WCW's Highway to Hell

[goc]

Reading these I find it insane that even as recent as 2003 or for some up to like 2005, that people were saying Ric Flair was "still better than 90% of today's active wrestlers." I agree with the notion that he should have went out at Starrcade 93.

[artDDP]

This is also my most eagerly anticipated thread on these boards. I salute you, El-P.

 

You're right at the point where I slowly began tuning out on WCW programming due to the combination of shitty product and very adventurous girlfriend. I think the Great American Bash PPV was where I finally just gave up altogether.

[El-P]

Well, thanks. Not sure I'm getting the *exact* meaning of "very adventurous girlfriend" though (you know English isn't my native language. I have an idea but doesn't want to offend...).

 

PPV 5 : Slamboree 1999

 

aka, what a mess.

 

Match of the night : Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs Raven & Perry Saturn vs Rey Mysterio Jr. & Kidman. What a shock. And it's also the opener, which is nice because you need a hot opener on a PPV, but having your two best workers and a very over character jerking the curtain tells you everything you need to know. It's three-way style, so you get three guys at the same time. The storyline revolves around the Horsemen dominating both teams, which fit the build. A bit messy at times because of the setting, but it's action packed with quite a bit of great stuff workwise. Arn Anderson gets to do his spinebuster but either Malenko or Saturn blows the setup a bit, which was too bad. The finish sees Kanyon interferes to help Raven & Saturn win the belt. Which makes sense, he was Raven's friend last time we saw him. But no one remarks that he's wearing a DDP shirt. Hum... Best match on the show, good ending, makes sense. It can only go downhill from here.

 

Stupidest match of the night : Brian Knobbs vs Bam Bam Bigelow. And it does. They hit each others with plunders, with variable intensity (meaning Knobbs hits like a madman). It's not good, but it's perversely entertaining, as Knobbs eventually takes really stupid bumps. He also let go of a chair which flies at very high speed only to hit the guardrail, but seriously a few inches higher and it would have killed three kids in the first row. Knobbs was such a dangerous and inept worker, it amazes me that anyone would even want to book him or work with him, especially in this kind of match. Anyway, it goes to the outside since it's "falls count anywhere" (well, at least it makes the PPV version a bit special), and they eventually go to the souvenir stand, where Knobbs takes a suicide dive onto Bam Bam who slid of the table to the floor while Knobbs was in the air. Knobbs barely touched anyone but the concrete. Idiot.

 

Heatless match of the night : Booker T vs Rick Steiner. And I mean *heatless*. Rick got some sympathy barks at the beginning, but man did the audience didn't give a shit. The match was okay while Rick was throwing Booker around, but quickly got boring and bad. Booker's attempt at getting heat his usual way (those annoying shouts) only got him negative heat. Yep, they shit on Booker too, despite Rick working already like a heel. Scott helps him to win, Rick pretends he didn't ask for it. Booker loses the TV title, I can't say I'll regret this really poor and useless reign.

 

Funniest match of the night : Charles Robinson vs Gorgeous George. Robinson is really funny as Little Naich, doing all the maneurism, bumps and spots of Flair. Hell, he outworked 70% the roster that night in term of performance. George did what she had to do well, hell, they worked some chain wrestling that was smoother than anything Booker T ever did (or that Sting and Goldie would do later). Got a rough shot with Robinson bodyslamming Mona to the floor (as George was not gonna take serious bump, so someone had to to give Robinson some heat, that was well done). BTW, I like Molly a lot, but what was Miss Madness all about anyway ? Madusa I understand, she was hired to train George. And BTW, Madusa looked awesome. Damn those legs ! And she could throw some mean kick too, high heels and all. Asya (yes, because now she got that stupid name), serves no purpose to me however, so having Madusa kick her in the back of the head was cool. Anyway, this is comedy, this is fun, this ends like it should. I laughed out loud at Robinson. This is great.

 

Efficient short sprint of the night : Buff Bagwell vs Scott Steiner. Say what you want about Bagwell, he was over. And since Scott is the best heel they have, this got heat. Scott beats up Buff a little, Buff got to do a comeback only for Rick to betray him (jeeeez, seriously Buff, everyone saw that coming miles away). Rick and Scott are back together, as heels. Rick is done with the headgear. I can live with Rick as a big bully.

 

Way better than it should match of the night : Ric Flair vs Roddy Piper. Okay, so yes, it is better than it should. It should be unwatchable, like everything Piper has been involved with in the past two years. It's not. It's fun for two old guys chopping the hell out of each others. I guess this kind of match happening in 2011 or so would have people jump up and down about Flair being the best wrestler this year. But it's just two old guys chopping each others, and Flair bumping around for Piper. So it's fun for what it is. But, here comes Nash's booking. Flair cheats to win. Ok. Eric Bischoff shows up, insults Flair which gets a pop (how time changes, in a matter of a few months only) and declares that Piper is the winner. Wait WHAT ?? WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS ?? Where does it says that Bischoff has any power left whatsoever, didn't Flair won control of the company for good after defeating Hogan ? Duh ! Makes no sense. Shit.

 

Way worse than it should match of the night : Sting vs Goldberg. Not good. Sloppy, bad timing, blown spots. Sting works like a cretin, going for the previously injured knee for a whole minute and a half before throwing punches and going into a headlock. They really don't click at all and it shows how good DDP is for having such exciting matches with these two. It doesn't matter, the big match between the two franchises ends up in a schmooz when Bret Hart shows up, beats up Goldie, then the Steiner brothers attack both Sting and Goldie. Blah.

 

Second best match of the show : Kevin Nash vs DDP. Kevin Nash is an atrocious booker, but I enjoy his work. Worked well with Rey, Flair, Goldie and now DDP. This is excatly what it should be in term of main event. DDP is the best main event guy they have, and it's sad they didn't keep him on top longer. Nothing fancy, but they have a good dynamic, and I'd be remiss if I failed to mention how nicely Nash bumps for his opponents. The bad part is the booking : Macho Man saves DDP from a loss, which isn't a surprise at this point BUT : Eric Bischoff comes into the ring and RESTARTS THE MATCH ! Wait a fucking minute, how the hell can he do that ? Couldn't it at least be Piper who supposedly won control of the company ? I hate this kind of shit. Anyway, so the match restarts, and Nash books himself onto the top spot. Good match, but bad booking all around. This whole Bischoff thing doesn't make a bit of sense.

 

I didn't talk about Stevie Ray vs Konnan. Because I don't want to. Please. MVP : Charles Robinson. And Madusa's legs.

[Slasher]

Well, thanks. Not sure I'm getting the *exact* meaning of "very adventurous girlfriend" though (you know English isn't my native language. I have an idea but doesn't want to offend...).

He got laid... often.

[Death From Above]

I think you're being a bit harsh on Booker/Rick (though you're right it drew no reaction) and too forgiving to Steiner/Buff (I find Buff to be clearly past it by now) but otherwise I mostly agree. Sting/Goldberg was seriously disappointing stuff.

 

That ridiculous bump Knobbs takes at the end of that match almost defies description. Guys just killing themselves for nothing. That match also makes itself pass faster through Tony sucking on commentary and Heenan having to tell him to shut up at least twice because Tony keeps going "OH" really loud when there's a cookie sheet shot drowning it out and Heenan is all basically "fucking stop it, you're ruining the only good part". That was funny.

 

George/Robinson was exactly the kind of stupid fun a gimmick match between two non-wrestlers should be. And it's a rare intergender match that doesn't descend into being some sort of uncomfortable mess. You can tell Robinson is having the time of his life making a fool out of himself.

 

I forgot just how screwy some of the booking on this show was. It's funny how I remember most of the work but just sort of had blanked out all the restarts and whatnot.

 

I really liked Kidman in WCW, for what he was. Even if he has that goofy "you must try and powerbomb me" spot.

[El-P]

He got laid... often.

That's what I figured.

But hey, people who followed WCW got fucked a lot too.

 

and too forgiving to Steiner/Buff (I find Buff to be clearly past it by now)

I love Big Poppa Pump so... But yeah, Bagwell was really not the same coming back from injury. And he was way too buffed.

 

That ridiculous bump Knobbs takes at the end of that match almost defies description. Guys just killing themselves for nothing. That match also makes itself pass faster through Tony sucking on commentary and Heenan having to tell him to shut up at least twice because Tony keeps going "OH" really loud when there's a cookie sheet shot drowning it out and Heenan is all basically "fucking stop it, you're ruining the only good part". That was funny.)

Yeah, the announcing helped, oldy enough. And that final bump. Seriously...

 

George/Robinson was exactly the kind of stupid fun a gimmick match between two non-wrestlers should be. And it's a rare intergender match that doesn't descend into being some sort of uncomfortable mess. You can tell Robinson is having the time of his life making a fool out of himself.

Yep. Just perfect. Which is a very odd thing to say about WCW in 1999.

[Ditch]

But hey, people who followed WCW got fucked a lot too.

[El-P]

Thank you.

 

WEEK 19 (May 10 to 15, 1999)

 

Match of the week : Kanyon vs Silver King (Saturday Night) Kanyon works really well with the luchadors, as he can take their offense and bump well for them despite his size. He also gives Silver King more than I thought he would, which is neat. Cool little match.

 

Honorable mention of the week : Fit Finlay vs Kendall Windham (Saturday Night) Short but sweet, I like Kendall as a second rate Barry, and Fit is one of the best worker in the company, sadly they do nothing with him (and no, I'm not asking for a program with Brian Knobbs). Not fancy, but stiff.

 

Line of the week "The nWo Black & WHite is the most cohesive group in all of wrestling, and it also got the most depth." Mike Tenay on Saturday Night. Stevie Ray, Brian Adams, Horace, Vincent, Scott Norton. Can we talk about meaningless depth here ?

 

Nitro & Thunder were preampted this week because of some sports event. NBA playoff maybe. Fear not, WCW tv is back full force next time around for four glorious weeks of build to the Great American Bash, and the beginning of the Summer of Hell 1999.

[Guest Nell Santucci]

Thank you.

 

WEEK 19 (May 10 to 15, 1999)

Nitro & Thunder were preampted this week because of some sports event. NBA playoff maybe. Fear not, WCW tv is back full force next time around for four glorious weeks of build to the Great American Bash, and the beginning of the Summer of Hell 1999.

That was the week when Raw did 8.1 rating, which I think is still its record high. So obviously they pulled around 1.5 to 2 million WCW hardcores that night - and they must not have liked what they saw.

[Death From Above]

That was the week when Raw did 8.1 rating, which I think is still its record high. So obviously they pulled around 1.5 to 2 million WCW hardcores that night - and they must not have liked what they saw.

I decided it might be fun for reference to see why that might be:

 

http://prowrestling.wikia.com/wiki/May_10,...ght_RAW_results

 

Then I was quickly reminded "Oh yeah, Vince Russo".

 

Ten matches, nine of them are gimmick matches (if you count Chyna doing intergender matches and "Vince and Shane are wrestling" as gimmicks).

 

NICOLE BASS

 

BEAVER CLEAVAGE SKIT

 

THE CORPORATE MINISTRY

 

GLORIFIED STRIPPERS

 

NIGHTSTICKS

 

HANDICAP MATCHES

 

RUN-INS

 

TWO MINUTE LUMBERJACK MATCH W/A TURN AND BEATDOWN FOR NO REASON

 

Fucking hell, that's got to be one of the most Russo-riffic WWE shows of them all. I'm sorry I brought it up. Kind of reminds me why I stuck with WCW in this time frame, though.

[EricR]

We could be underestimating the drawing power of Monica Seles.

[BruiserBrody]

Thank you.

 

WEEK 19 (May 10 to 15, 1999)

 

Match of the week : Kanyon vs Silver King (Saturday Night) Kanyon works really well with the luchadors, as he can take their offense and bump well for them despite his size. He also gives Silver King more than I thought he would, which is neat. Cool little match.

 

Honorable mention of the week : Fit Finlay vs Kendall Windham (Saturday Night) Short but sweet, I like Kendall as a second rate Barry, and Fit is one of the best worker in the company, sadly they do nothing with him (and no, I'm not asking for a program with Brian Knobbs). Not fancy, but stiff.

 

Line of the week "The nWo Black & WHite is the most cohesive group in all of wrestling, and it also got the most depth." Mike Tenay on Saturday Night. Stevie Ray, Brian Adams, Horace, Vincent, Scott Norton. Can we talk about meaningless depth here ?

 

Nitro & Thunder were preampted this week because of some sports event. NBA playoff maybe. Fear not, WCW tv is back full force next time around for four glorious weeks of build to the Great American Bash, and the beginning of the Summer of Hell 1999.

Did they explain Bischoff's return to power on Nitro after the PPV?

[El-P]

Yes and no. Made no sense whatsoever. He's "in power" as a shoot, but not in storylines, but still interfered, yet had no offical right to, therefore Flair is still the president, but Bischoff is the actual "shoot" boss of WCW. It's coming up. This is brain-frying.

[El-P]

I really liked Kidman in WCW, for what he was. Even if he has that goofy "you must try and powerbomb me" spot.

He's okay when he's in with great workers like Eddie, Rey or Juvy. Good babyface in that he's able to get sympathy, and he's got a few good spots and a will to take death bumps outside in big matches. Odly, the infamous "you can't powerbomb Kidman" spot hasn't bothered me nearly as much as I thought it would. What has, however, is that awful short powerbomb spot. Looks really bad to me, with the opponent obviously jumping while Kidman basically looks like he's barely doing anything expect placing his hands under his opponent's armpits. Kidman was good in his own little spot, he got over allright and was sympathetic. Not a guy with a lot of upward mobility nor the ability to have good matches on his own though. It always bothered me that guys like Kaz Hayashi or Silver King were basically JTTS despite being a hundred time more talented. It's not like foreigners like Ultimo didn't get over the previous years despite not speaking any English.

[El-P]

WEEK 20 (May 17 to 22, 1999)

 

Match of the week : Raven & Perry Saturn vs Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko (Nitro). Really good tag team match once again. This has been the best stuff in WCW since the beginning of the year, and I might say it's the best stuff in US wrestling that year thus far. The whole Tajiri vs Crazy feud in ECW was cool but a bit samey after a while. The tag team division in WCW was more varied with Windham/Hennig, Rey/Kidman, Raven/Saturn and the anchor team of the Horsemen. I'm loving this.

 

Funniest match of the week : Ric Flair & Charles Robinson vs Randy Savage & Madusa (Nitro). Good mixed match part 2. Robinson keeps on ruling as Little Naich, and it's even more striking to see him tag with Flair. What's cool about this match is that there are no sexual innuendos whatsoever, which is refreshing and surprising. Madusa kicks Robinson's ass, and she even gets Flair to sell for her, which I guess must have been a real kick. They fumbled the back bodydrop spot a bit (yeah, Flair took a backbody drop from Madusa !), but all in all it was extremely fun. Savage does look older and slower than he ever has before in term of his in ring work. Being roided up like hell surely didn't help. Keep in mind that Savage is a babyface at this point of the show.

 

Nonsensical turn of the week : Randy Savage. (Nitro) Because we need a heel to feud with Nash on top, and really there are no one else at this point but Flair and DDP. Savage came in as a hot babyface for the last month or so, and right after a super hot match against Flair he's basically turning heel again by requesting a match with Nash from Piper and Bischoff. Who are not in power. I'll get back to this in a moment. Anyway, Savage is so good that he has no problem turning himself heel, but still...

 

Shooty-shooty nonsensical promo of the week : Eric Bischoff apologizing for all his screw ups and promising to do a better job in the future. (Nitro) So, Bischoff basically said he interfered in matches despite having no official authority, while at the same time acting like he's been the boss of WCW since 1993 and still is today and in the future. Even Schiavone has no idea what to say following this shit in term of who's supposed to be in power. When you add the fact that Piper says that he's the President of WCW later on, this is a gigantic mess. During the week we'll learn that Flair indeed still is the President, while Bischoff I guess is the "shoot boss". Just a clusterfuck.

 

Hardcore match of the week : Hak vs Fit Finlay (Nitro). Less "hit each others back and forth with stuff" and more wrestling and actual brawling with a dynamic. Anyone surprised ? Of course Brian Knobbs has to ruin this by showing up and busting stuff on their heads, because we need Knobbs on TV, he's ratings, he's over, he's reliable and a positive contribution to the product.

 

Surprisingly decent match of the week : Curt Hennig vs Konnan (Nitro). Hey, Curt Hennig is really having a resurgence in 1999, there's no way he should have that decent of a match with Konnan. At the end Savage interferes to screw up with Konnan, because he's a friend of Kevin Nash again... Wait, what ? They made up after the whole Mysterio debacle ? Anyway, fun little match that took me by surprise.

 

Hot angle of the week : Randy Savage tries to recruit Rey Mysterio into Team Madness (Thunder). As you see, Savage is all over the TV, which I won't complain about unless it's in terrible angles. This isn't one of them. Savage puts over Rey because he defeated Nash earlier in the year, so he wants him in the team. Savage is pretty great as he's got a way to put him over while being slightly condescending. The reaction of the audience is puzzling, as they boo and cheer without any logical reasons : they cheer heel Savage when he tries to recruit face Rey, then boo Rey when he first declines. Anyway, Rey would rather not, so Savage and the girls beat him up (from behind). Total dick move from Savage, who's using the girls to his advantage. Kidman runs in for the save, he gets clocked by Madusa, who is seriously bad ass at this point. Then finally Konan runs in and gets beat up too. Cool stuff as it made sense, got great heat for Savage, showcased the girls as being tough and bitchy, also showcased Savage as being a psycho backstaber. Of course it could have led to really cool stuff with Savage and Rey in a well booked company. That would have been awesome. But this little moment of TV was excellent as it was, on its own merits.

 

Random match of the week : Jerry Flynn vs Juventud Guerrera (Saturday Night). Oddly, Flynn is working heel and Juvy babyface, despite ususally working the opposite way. But hey, I love both guys and it's cool to see Juvy gets a win over a big guy. They do screw up a spot, but they mostly work a very nice match.

 

Other angle they ran this week : Ric Flair pushing his son by having guys like Buddy Lee Parker and Barry Horowitz take a dive for him. It could be fun, but David is so awful that I don't care. Savage has been excellent both as a face and turning heel, no matter how abrupt it's been, but the whole Nash feud begins with Savage humiliating Nash with lipsticks all over his face, which isn't exactly compelling. Plus Nash is having a feud on the Jay Leno show with Bret Hart, which will be cut short the following week for obvious reasons. Lex Luger returned to help Sting against the Steiners, but it seems very fishy to me... Goldberg was nowhere to be seen, which is nice, way to use your biggest potential star... Bam Bam is aligning himself with DDP, although they didn't mentionned the Jersey connection yet.

[flyonthewall2983]

Randy/Rey would have been an awesome match.

[Guest Nell Santucci]

That was the week when Raw did 8.1 rating, which I think is still its record high. So obviously they pulled around 1.5 to 2 million WCW hardcores that night - and they must not have liked what they saw.

I decided it might be fun for reference to see why that might be:

 

http://prowrestling.wikia.com/wiki/May_10,...ght_RAW_results

 

Then I was quickly reminded "Oh yeah, Vince Russo".

 

Ten matches, nine of them are gimmick matches (if you count Chyna doing intergender matches and "Vince and Shane are wrestling" as gimmicks).

 

NICOLE BASS

 

BEAVER CLEAVAGE SKIT

 

THE CORPORATE MINISTRY

 

GLORIFIED STRIPPERS

 

NIGHTSTICKS

 

HANDICAP MATCHES

 

RUN-INS

 

TWO MINUTE LUMBERJACK MATCH W/A TURN AND BEATDOWN FOR NO REASON

 

Fucking hell, that's got to be one of the most Russo-riffic WWE shows of them all. I'm sorry I brought it up. Kind of reminds me why I stuck with WCW in this time frame, though.

 

Now, now, now, the Corporate Ministry was pretty cool (at least if you only thought of the Undertaker, I guess), but yeah, I remember when I was 14 and was a huge WWF fan, I was scratching my brain trying to figure out how one episode could have so many no contests. Even to this day, I still can't go back and watch Russo's 1999 garbage without cringing and feeling embarrassed to be a wrestling fan.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WEEK 20 (May 17 to 22, 1999)

 

Hot angle of the week : Randy Savage tries to recruit Rey Mysterio into Team Madness (Thunder). As you see, Savage is all over the TV, which I won't complain about unless it's in terrible angles. This isn't one of them. Savage puts over Rey because he defeated Nash earlier in the year, so he wants him in the team. Savage is pretty great as he's got a way to put him over while being slightly condescending. The reaction of the audience is puzzling, as they boo and cheer without any logical reasons : they cheer heel Savage when he tries to recruit face Rey, then boo Rey when he first declines. Anyway, Rey would rather not, so Savage and the girls beat him up (from behind). Total dick move from Savage, who's using the girls to his advantage. Kidman runs in for the save, he gets clocked by Madusa, who is seriously bad ass at this point. Then finally Konan runs in and gets beat up too. Cool stuff as it made sense, got great heat for Savage, showcased the girls as being tough and bitchy, also showcased Savage as being a psycho backstaber. Of course it could have led to really cool stuff with Savage and Rey in a well booked company. That would have been awesome. But this little moment of TV was excellent as it was, on its own merits.

I was a HUGE WCW fan at this point (in my defense, I was 10) and remember most of the Nitros from this era, but Thunder was definitely hit or miss in my viewing pattern. I can't believe I had never heard of this angle. So I immediately had to go watch this. It was totally bitchin. You know when Savage is dropping Bangles references that we are in for a fun ride. Whenever, Savage says "You're the man!" in his voice it always sounds so hilariously saracastic. He also uses that line against DDP at Uncensored 1997 to great effect.

 

Also, this is something I miss sorely from WCW and is one of the few things I like about TNA is how they would cross storylines and make everything mesh. There are times when McMahon is good about this, but usually he has very linear booking pattern. It is definitely one thing WCW had on him was there ability to use past history and leverage it into cool, little angles like that. Of course, the problem with WCW is that don't follow-up on this at all with a Savage/Rey match. If only we could have WCW's matrix booking with Vince's ability to be coherent and follow things up to a logical conclusion.

 

Anyways, back to the angle, Savage with all the girls just seems like a huge deal. He really still seems like one of the biggest stars in wrestling. He was my favroite wrestler in early 1998 and was really excited he was being pushed right back to main event status in 1999. He comes off great in this segment. I didn't like the amount of heat they put on Gorgeous George rather than Madusa, but damn if seeing Gorgeous George didn't remind my 10-year old self how hot I thought she was. Finally, Savage's piledrivers looked vicious that was some Bob Backlund-esque stuff.

 

You may just have me hooked on 1999 WCW again. I will also reiterate everyone's points that this is definietly my must-read thread now that I discovered it. I am going to have to go back and really peruse the rest of it.

[El-P]

Glad people are enjoying it.

 

WEEK 21 (May 24 to 29, 1999)

 

Owen Hart had died on Sunday.

 

Turn of the week : Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko (Nitro). No idea if this has anything to do with Owen dying and thus the impossibility to have Benoit as a heel anymore. Anyway, this comes a bit from nowhere, as earlier on in the show, we see Benoit & Dean complaining to Arn that they don't get title shots and opportunity despite what Flair had promised them, and that you have to be 45 to get somewhere in this company. Ok, I get the feeling, Bischoff was trying to push the notion that the glass ceiling will become a storyline here, and that it's time to push younger guys. But really, Chris & Dean complaining about not getting shots despite being the anchor of the tag-team division for months now is a bit odd. They basically bitch because Flair gave DDP & Bam Bam the next title shot at the PPV. Ok. So later in the evening, Flair, DDP & Bigelow were supposed to face Piper and two guys he selected. The Horsemen show up, Flair thinks they are coming to support him, but they align with Piper. Malenko is not even dressed to work, and we don't know if he's got an injury or something. Anyway, this also seals the history of the 4 Horsemen once and for all I belive, as this split marks the last ending of the stable. Roddy, Benoit & DDP were wearing black armbands to honor the memory of Owen.

 

Match of the week : DDP vs Chris Benoit (Thunder). Benoit is a face but doesn't get a big time reaction like he did as a heel. Too soon I guess. Well worked match, I'd probably say it's better than the matches they had in 98. It's obvious DDP's stint as a world champion hasn't changed his status very much in the long haul, as he works with Benoit like they are equals, which is good. No finish, Bam Bam then Flair come up to attack Benoit.

 

Honorable mention of the week : Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Lash LeRoux (Saturday Night) : LeRoux is one of those young cruiserweight who can do some impressive spots but who lacks a lot in term of basics. Sadly, it will become the norm. Good little match considering his level of greeness, Mysterio works like a chief around him. You can feel the cruiserweight title has lost a lot of luster in 1999 though. Which leads me to :

 

Retarded angle of the week : Hugh Morrus interrupting a Cruiserweight Battle Royal (Nitro). Yeah, because Cruiserweights are boring midgets, and we need to have a JTTS like Morrus kill a bunch of them and challenge Rey Mysterio Jr. Nash really killed the division dead in its tracks way before Russo. The last time the division had an hot angle was in late 98 with the LWo. The Kidman reign was treated as an afterthought, they Rey won the belt was all the focus was on the tag belts which he had to defend to. And now this.

 

Video of the week : Eric Bischoff recap video (Nitro). They did a pretty damn good job of recaping the entire Eric Bischoff character arc since he got power in 1993, including his rise to success with Nitro and the way he betrayed his own company by joigning the nWo. The only criticism I have is that we still don't know for sure what the deal is with who is actively in power. But the piece is well done.

 

Hot stuff of the week : Madusa. And she was kicking ass too, attacking Kevin Nash and confronting Piper. Pretty awesome S&M vinyl outfit.

 

Promo of the week : Curt Hennig doesn't like that rap crap and wants some good "country rythm & blues" instead. (Nitro) This is gonna get good really quick.

 

Really not much in terms of good wrestling this week, and the Savage vs Nash feud doesn't advance a lot. Savage attacked Nash and painted his face with lipstick again. The issue I have with Savage is that it's very obvious he's dropped a lot as an in-ring worker. His match on Thunder with Buff really exposed him as someone who doesn't want to do much anymore, probably because of his injured knee he doesn't do any top rope jumps anymore (and when he does his big elbow he protects his knee by landing with all his weight on his opponent, which broke the ribs of Charles Robinson) and basically looks slow and plodding. As much as I enjoy his character and new look, I haven't seen anything good from him from the few I've seen him work. We get more Sting & Luger aligning against the Steiners, including a stupid monster truck spot. We also get Tank Abott on Thunder talking down to WCW wrestlers, which leads to heel Rick Steiner confronting him. Pretty weak-ass week.

[Death From Above]

One detail you missed that is too hilarious to pass commenting on: When Savage comes out on Nitro with his entourage of ladies Gorgeous George is on crutches. But still wearing high heels.

 

Oh wrestling, never change.

 

I do remember that Mysterio/Leroux Saturday Night match, oddly enough.

 

It's amazing looking over these old Nitros how many of them have like 20 minute+ stretches with no matches whatsoever. Such an infuriating company, but I did enjoy it so. I don't know why.

[El-P]

One detail you missed that is too hilarious to pass commenting on: When Savage comes out on Nitro with his entourage of ladies Gorgeous George is on crutches. But still wearing high heels.

That didn't bother me for several reasons. One is that she really wasn't injured, it was a set-up and used the crutches to attack Piper. Second is that Francine was using crutches with high heels depsite being legit injured in ECW, so... But yeah, only in pro-wrestling.

 

It was obvious by this point that they had no idea how to fill the first hour or the three hours Nitros anymore. I'm amazed they didn't cut back as soon as the Fall season.

[Strummer]

Glad I'm not the only one who still thought Madusa was hot in 1999. She may not have looked as good as she did from 95-97 but the body was still out of this world. And yeah she was taking some pretty impressive bumps during the team madness run. I remember her taking a Stinger splash at bash at the Beach that was pretty excellent

 

btw does anyone else remember Lee Marshall being WCW's "expert" on women's wrestling? Oh WCW why did you leave us?!

[El-P]

WEEK 22 (May 31 to June 5, 1999)

 

Match of the week : Konnan & Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Curt Hennig & Bobby Duncum Jr. (Nitro). It says a lot when the match of the week involves Konnan and Bobby Duncum. This is a nice tag match with Rey playing face-in-peril, and we're at the beginning of the whole Rap is Crap angle. Earlier on Curt sang a country song (and got booed out of the building), but no Rap is Crap song yet.

 

Return of the week : Eddie Guerrero (Nitro). Back from the horrific car accident. He shows up and gets to tell his story. Babyface mode. He announces the first match and leaves. He can't come back soon enough.

 

Godawful angle of the week : Randy Savage beats up a fake Kevin Nash in drag. Kevin Nash retaliate by empting a sceptic tank on Savage's limo while he and the girls are inside (Nitro). No comment. This is straight out of what Russo is doing on the other channel. This is shit. Forget the cool angle Savage had with Rey that led nowhere, the Savage vs Nash feud is officialy in the tank. The septic tank, indeed.

 

Godwaful main event of the week : Sting vs Rick Steiner in a cage with Tank Abbott as the referee (Nitro). Angle sucks. Match sucks. There's a swerve at the end, as Abbott allies himself with Rick Steiner whom he confronted on Thunder. There's no reason why Rick Steiner, who's got the TV belt, should be feuding with Sting in main events. The whole Tank Abbott is just a waste of time. They should have got Jim Neidhart for the job.

 

Title change of the week : DDP & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Perry Saturn (Nitro). So, DDP and Bam Bam attacked Raven at the beginning of the show and put him out. They also attacked, or so it seems, Kanyon, so Saturn defends the titles by himself, and does a good job. Kanyon jobs up for the hot tag, wearing a hospital wrist band, but get KOed by a simple punch from DDP, who wins for his team. That was pretty well done, and a nice change from the usual "partner turns on partner" deal we see all the time. Of course we can see it coming from a mile away, but the execution was nice, and the detail of the hospital wristband was a nice touch.

 

Ruined match of the week : Hak vs Kidman (Nitro). Starts out well and looks like it will build into one of the most interesting Hak match, so of course we have to have Hugh Morrus to attack Kidman, and then Brian Knobbs to attack Hak. What a waste.

 

Brawl of the week : Fit Finlay vs Brian Knobbs (Saturday Night). One of the best solo Knobbs match I've seen. Take a wild guess why that is ? Short brawl, but it suits Knobbs "style", and Finlay does wonder kicking his ass and selling for his awkward stuff.

 

Line of the week : "The commercials are better then the matches." Bobby Heenan on Nitro.

 

It's getting really tough to watch to be honest. Except the premise of the Rap is Crap angle and the tag team situation, nothing is remotely interesting or fun anymore. The Savage vs Nash feud has turned into awful stuff. The TV belt is dead because Rick Steiner is working a program with Sting instead of defending it on the undercard like he should. The US belt is not defended either. Goldie is nowhere to be seen. The cruiserweight belt is not defended either since Rey is feuding with heavyweights. Ric Flair pushing David could be fun if David was at least at the Erik Watts 92 level of work, but he's far removed from this, so it's not watchable. Flair himself had a decent match with Benoit on Thunder, but it's a match that underlined how much he wasn't able to work well with the younger guys at this point. He bumps slow and like an old guy, and against a dynamo like Benoit it shows. No wonder Jericho left, and Raven would follow in a few months.

[Guest Andrews]

I didn't find Bobby Duncum Jr to be all that bad TBH. Quite a shame he died relatively young, would have been interesting to see where he would have gone.

[EricR]

In going back and watching WCW syndicated shows I've actually really liked Duncum.