[1999-04-17-WCW-Saturday Night] Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs Rey Misterio Jr & Billy Kidman

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This started off hot and stayed that way. Benoit and Malenko rushed Rey and Kidman at the bell then got hit with stereo dropkicks and planchas to the floor before Kidman settled into the FIP role. Benoit and Malenko are excellent in-ring heels - they should have teamed for their entire WCW run. Plus, Arn as a ringside second and is GREAT once again! Benoit/Malenko making the tag titles the most important belts in the company and building around Benoit/Malenko/Arn would have been my direction if I was WCW booker. Kidman really times his comeback teases so well, catching quick pin attempts out of nowhere. Malenko makes the fatal mistake of attempting to powerbomb Kidman, and of course that’s enough to get a hot tag to Rey. I even love the DQ finish of Arn running in and beating up Rey and Kidman with his tire iron. Raven and Saturn come out and we get a big brawl involving all three teams. I LOVED this feud. I’d be surprised if this wasn’t the hottest WCW Saturday Night match of 1999. This was fantastic.

[tim]

Really great match up to the DQ. I was hoping it would go a bit longer and end clean because this was shaping up to be maybe the best WCW match of the year so far. The FIP on Kidman was great and Rey's hot tag was incredible. Pretty basic stuff but executed incredibly well, with a couple more minutes on the home stretch this could've been MOTYC level. The three team brawl post match was great though. This tag feud really is awesome.

[Tim Evans]

This is my feud of the year so far. Arn is such a good heel manager getting his shots in behind the refs back. This was a good match with a hot crowd which was rare on Saturday night.

[soup23]

Agree with everyone here that this was a great 10 minute stretch of a match and a breath of fresh air for WCWSN. Arn continues to be pretty great on the outside and I also dig Hudson's commentary. Both of these teams work well and compliment each other. The finish was shoddy but the match was a blast. ***1/2

[Superstar Sleeze]

WCW World Tag Team Champions Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman vs Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko - WCW Saturday Night 4/17/99

 

When did they move Saturday Night to an actual live arena? I miss that ugly fucking stage.

 

I liked this even better than their Nitro match. It really benefited from the Horsemen being full on heels so Benoit and Malenko focused on kicking ass rather than MOVEZ~! and the crowd was really into letting us know that the Horsemen suck. I love Benoit mocking those chants while the chopping the shit out of Kidman in the corner. Rey and Kidman starting the match off hot with planchas was great would have loved to see this get expanded upon, but going right into heat segment given the match length was the right approach. Benoit was great in this combining wicked offense with heel taunting (snot blow, mocking fans, throwing him to the outside). Malenko was serviceable. Good shit using Double A on the outside. Kidman really peppers in his hope spots and there is enough heel bullshit that it comes off organic as he is building his comeback. Hot tag to Rey who looks great and the crowds loves him. Loved the Latino Frankensteiner (TM Michael Buffer). He calls for a Kidman Shooting Star Press, but Double A robs us of that and Raven and Saturn join the fracas. A really heated, fundamentals-based tag team match that was all action for ten minutes. ***1/2

[PeteF3]

This was great, with incredible heat, and the post-match was right out of 1986 Crockett. Non-stop action before, during, and after the match, and the three-way feud over the tag belts is the best and most compelling thing on either Monday night program right now.