[1997-04-06-WCW-Spring Stampede] Randy Savage vs DDP

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I don't think this was much of a match, but it was really well-scripted and Savage really gave an inspired heel performance. Even Liz was doing stuff other than standing there stone-faced. DDP gets a win, but it's sort of a fluke, and considering what stage they are in of the feud, I think this is perfectly acceptable. A very angry and dismantled NWO watches as Nash has a death grip on Nick Patrick for counting the fall while checking on Savage. Patrick takes a hell of a bump for Nash. Savage gets his hands on Kimberly. Bischoff stops him from striking her and ends up getting shoved down for his trouble. They end up in a little fight and the NWO is in total disarray. Great stuff.

[Dylan Waco]

I've said this before, but my thought is that if you take the best parts of all three of the DDP v. Savage ppv matches you have a great match, but on their own each is no better than very good

[soup23]

I have no problem calling this very good. First, what the fuck was savage saying in the backstage portion. It sounded like he was implying an orgy with Liz? She looked like she didn't know what to say or do. That was a cool itnerlude and we have had some unique entrances in 1997. Page comes out to a ton of pyro and it feels like a big time moment for him. The commentators and even Michael Buffer put over that this is the biggest match of his life. The match starts with a garbage style brawl but it was effective and intense. savage did a few little things in this match that were tremendous. I loved his ducking and punch combination in the corner. I also loved the DDP gets his leg up spot that Savage took an awesome bump for. The finish was flukey but decisive and a big win for DDP with Nick Patrick counting the pin. NWO seems to be in disarray as a great finish to the PPV and a hook to tune in tomorrow night.

[Kevin Ridge]

WCW came back real fast with a PPV after Uncensored was just a couple weeks ago. They PPV schedule got really full when ECW joined the rotation. Slim Jims and potential orgy references by Savage? Kinky. Dave Penzer takes a bump. Should have been Buffer. Savage mauls Mark Curtis. Nick Patrick replaces him and makes the pin count on Savage! Full NWO shows up at ringside. I thought Savage got a new life in WCW when he arrives and feuded with Flair but his matches with DDP weren’t as high quality. Nash with the huge powerbomb on Patrick. Savage goes to hit Kimberly but Bischoff stops him. Randy pushes Eric but the NWO quickly tries to restrain Savage. Production cutting away immediately to the announce booth was poor.

[Robert S]

Kimberly taking the George Steele role when they redo the Wrestlemania III ring bell spot is pretty funny.

[El-P]

First, what the fuck was savage saying in the backstage portion. It sounded like he was implying an orgy with Liz? She looked like she didn't know what to say or do.

 

That bit always cracked me up !

 

Savage "I'm gonna have 22 women at the party ! Do you got a problem with that ?"

 

Liz "No problem."

 

Savage "Slim Jims for everybody !"

 

Wait, WTF ?!

 

Anyway, to me this is the best Savage match in eons, maybe since 1992. Not great, but still really good, and Savage's insane heeling (beating up Dave Penzer, threatening Buffer, slapping and piledriver the ref) were awesome. It's so great to have Savage as a heel again after years of formulaic babyface work. And Liz is such a bitch too, popping for Nash powerbombing Patrick. Interesting how DDP told the story of Savage wanting to take the Diamond Cutter at a house show and by getting a huge reaction from it deciding it would be the finish for the PPV. You feel DDP really wanted to have one last strong feud putting over someone new. DDP was the perfect foil. The post-match is great, and I like the fact Bischoff prevented Savage from hitting Kimberly a lot, as it really put over Savage as a batshit insane maniac that even the nWo wouldn't approve. Humiliating Kim is ok, but you still don't hit a woman. So yeah, probably the feud of the year in WCW.

[cowboy hats]

Worth watching out for: just as the match begins outside, near the ring, Savage accidentally (?) kicks a pre-teen in the face as him and Page are working near the barrier.

 

Savage's piledriver on Curtis was smooth as hell.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Savage is so awesome from beginning to end in this match. This is like Heeling 101 from asking Liz if he could invite 14-22 to a Slim Jim party to roughhousing Penzer and Mark Curtis to almost decking Kimberly. Savage when he is a heel always goes the extra mile to be despicable. I am surprised people do not like this match at a higher level. It is not just an entertaining Macho Man heeling session, DDP does a great job as the die hard, blue collar champion. This was his first shot at the big time and he fucking hit out of the park. The crowd absolutely loved him and he knew all the right moments to play to them. I loved the fan in the front row encouraging DDP, wish we had that kind of commitment from fans today.

“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Diamond” Dallas Page in a No Disqualification Match.

 

Spring Stampede 1997

 

Savage’s backstage rant was hilariously spectacular. “I’m going to moiderize the bum. Then I am going to to throw a party. Invite a lot of women. Maybe 14 or 22. You got a problem with that, Liz? Not a problem. I LIKE THAT! SLIM JIMS FOR EVERYONE!!!”

Kimberly’s waist is wicked tiny and double damn is she hot. DDP and Kimberly walk to the ring with a purpose and Tony shills that DDP is the common man, a People’s Champion that has a story that resonates with everyone. Savage taunts DDP telling him that this is “his last day on the planet Earth”. Savage does some stalling tactics, but Page is pissed and he takes to the Macho Man. Page is so pissed he almost kills Savage on a horrible atomic drop. Savage blocks the Diamond Cutter by hooking the ropes. Savage runs over DDP on the outside and almost takes on Kim. They do the usual 1997 tour of the arena with garbage cans and cables.

Back to ringside, Savage, the Paragon of Virtue he is, hides behind DDP’s wife to halt DDP’s momentum. Elizabeth, lookin fineeeeeee, rakes DDP’s back and Savage shoves Kim into DDP and the waffles DDP sandwhiching Kimberly. Kimberly, who was not a fan of wrestling and never seemed very into it, must have hated working with Savage. Macho Man was a terrifying loose cannon that just flew around ringside like a whirlwind really knocking anything over that got in his way. An overzealous fan attempts to spur on DDP with such exhortations as “Look out behind you! He is going after Kimberly!” Alas, Savage is still able to connect with his double axe-handle as DDP was draped over the guardrails.

Macho Man goes for a cover with his feet on the ropes, but DDP kicks out. Savage accuses the ref of a slow count and Liz thinks the ref needs glasses. Um, ok? Strike One against the ref. Savage jumps out to ringside and intimidates Michael Buffer taking his chair. He smacks DDP across the back with his chair. The ref grabs the chair and removes it. Strike Two against the ref. Savage now pissed. Beat the ever-loving shit out of the ring announcer and tosses the chair into the ring, but that allows the debilitated DDP to get back into the match. The announcers put over DDP’s will to win and defend Kimberly even as Savage is picking him apart. Savage kills DDP with a clothesline. Savage catches DDP’s foot, which leads to the usual DDP spot, where he spins around and hits a desperation clothesline. Even Tony saw it coming making Savage look kind of dumb.

The move took too much of DDP and Savage regains the advantage with a low-blow, however DDP continues to try to get his feet, really putting over his guts. Savage again intimidates Buffer, this time grabbing his signature weapon: the ring bell. Savage randomly shoves a cameraman. People must hate working Savage matches, such a Wildman. Kimberly snags the ringbell eventually, come on Kim, fuckin up the match. Savage to the top, but DDP gets his boot up and a beautiful sell-job by Savage. He now hit one of Savage’s favorite spot a backslide, which only gets two. Strike Three against the ref, you are outta here. Savage grabs the ref by the chin, paintbrushes him, piledrives him, rips his shirt, takes his belt off, and finally whips him and then whips DDP. Despicable.

The Brain wonders if the ref will ever walk again because he only has a 12 inch neck. Tony wonders WHAT HAVE WE BECOME?????

A picture-perfect big elbow drop seriously that may be one of the best one ever by Savage (that was the desktop background for my computer when I was 8 years old for the longest time, could not find the picture). No ref. Evil nWo ref, Nick Patrick is out and embraces Savage. DDP, playing possum, hits the Diamond Cutter, which WCW did a great job making it into a devastating finisher. Savage sells it well being out for a couple minutes. Patrick ends the drama by making the count giving DDP the win. “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash is incensed as he was observing and sticks Patrick with a powerbomb. Savage finally up goes LOONEY TUNES!!! Grabs Kimberly by the hair and threatens to deck her. This goes too far even for the nWo and Eric Bischoff steps in to calm down and reason with the Macho Man. So Savage shoves Bischoff and then decks him. That is why friends is why I love nWo Savage, totally unpredictable and out of control. You never knew what the hell he would do next.

DDP is notorious for being a meticulous pre-match planner. Most wrestlers work out the major spots beforehand, but fill in the gaps based on crowd reactions. Savage acknowledged that DDP couldn’t cut the pace he was accustomed to thus worked a very DDP-style match. Savage was great at adapting to different styles and really showed his versatility. He worked a deliberate pace, but it was still a chaotic Savage match as he was using everyone at ringside as props and ultimately decking his own boss. It is not a great match in the traditional wrestling-way even as brawl. What it is a great character showcase. The gritty, gutsy common man fighting for his wife’s honor against a loose canon that has totally snapped and is steamrolling everyone. I give it ****. I figured out another reason why the match was wrestled so undecidely Savage. They wanted to tell the story that Savage was not taking DDP seriously as in his league because DDP has been a career mid-carder and this is first ever PPV main event. Thus explaining why Savage’s intensity was down early on and why he fucked around with everyone. He took Page a lot more seriously in the following matches. Great storytelling

[PeteF3]

This is a really good match, that gets a lot better once they're back in the ring. I didn't see it as great, though. The garbage brawling works because Sullivan/Benoit notwithstanding it feels fresh in a WCW setting, but there are a lot better through-the-crowd brawls in American wrestling around this time. Once we get back in the ring, we get a really well-laid-out match with Liz and Kimberly being used perfectly, some great teases and cut-offs of the Diamond Cutter, and a mostly satisfying ending. Now, Savage was always an unhinged guy, but he comes off as particularly dim for piledriving Mark Curtis (though it was a great spot, and his earlier bullying of Buffer and Penzer were great too) and then immediately expecting a count. Nick Patrick makes the 3-count after DDP hits him with the Diamond Cutter, giving Page the biggest win of his life. Nick takes an INCREDIBLE bump off the Jackknife from Nash afterward, then we tease dissension between Savage and Bischoff as Eric prevents Savage from clobbering Kimberly. Good, intense post-match angle that I don't think leads much of anywhere, sadly.