darling when he debuted. I have no idea why.

I think they just figured anybody who wrestled in AJPW and ECW MUST be an internet darling.

 

Line of the week : "She's a movie star you know. I still haven't seen it but I've heard about it." Eric Bischoff, talking about Chastity on Nitro. So, they already knew at this point that she did *one* blowjob scene in a porn but she wasn't fired yet. Dumbfuck puritans, like anybody cared. I liked Chastity, she had that fun sleazeball look to her.

I remember this. It was part of Bischoff trying to make fans like him again by saying shoot-y things on commentary. My favourite (Was it on this show?) is when they had Hak come out with a cigarette like he did in ECW and Bischoff comes out and badmouths him for it and grandstands for the crowd, as if the crowd is going to go "Thank you Eric for saving us from second-hand smoke!" and not "Awesome, he's smoking like in ECW!"

[El-P]

Hey caley ! WCW still draws to this day I see.

Bischoff as an announcer then was unbearably obnoxious. The whole cigarette incident was not on that show but several weeks later. Made himslef look like a big shot. the funniest part was Bischoff basically attacked Hak then when Hak tried to reply he was hooked by 5 security guys and Bischoff acted all though and shit. Way to work a bayface turn Uncle Eric...

 

WEEK 34 (August 23 to 28, 1999)

 

Match of the week : Barry & Kendall Windham & Bobby Duncum Jr. vs Rey Mysterio Jr. & Eddie Guerrero & Kidman (Thunder). I love to watch the Windham brothers against Rey. Barry is still so smooth despite age and weight, it's crazy. Tons of cool shit in this match, and it's also notable that Duncum made a lot of progress. Tagging along with those guys and Hennig surely paid off. This is pretty hot action without any wasted time, both Windhams are just dynamos in there. I love the Rednecks.

 

Nostalgia match of the week : Hulk Hogan vs Sting (Nitro). Well, that's what it is. It's pretty decent although Hogan as Hollywood is a much better worker to me. But there's a sense of just old and been-there done-that to these kind of Hogan match at this point, it really doesn't feel like anything but revisiting the past, unlike during the nWo years which had a new and fresh twist to it. They work a rather nice counter sequence at the end, then of course Sid and Steiner show up to spoil the fun.

 

Giant pussy of the week : Sid Vicious (Thunder). Match on Thunder against Benoit & Saturn, tagging along Steiner. The match sucks anyway, as Sid is not only shitty, but he's lazy as fuck, 90% of his "offense" consist of horrible restholds. Rick Rude circa 93 would be proud. Well, no he wouldn't because the last 10% consists of horrible punches. Anyway, the interesting thing in this match is that Benoit doesn't throw any chops *at all*. Weird uh ? It's not like Rick Steiner would care, but Sid would not take Benoit's chops and he requested that Benoit would not use them when he would work against him. What a giant fucking pussy. David Flair took Benoit's chops ! Sid's stock found a way to drop even lower than he was before with this project. Amazing.

 

Promo of the week : Lex Luger (Nitro). Hey, Luger shows up to support his friend Sting and warns him about Hogan. He tells Sting he shouldn't trust Hogan, who all of a sudden is wearing the yellow and red like nothing ever happens. Sting, as the lovable doofus that he is, syas Hogan is his friend. Luger would still show up with Goldie at the end of Hogan vs Sting, but I thought it was an interesting show of actual half-consistency from Luger's character, not buying into the sudden change of attitude from Hogan.

 

Stiffest match of the week : Vampiro vs Eddie Guerrero (Nitro). I enjoy Vampiro way more than I thought I would. He's working hard and shows personnality. I guess he was totally washed up in MLW (he was godawful there). Some really stiff stuff here, from both part. The whole Vamp & ICP vs Rey/Eddie/Kidman stuff has been enjoyable, as there was a nice little ICP vs Rey/Kidman on the same show.

 

Competitive squash of the week : DDP vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. (Thunder). DDP cuts a decent promo shooting himself back into the main event picture which is really a good thing as he's their best guy to work on top, and the heel side is depleted with Sid/Rick Steiner. Then the match with Chavo (where has he been anyway) is pretty awesome for what is it. Crisp, brutal, energetic. DDP has added a spinebuster that is the best ever this side of Arn Anderson, seriously. Really, DDP's work in 1999 has been nothing short of excellent, so I forgive him for his so-so promo catchphrase and lame jokes. He's still working as hard as ever and probably is as good as he ever was.

 

Title change of the week : Barry & Kendall Windham wins the tag titles over Harlem Heat (Nitro). Well, that was a short comeback for the Heat. Fuck yes, the Windhams get the belts !!!!!

 

Embarrassing moment of the week : Crowd chanting "Faggot !" at Lenny. (Nitro). The gimmick sure works getting homophobic reactions. Nice...

 

Funniest moment of the week : Sonny Oono singing Purple Rain. (Thunder). Said to The Cat that Prince was here, then sung the chorus. Pretty damn funny. Of course the Prince in question was Iaukea. So that's where Russo got his idea for his new gimmick I guess...

 

Debut of the week : The KISS Demon !!! (Nitro). It was supposed to be Brian Adams, I have no idea why Dave Torborg got the deal. I think they had a clause in the contract that the KISS Demon was supposed to work a certain number of main events or something. Made it look like a huge deal, after a KISS performance that looked right out of 1982. Cultural relevance at its best.

 

Pretty busy week. Ironically, they were talking all week about some new president for WCW, the rumour being Eric Bischoff would get the job. It would be only two weeks or so before he would be actually demoted, for real. One of his last great idea was to say in a meeting that anyone disgruntled could get up and leave the room and the company. Raven got up and left. Nice. First Jericho, now Raven, two of the most over guys in the mid-card, upper midcard just getting the fuck out of this place in like 3 months. Nice job.

[Loss]

Promo of the week : Lex Luger (Nitro). Hey, Luger shows up to support his friend Sting and warns him about Hogan. He tells Sting he shouldn't trust Hogan, who all of a sudden is wearing the yellow and red like nothing ever happens. Sting, as the lovable doofus that he is, syas Hogan is his friend. Luger would still show up with Goldie at the end of Hogan vs Sting, but I thought it was an interesting show of actual half-consistency from Luger's character, not buying into the sudden change of attitude from Hogan.

If Luger felt Hogan was so untrustworthy, why did he join him in the NWO earlier in the year? And why would Goldberg be fine with Luger costing him the title and putting him in the torture rack in front of 40,000 people just a few months earlier? Not really a shining example of WCW continuity.

[El-P]

If Luger felt Hogan was so untrustworthy, why did he join him in the NWO earlier in the year?

I'll play devil's advocate here. First, Luger has always played first and foremost for his own interests and agenda. He himself is not the most sincere guy around, and he manipulated Sting before. Then, he didn't exactly joined Hogan per say. He was already a member of the Wölpack which he joined when they opposed the nWo Hollywood, and stayed mostly around Nash when both factions got together. Business is business and Luger is that kind of guy. But I thought it was a nice touch to have Luger coming back and trying to stir shit up like it's 1995 again. I wonder how it will play out since both Sting and Luger will eventually turn heel in the upcoming two months, although I don't think both turn will coincide. And Sting will turn back face in no time afterward to feud with Luger under Russo. Oh boy.

 

And why would Goldberg be fine with Luger costing him the title and putting him in the torture rack in front of 40,000 people just a few months earlier?

Luger never cost Goldie the title. But anyway, Goldie is now Hogan's little pal along with Sting. I'm telling you, it's 1995 again, Goldie is playing Savage here.

 

Not really a shining example of WCW continuity.

I said half-consistency from the Luger character only. Of course Sting and Goldie aligning themselves with good ol' Hulk makes no sense whatsoever, although a few weeks before he went back to his shiny colors, Hollywood asked Sting to tag with him and Sting said okay but he would get him back if anything fishy happened. The whole Hogan face turn earlier in the year was pretty awkward anyway, the whole heel/face structure was unbalanced under Nash, so Hulk going back to the yellow/red was just a natural progression into nostalgia mode, and the audience was ready for it. Managing to stay consistent with Goldie/Sting and all the other characters was just downright impossible at this point unless you get Cornette around the booking commitee.

[Ditch]

I though Bischoff taking Hak's sig was an attempt to make Hak look like a Steve Austin type.

[Dooley]

I though Bischoff taking Hak's sig was an attempt to make Hak look like a Steve Austin type.

If that was the case then Hak would have got to brain Bisch with the cane.

[Loss]

And why would Goldberg be fine with Luger costing him the title and putting him in the torture rack in front of 40,000 people just a few months earlier?

Luger never cost Goldie the title.

He did, actually. At least in my interpretation. The match in Atlanta was scheduled to be Goldberg vs Nash. Hogan vs Nash happened with the fingerpoke. Goldberg hit the ring, but Hogan was now champion. Goldberg cleared the ring of the NWO and then started fighting Hogan. I assumed that was his title match starting right then. Luger ended it in seconds when he rushed the ring and attacked Goldberg as he was about to jackhammer Hogan.

[ohtani's jacket]

I wonder if the Lex character ever got confused by the number of times he turned. Y'know, maybe take stock of his life.

[Loss]

All Lex ever wanted was for everyone to love him and see him as the very best, but Ric Flair would never fucking leave so that could happen. Sting suffered psychologically from it too. Luger was schizophrenic and Sting was a dumbass who refused to see anything but good in people.

[flyonthewall2983]

That honestly could be taken as either shoot or kayfabe I imagine.

[Guest Nell Santucci]

All Lex ever wanted was for everyone to love him and see him as the very best, but Ric Flair would never fucking leave so that could happen. Sting suffered psychologically from it too. Luger was schizophrenic and Sting was a dumbass who refused to see anything but good in people.

That post made me smile. It's sig-worthy. One of the greatest posts ever that encapsulates the essence of two characters. Rather than being schizo, Luger was a narcissistic borderline.

[El-P]

He did, actually. At least in my interpretation. The match in Atlanta was scheduled to be Goldberg vs Nash. Hogan vs Nash happened with the fingerpoke. Goldberg hit the ring, but Hogan was now champion. Goldberg cleared the ring of the NWO and then started fighting Hogan. I assumed that was his title match starting right then. Luger ended it in seconds when he rushed the ring and attacked Goldberg as he was about to jackhammer Hogan.

Nah, it wasn't gonna be an actual match. Who do you think Hogan is ? Yokozuna ?

 

All Lex ever wanted was for everyone to love him and see him as the very best, but Ric Flair would never fucking leave so that could happen. Sting suffered psychologically from it too. Luger was schizophrenic and Sting was a dumbass who refused to see anything but good in people.

That's a pretty great way to describe each character.

[Gregor]

All Lex ever wanted was for everyone to love him and see him as the very best, but Ric Flair would never fucking leave so that could happen.

It happened once, and all it did was ruin what should have been Luger's moment of glory. Even when Flair was gone, he overshadowed poor Lex. You certainly never saw Hogan skip town just to avoid passing the torch to Luger.

 

Luger costing Flair the title at Superbrawl and using their history as justification for rejoining his pal Nash would have been, at the very least, better than the David Flair heel turn.

[Loss]

He did, actually. At least in my interpretation. The match in Atlanta was scheduled to be Goldberg vs Nash. Hogan vs Nash happened with the fingerpoke. Goldberg hit the ring, but Hogan was now champion. Goldberg cleared the ring of the NWO and then started fighting Hogan. I assumed that was his title match starting right then. Luger ended it in seconds when he rushed the ring and attacked Goldberg as he was about to jackhammer Hogan.

Nah, it wasn't gonna be an actual match. Who do you think Hogan is ? Yokozuna ?

Goldberg went after Hogan, the bell rang and the ring cleared. They had a 10-second World title match that ended when Luger turned on Goldberg.

[El-P]

Goldberg went after Hogan, the bell rang and the ring cleared. They had a 10-second World title match that ended when Luger turned on Goldberg.

Nope, this is not what happened. Just checked it, the referee never gets into the ring and makes the bell ring (a number of times, not the requisite three times to start a match) from the outside as a way to stop the action. He's also clearly signaling with his hands gesture that this is not a match. Luger didn't screw Goldberg. Liz screwed Goldberg.

[El-P]

double post

[Loss]

We should do a thread where we psychoanalyze the characters of various wrestlers throughout their careers. Should be fun.

[Loss]

Goldberg went after Hogan, the bell rang and the ring cleared. They had a 10-second World title match that ended when Luger turned on Goldberg.

Nope, this is not what happened. Just checked it, the referee never gets into the ring and makes the bell ring (a number of times, not the requisite three times to start a match) from the outside as a way to stop the action. He's also clearly signaling with his hands gesture that this is not a match. Luger didn't screw Goldberg. Liz screwed Goldberg.

 

I stand corrected. I always thought it was:

 

(1) Hulk Hogan pinned Kevin Nash to win the WCW World title with the dreaded fingerpoke.

(2) Goldberg defeated Hulk Hogan by DQ in a WCW World title match that lasted a few seconds immediately thereafter. Hogan was disqualified when Luger came to Hogan's aid as Goldberg was about to jackhammer him.

[caley]

I though Bischoff taking Hak's sig was an attempt to make Hak look like a Steve Austin type.

I don't think so (Though I could be wrong), because I remember Bischoff's character was being presented as the face in the situation and Hak didn't do much afterwards.