[1997-02-23-WCW-Superbrawl VII] Hulk Hogan vs Roddy Piper

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. Savage is at ringside and ends up helping Hogan win, then attacking Piper and joining the NWO. The storyline here is that this is the only way Savage can get back in, but the good thing about this is that Savage just decides to do business and put the past in the past, instead of working the reluctant heel angle. Still, this is a clever way of making clear from a storyline perspective that Hogan owns Savage, and I'm sure that wasn't something lost on Hogan.

[Childs]

I guess I get why Savage felt he had to go NWO. But there was something intriguing about him hanging with Sting, and they never developed it. Savage became marginalized in the NWO, despite his inherent charisma.

[Strummer]

yeah this was an odd swerve that didn't make much (any) sense. I was pretty forgiving of that sort of thing at the time but even this bothered me. Your explanation Loss was the best I've ever heard and I don't know if the company ever used it on air to explain the turn

[Zenjo]

I remember Bobby Heenan saying how the WCW announcers often weren't informed about what was going to happen during the match, as Bischoff thought it would come across better when they were surprised. Terrible idea, but hey it's WCW. That was clearly the case here as they couldn't piece together what had happened with Savage dragging Hogan to the ropes after the bell. They'd just figured out Hogan's legs were outside the ropes without seeing the Savage interference. So the TV viewer knew what was happening better than the confused commentators afterwards.

[soup23]

Finish was weirdly toned here as Mark Curtis didnt do a great job of stating that he saw Hogan's legs under the ropes. Camera angle of course didn't help. Savage turning to the NWO feels weak as at best he is #4 on the pecking order.

 

Really one thing that is unique about this time is that Macho, HOgan, and Piper have all been great in their roles and have such a rich history, but it does seem like a sense of been there done that really leaving the door cracked open for the WWF to come back.

[stomperspc]

Savage's Halloween Havoc feud with Hogan was centered around the NWO having Elizabeth. Savage sort of went nuts as a result and was clearly a defeated man by the time he disappeared in 1996. I've always took his turn to be a bit "if you can't beat them, join them" but mainly as a way to get Elizabeth back. They could have done a better job explaining it but it doesn't seem completely out of left field that someone who suffered so much at the hands of the NWO would decide to just give up the fight and join the winning side.

 

Savage's involvement with Sting before his turn could also be seen as him testing the waters to see if he wanted to hang with Sting against the NWO or if he wanted to give into the NWO. I'm probably reading too much into that, though. Regardless with Savage now with the NWO, doubt is once again cast on Sting's role since he has spent the last month buddying around with Savage.

 

The finish was not sharply executed at all.

[Kevin Ridge]

Lack of heat here too. Piper gets the win with the sleeper but Savage had pulled Hogan's feet under the ropes. Referee restarts match and Hogan gets the win with the help of Savage. Don't know about this Savage turn and the crowd wasn't too into it either. I agree that it seemed to have more legs with him hanging out with Sting.

[ajtroma]

At the time, with my cable company, you could still easily make out the pay per views with older sets. While this match was going on, some relatives stopped by. Their "these guys are still wrestling?" question did make me be embarrassed to be watching.

[El-P]

Savage's Halloween Havoc feud with Hogan was centered around the NWO having Elizabeth. Savage sort of went nuts as a result and was clearly a defeated man by the time he disappeared in 1996. I've always took his turn to be a bit "if you can't beat them, join them" but mainly as a way to get Elizabeth back. They could have done a better job explaining it but it doesn't seem completely out of left field that someone who suffered so much at the hands of the NWO would decide to just give up the fight and join the winning side.

 

Yeah pretty much. But still, Savage once again looks like Hogan's bitch, after all the beatings he went through in October.

The finish was complete shit, I didn't even understand what the hell happened. Neither did the announcers "Is this match finished or not ?" Tony Schiavone. Piper has overstayed his welcome, he brought nothing to the table. Lightning struck once at Starrcade, they should have kept it a one-shot miracle. Sadly, they would go over this again a third time…

[PeteF3]

I admit this turn makes more sense in retrospect than it did at the time--it's clear now they had a Savage turn planned at least a month or so in advance (this was also borne out by reading the Observers--the DDP feud was already booked as well). Loss and stomper's explanations also work, and it would have been nice for WCW to spell that out for us. I think I've said this before but sometimes the WWF Sledgehammer of Plot is necessary, and generally should be the side to err on as opposed to Kevin Sullivan's sometimes-impenetrable booking. Further, the execution on the finish is pretty bad with the announcers not knowing what's going on. Thanks, Uncle Eric. Also, the heat's died back down after a pretty electric tag title match, as the crowd doesn't at ALL buy that the sleeper is actually going to put Hollywood out again, at least until the arm drops.

[KB8]

I'm with those who read this as a "can't beat them, join them" sort of turn from Savage, but WCW were maybe a wee bit guilty of being *too* ambiguous here and there and the finish being a a little confusing didn't help matters. Hogan fairly decked Piper with that punch, though. 

[WingedEagle]

I haven't made it to the subsequent TV yet and don't remember from when I watched this in real time (Good lord that is 27 years ago!), but did they ever explain why Savage linked up with Sting before the turn?