[1997-05-18-WCW-Slamboree] Ric Flair & Roddy Piper & Kevin Greene vs Scott Hall & Kevin Nash & Syxx

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I have to give the NWO huge credit for being total pros here. They did everything they could to feed Flair, Piper and Greene crowd-pleasing spots and this finish was really a surprise in how decisive it was. Syxx seems motivated like crazy to work with Ric Flair. That feud should have been SO much more, and maybe it could have been if Flair wasn't convinced it was only happening because of some grand conspiracy to bury him.

 

Even Nash worked so smart and effective here that it showed me he could have been much better regularly if he wanted to be. Really, if anything, they outworked the babyfaces and carried this one. Working Nick Patrick into the finish was great booking too. There aren't too many better feel good moments than this, especially in the WCW vs NWO feud.

[Tim Cooke]

I thought this was awesome. Loss is right - NWO did an awesome job stooging and bumping. I could see this falling in my personal top 20 WCW matches of the 90's. Can't believe I hadn't seen this before today.

[Childs]

I had never seen this match or heard anything about it, but it was a total blast. As Loss and Tim noted, the NWO guys did a great job making the bayfaces look like superheroes in front of the hot N.C. crowd. Hard to imagine how they could have done better fitting Greene into the match. There wasn't a dull moment to be found here and this is a WCW MOTYC.

[Kevin Ridge]

Buffer puts over Flair big in his introduction. Flair is on fire to start the match. He even dodges Hall’s toothpick toss. Kevin Greene clears the ring and the crowd loves it. Whole NWO is bumping all over the place for Flair’s team. Greene was used properly and didn’t hurt match. He provided some great looking offensive moves here and there and they focused the selling during the match mostly on Flair. Great finish with all three NWO members getting taken out as Nick Patrick comes down and counts Hall’s shoulders down while in the figure four. Huge win for WCW against NWO. Very fun match to watch.

[Robert S]

This came out of nowhere. I would have never expected this one to be so good. I think Hall might have been the MVP of this match. He was coming pretty directly from rehab, right?

Though if you replaced Kevin Nash by a mannequin the match probably would be exactly the same...

[Loss]

I actually thought Nash gave a solid performance here. I liked how Flair really treated him as a serious threat and how Nash stooged for Flair and Piper in this. Nash's reaction to Flair's sucker chop was awesome.

[bradhindsight]

This sounds great, definitely want to check it out. Does anyone remember what happened the next night on Nitro?

[jasch]

If more non-Cena faces went over in this strongly in blow off matches, I'd imagine that wrestling would be more popular. For all the very legitimate criticisms thrown the way of Hall & Nash, this match was exactly what it should have been.

[soup23]

What a great main event match. The Wolfpack really sold this. They could have slept walk through a decent match but decided to make this a great one with their antics and overall bumping. Flair played his role well as the established legend not going to back down. Kevin Greene was a monster and again looked good doing his wrestling spots. My least favorite person in the match was Piper but he was decent at times too. The ending is one of the more satisfying things in any company so far in 1997 and the pop was huge. This has been catapulted into one of my favorite matches list and along with Hogan vs. Flair from BaTB, the two biggest overlooked classic WCW matches from watching a yearbook

[BackToBionic]

I can't even imagine how cool that must have been for Waltman. You're wrestling Flair. In Carolina. You're heeling it up, doing his mannerisms and the crowd fucking hates you. That right there is most wrestler's dream.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Add me into "How have I not seen this before" group. I would say outside maybe the Savage/DDP matches that this is the best nWo match I have seen. The Wolfpac delivered a great old school heel performance here. Hall mocking Flair non-stop and spitting on Piper. Syxx weighing in at 220 lbs of disrespect, being an little scummy goon, Bronco Buster. Nash as the heavy hitter, but still bumping around for Greene. Those were three guys not trying to be cool. They were obnoxious pricks and you wanted to see them get beat up. Good God Almighty, why aren't there babyfaces anymore that have as much energy as these three. I rather you be too amped or overeager than some of the tepid performances you get now. Flair returning to the ring in Charlotte. I got goose bumps in 2014. Nuclear heat throughout the match and a great crowd-pleasing finish. In '97, you really cant top Eddie/Rey, but other than that I would put this in contention for second best WCW match of 1997.

[El-P]

Terrific match and great booking. The Wolfpack are awesome here, especially Hall & Syxx, and they totally carry their opposition. Syxx has the time of his life. It's too bad we didn't get more of those six-man involving the Wolfpack, they could have been the second coming of the Freebirds. Sadly, Hall got all fucked up and Syxx would get injured/fired. Great feel-good moment for WCW, along with Piper beating Hogan at Starrcade and Luger winning the title on Nitro. One of the peak of the nWo era in term of work, booking and heat.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Ric Flair/Roddy Piper/Kevin Greene vs Wolfpack (Kevin Nash/Scott Hall/Syxx) - Slamborree 1997

 

I am a total sucker for feel-good matches like this. Flair in this is just a cure for any malady. From the entrance to the finish, I just had a huge smile on my feet. Hell, I was stamping them and watched the match standing for the most part. Hall and Syxx were just the best damn scuzzballs ever. I loved Hall mocking the Flair strut and Syxx, 220 lbs of disrespect, poking fun at Piper's injured hip. Those were three guys not trying to be cool. They were obnoxious pricks and you wanted to see them get beat up. How about that Charlotte, North Carolina crowd! THEY ARE JAAAAAAACCCCCKKKKEEED! The opening Flair segment was fucking electric. There are too many awesome moments to name. Flair chopping Syxx when Syxx was in mid-strut was badass. The strut, the chops and the pelvic thusts, what more could you want from a Flair shine. Kevin Greene as a Carolina Panther was just the perfect celebrity for this situation. You gotta love his enthusiasm. Greene and Nash actually work a pretty damn strong segment with Greene looking like a powerhouse. The double clothesline got a massive pop and sent the Wolfpack reeling. The NWO has to regroup because the hometown boys are on fire. Hell even fucking Piper was fine in this. I thought his heat segment would go longer since he had the injury, but this night was all about Flair. HOLY SHIT! What about Hall fucking catching Flair from the top and hitting the fallaway slam. That was crazy! I loved the chaos on the outside. It felt so real and organic with Greene tackling Syxx. Nash just hitting Flair with a nasty drive-by big boot to the face while Hall held his hair. I loved the Bronco Buster as the ultimate fuck you spot in front of this crowd. The finish stretch is bedlam and just the most awesome possible decisive, crowd-pleasing finish. Flair, you bring me up when I am down. Best NWO match ever! Hidden Treasure! Watch this! ****1/4

[PeteF3]

Not a workrate classic, but just about every other note is hit letter-perfect here to garner the maximum possible crowd response. The NWO know when to stooge, when to play it cool, and when to play running cowardly heels. A lot of the spots are stuff we've seen before but the way the respective signature spots "edited" together is kind of clever--like Flair doing the Flair Flip into the cross body off the top, only to fly into a common Hall spot--the catch and blockbuster suplex. Without wearing out its welcome we go to the finish, with Piper decking Randy Anderson in a cool moment, a cool teased spot with Nash hitting Flair from the back to set up the Outsider's Edge only for that to get cut off by Ric, and all three babyfaces laying out the heels at once, like a classic all-figure-fours spot from the old-school Horsemen or all of Misawa's Army grabbing submissions on Jumbo's team. Nick Patrick counts the 3 and the Wolfpack are all left laying, as decisively beaten as you'll ever see them.

[ohtani's jacket]

#384

 

When I first saw this listed, I immediately thought: "this can't be that good." But it really is that good. In fact, it's perfectly laid out for what it is and delivers in spades thanks to the synergy between the hometown crowd and the energy of the performers. I honestly thought there wasn't a single thing they should have changed. It was arguably the perfect match involving a non-wrestlerr and coincided with the perfect storm of Flair's return. And as Loss said, the NWO were super professional. Great stuff all round.

[raul]

god this match was fuckin rad. tons of heat and nwo bumping around for kevin greene was great.

[JKWebb]

#384 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-400-351/

 

Waltman was recently on the Talk is Jericho podcast (12/09/2016). He talked about how they really wanted to be like the Freebirds. He said that Flair initially didn't want him in the match, and that they (Piper & mostly Flair) wanted Hogan instead (at first). He said he and Flair had serious heat going into this match. He thought Flair was trying to "freeze him out" of the main event. He said that he shoot slapped Fair on live TV after he was pushed by Flair (leading up to this on Nitro I'm assuming). He said Flair was killing him on the mic, so the only thing he knew to do was slap the taste out of his mouth. Flair chased him around the ring so he ran away. He thought they were going to fight, but Flair told him he LOVED it backstage. He said his goal in mind for this match was to give people the Nature Boy again and hoped to deliver his (Flair's) greatest hits to the crowd. He said that they (Nash, Hall, Syxx) had so much respect for Flair and when they worked with him they really wanted to get the most Flair out of Flair they could get. They talked about how Hall and Nash were cool, but Syxx's goal was to get the heat.

 

I love that the nWo were clearly the heels here. You might not think it looking back at it now, but I remember us teenagers of the mid to late 90s (that were into wrestling during this era), thinking Kevin Greene was actually cool. I love seeing Syxx strut into the chop from Flair. I agree, in this match, Hall and Syxx were not trying to be cool. They were obnoxious and they were really drawing the heat. I love how after they stooge for Flair a bit, Flair wants to call the big man in the ring. Nash has a great look on his face and Flair is just dialing it in. Kevin Greene gets tagged in and acts like a nut, and I love the face that Hall gives the crowd - toothpick and tag. Greene gets the big man. The crowd was is super hot for his offense. And, Nash is giving it to him. He's bumping for him like he's the real deal and then Hall takes a bump to boot. Piper and Hall have a great exchange when he slaps Piper's injured leg and Piper gets him with nice hard slap to the face. It was a good idea to work over Piper and let the crowd heat back up for Flair. It's obvious the nWo wanted it to be the Flair show. The crowd goes nuts for the hot tag. I can't imagine this match with Hogan in it instead of Syxx. Syxx gets the ultimate heat with the Bronco Buster, and I just don't think Hogan would have been near as good for this. If you are wanting to revisit the nWo, this is likely the best match to return to. I had a blast watching this. Great match - fun finish. Off the top of my head, I agree it's a MOTYC for WCW. I'd definitely have Rey and Eddie G. above it and Savage vs. DDP at Spring Stampede. There might be some others, but still, this is great!

[stro]

I said in my Ric Flair thread that I think 1997 was one of his best years, and this was one of his finest moments. He was so fired up working with the Wolfpac, and despite what revisionist history tells you about the NWO being cool heels that faces couldn't get any heat on, nothing could be further from the truth when they were in the ring with guys like Flair/Piper/DDP/Lex/Giant. Also shout out to Hall forcing Flair to take his first flat back bump in 20 years.

 

Flair would follow it up by trying to murder Syxx every time they were on TV together, and it was a very fun part of a (mostly) good year for WCW. Both Nash and Syxx getting hurt around the same time after Fall Brawl really put a damper on what the NWO was doing on TV, because that left Hall to do most of the heavy lifting on his own, then 6 straight weeks of Curt Hennig main eventing Nitro. Especially bad because it pushed off the NWO split that had started earlier in the year with Nash being too violent and leading to Ted Dibiase leaving the group and Hogan having to pull rank and get shit back in order.