[1998-03-15-WCW-Uncensored] Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage (Cage)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[soup23]

When they do the wide shot, you cant really see shit. Savage is a bloody mess and Hogan sends him into the cage. Crowd heat is currently nonexistent. They randomly just leave the cage and fight on the floor. Savage climbs to the top of the cage and does that crazy ass double axehandle again. Disciple comes down and grabs the keys. He drags Hogan away with Savage on top of the cage. Sting repels down to even up the odds.This does get a better reaction than Sting has recently but who could possibly give a fuck about The Disciple. Out of nowhere, Savage decks Sting but he isn't back into the fold. What the fuck was this. Completely dumb ending and the second time in two years Savage has turned on Sting and it has made no sense. Really dire stuff.

[Matt D]

Is this the moment where things really turn?

[soup23]

I think Starrcade 97 is probably the jumping off point or at least where JJ makes the title vacant, but this may be the direct point where shit makes little to no sense from this point forward. They had done so much to damage Sting in just three months and the aura of Savage as a wild man was completely escaped. I am really interested to see how much of an out Goldberg was for them that they failed to utilize but there has been more groan inducing moments in 2.5 months of 1998 WCW than all of 1997.

[Loss]

Last few minutes and wow is it hard to see anything through that cage. I wonder if ringside fans can even see what's going on. Savage does the double axehandle from the top of the cage to wake the crowd up, because yeah, there really was no heat before that. Beefcake is out to deck Mickey Jay at ringside and use the keys to get in the cage. No heat for this. Savage, you're on top of a cage, just crawl down and leave. The two are about to attack Savage when Sting descends from the rafters to make the save and even the sides. They have this awkward, time-stands-still staredown that seems to last forever and Savage ends up turning on Sting before leaving without explanation. WCW booking is pretty bad at this point, but it gets much, much worse, so hang on tight.

[Childs]

This was incredibly stupid. Why did Mickey Jay unlock the door to let them wander around ringside? What possible purpose could that serve? Why was Beefcake suddenly in the middle of everything after the NWO explicitly rejected him early in its run? Did the beard change their minds? And I still have no idea what they hoped to achieve with the finish. It's just unbelievable that they had all these people who'd been involved in hot angles and nobody could step back and say, "Good lord, stop the dumbfuckery."

[Migs]

The build to this had some nice energy to it, but this was really dull until the Savage double axehandle from the top.

 

This was an awful finish to a PPV.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Hollywood Hogan vs Randy Savage - WCW Uncensored 1998

 

Worst match ever? No. For instance, I thought their Halloween Havoc 1996 match was much worse than this. Once again, Hogan looked game to have a good match and was very energetic. I really don't understand the complaints of the match plodding. They were cutting a good pace and Hogan never really rested once. I don't know if Savage's knee is already hurt, but they go into Savage babyface match mode, which means he gets the shit beat out of him for most the match. The big difference between this and Sting match is that Savage is selling incredibly well. You really feel like he is hurt and a bit discombobulated by all of Hogan's offense. Hogan whipped him pretty good with belt and wish Savage whipped back a bit harder. I liked the first Hogan cutoff sending Savage into the cage hard on a backdrop, which is the only spot to get universal praise from the reviews I read. If WCW were a bunch of pansies and let use see the double juice, I think this could be more entertaining. I am surprised how dead the crowd was for this because everything I saw was pretty decent and given the personalities I thought that would magnify the reaction. Savage hitting the double axe handle from the top of the cage was a crazy spot that woke the crowd up. The ref just letting them out of the cage to do some basic brawling and then head right back into the cage was lame. The finish was fucking atrocious with Savage & Sting standing off against Hogan & Disciple for an eternity only for Savage to deck Sting. Maybe the reason why Sting did not give a flying fuck was because he was booked like a dope. Stupid shit aside, this is not the worst match of all time. I think the cage inhibited them more than anything else because could have been helped by more brawling around the ring. It is a pretty average match, but Hogan and Savage both seem to have some gas in the tank.

[PeteF3]

Just bad and not only is the luster completely off Sting, it's off Hogan, too. Everything that was fresh and cool about him a year to a year and a half ago is now about as tiresome as his Hulkamania act was in the first half of '96. There's NO heat to this and the big crowd reactions are due entirely to Savage and his comebacks. Maybe it's because no one can fucking see what's going on, but the work sucks also. The Disciple gets involved, because of course he does. Sting repels from the ceiling and I honestly thought it was another fake Sting, then Savage drops him with a piledriver and spits at Hogan and leaves. Everyone has already explained how stupid this is. Sting is back to his old dumb self and the match layout is pretty much another testament to Hogan's egomania.

 

Hey, has anyone seen or heard from Bret Hart lately? WCW is just wasting *everybody* on the roster at this point except for the guys like Jericho who are practically booking themselves. Meanwhile, WrestleMania has hot matches settling major feuds all up and down the card. Even the feud between Sable and Luna has more fan interest than almost any program WCW is offering us.

[TravJ1979]

Was this advertised as escape the cage or pinfall? Then them going outside to do a simple brawl and back in was pointless. Beefcake is still a mystery man and from booty man to bad ass. Nothing in this entire segment made any sense. The turn? WTF. Ugh. Terrible.

[Makai Club #1]

The beginnings of this inner NWO Civil War story that was meant to carry WCW through the rest of the year. This is a big deal as every Hogan vs Savage match is, and with the cage being around the ring, that added even more stakes. And as a match goes, the ideas were solid. Savage was game for taking bumps, selling wonderfully and dishing out big bombs. Hogan, however, lacked that midas touch that he usually has. I don't think he suited the cage gimmick in this cowardly hellish role. He needed to be a bit more of a brute and he felt a little light. Too light for this match. But I did think Savage put in a good performance. The crowd responded to him very well. It's not a surprise that WCW would put the title on him at Spring Stampede which leads me to the horrible finish and angle that truly gives this match its reputation. The match is thrown out (a cage match is supposed to prevent that) when the Disciple attacks the refs and enters the cage. Savage looks to be trapped and out numbered when Sting repels from the ceiling to rescue Savage. There is an awkwardly long standoff between the four, before Savage shockingly turns on Sting. We are first to believe that he's in cahoots with Hogan but thankfully, Savage makes a point to spit at Hogan and tells him that he doesn't like him. Savage is indeed a tweener. He is a lone wolf, aiming for the title but he won't let that affect his issues with Hogan. Bad match despite Savage's best efforts. It wasn't to be for him. **