[1997-12-08-WCW-Nitro] Scott Hall vs DDP

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. The NWO run in to attack DDP while Hogan and Bischoff take a slower stroll to the ring. They do the same trick again where the fake Sting drops from the rafters and falls through the ring.

 

Hogan cuts a promo on Sting. They keep mentioning Hogan vs Hall which might make me wonder if they were building to the NWO split if I knew they weren't. Hogan even gets in a crack that Sting isn't in shape and has never sold out arenas. Hogan goes to rip the mask off of the dummy and it turns out it's the real Sting. He starts fighting off the NWO and Hogan is now afraid to enter the ring.

[Kevin Ridge]

Another NWO beat down as DDP is all alone. Sting dummy goes through the ring again. They pull the dummy out of the ring but he looks very life like. Hogan “oh shit” look on his face was great. Sting beats the crap out of NWO as Hogan looks on. Finally.

[soup23]

DDP vs. Hall feels like the definitive NWO vs. WCW match. Hennig is wearing a Syxx shirt which is pretty random and Syxx hasnt been around in a minute now. NWO attacks DDP and we get a repeat of what happened last week. Dummy Sting falls through the ring and Hogan is able to get off his what a dummy line again. Hogan then is able to cut a good promo before trying to clown around on the dummy Sting. Turns out this is the Sting and Hogan is scared now. Great closing angle.

[El-P]

Okay, the dummy turning into Sting was a nice touch, but I don't think Hogan's promo was too good, and although he looked worried, he certainly looked scared shitless like he should have. Decent angle but after weeks of beatings, it felt a bit goofy and not that great to me. Efficient on the cute side, which is not exactly what the Starrcade build should have been.

[PeteF3]

Sting pretending to be the dummy was a cute enough reveal, but I dunno...this company sure feels creatively bankrupt (as opposed to the WWF which is the exact opposite extreme). I get that they were going for a "more of the same" feel by design to set up Sting's return, but Hogan rambled for too long for too little of a payoff--the "fake Sting is actually the real Sting" card has been played too many times itself. Sting fending off the entire NWO while unable to free himself from his rappelling gear is awkward to say the least, but it's impossible to complain about *that* now.