[1997-02-17-WCW-Nitro] Steven Regal vs Prince Iaukea

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[jpchicago23]

I was here live for this Nitro....well sort of. It was held at the fair grounds here in Tampa and we were at the fair but couldn't get tickets in time. Me and my buddy eventually found the wrestlers exit and got to see Jericho, Juvy, and an unmasked Rey to whom I yelled at, Hey that's Rey!!! Don't ask me how I knew I was probably guessing but no one noticed until I said it again and he covered his face causing a sea of people to run towards him. Poor guy.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. Regal is beating the hell out of this kid. WCW decides to copy the Maivia/Helmsley match for reasons I don't understand, as Rey distracts Regal long enough for Prince Iaukea to win the match and the TV title. Teddy Long, Eddy Guerrero and Public Enemy (???) celebrate with Prince Iaukea after the match.

[Zenjo]

I was hoping this was going to be Regal stiffing the shit out of the useless greenhorn, but it's Prince Iaukea joining Renegade in the varied list of TV Champions.

[soup23]

The commentary really tries to sell this as the biggest upset they have ever seen but it feels hollow and unjust. I did enjoy the assortment of talent that celebrated. Who was Teddy's charges at the time?

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Would Teddy have been with Fire and Ice at this point?

[soup23]

Looked it up on Grahams site and it looks like Ice Train, Jim Powers, and Bobby Walker

[Kevin Ridge]

This was such a bizarre title change to me back in the day. I didn't pick up the Rocky Maivia copycat angle. The Rock had big potential. I wouldn't say the same about Iaukea. Crap loss for Regal.

[El-P]

Brainfart booking here. Hey, the WWF is pushing a young samoan guy and is giving him the IC title from nowhere, let's do the same. Why ? Prince Iauea was mediocre at his very best, had no charisma and was a jobber until then. First time during this hot Nitro era that WCW did something totally defensive and looked up at the WWF. Just a bad, stupid idea, and the "celebration" looked lame as hell.

[PeteF3]

I actually like the idea of WCW running the Bobby Blaze/Mikey Whipwreck angle with its TV title, but I wish they found somebody besides Iaukea to run it with.

[KB8]

Yeah, the idea in theory is fine and could've worked pretty well with the right guy, but Iaukea felt like a total WTF choice. Also WTF was the assortment of folks who came out to celebrate with him. I'm probably reading too much into it, but it sort of made Eddie look a bit lame, going from beating one of the main nWo guys on PPV and winning the US belt to just being another dude celebrating with a guy nobody really cares about. Regal's shtick with the ref' post-match was pretty amusing, at least. 

[dawho5]

Obvious copy of the Rock thing in the WWF and I agree that it was a dumb thing to do.  Raw is a mess and they are throwing everything at the wall in hopes that something sticks.  Why copy that?