Doomsday cage match, Uncensored 96

[Judy Bagwell]

Im a little obsessed with this match, initially because of the sheer ego and stupidity on display. This is the tipping point for Hulkamania and given the layout of the match you can see the the absolute insanity and fear Hulk was operating with at the time, but Im convinced theres a good match in there somewhere

how would you rebook this match?

 

 

[thebrainfollower]

This was actually the first WCW PPV I ever ordered. My closest wrestling pal and I were so curious to see what the heck this thing was going to be like that our 16 year old selves coughed up the cash.

 

I don't there's ANY way to book 2 babyfaces to defeat 8 heels in a match that makes any sense at all. I guess if you had to have Hogan come out and high five Z-Gangsta, revealing they are cool now and don't care about helping Flair and co, have Luger do the same, have Meng and Barbarian leave out of apathy and then have the faces win 3 on 2.

Realistically what I would do is have Savage and Flair fight to the back and have 7 heels absolutely destroy Hogan for an effortless win. Then that's the last of Hogan you see until he turns heel. When he joins the NWO he mentions this and nobody in WCW coming to save him and how he learned then what they really think of him. But that would be one heck of a downer PPV ending.

[Judy Bagwell]

its difficult to make the ration of heels to faces even given the run the gauntlet style booking

Id definitly cut Bootyman and the frying pans

[Jingus]

I could see it maybe working if it were a lot more jabronis and a lot fewer top guys on the heel side. Like, if it was DX beating the Spirit Squad and the McMahons in one epic match (and even then it would probably feel like a stretch). But having Flair AND Luger AND Arn AND the entire Dungeon AND some other guys who are supposed to be a legit threat; it's just ludicrous, there's no way Hulk and Randy should've won that match.

 

I could see a decent match being done with this setup, considering that DDP and Jarrett pulled something fairly watchable out of the triple-cage setup in 2000. (Even poor overhated David Arquette did a frog splash off the top rope and took a couple other big bumps.) But you need some pretty creative workers to think up some interesting spots, and they've got to be athletic guys to be able to pull them off. When dealing with a creatively drained, physically immobile Hogan '96 that kind of thing is simply impossible. Like, imagine if you did this match with Rey, Kidman, and Chavo against the entire Latino World Order, with Eddie waiting in the top cage like a kung-fu villain.

 

Also, the match did itself no favors by having the guys start in the top cage and climb down. Even a hack like Russo knew that it makes the most thematic, primal sense for the fighters to start at the bottom and work their way up. It's the whole "king of the mountain" motif; there's a reason why Conan killed Thulsa Doom at the top of the pyramid, and why so many villains in so many movies tend to die by falling from a great height.

 

How much did they spend on this nonsense, also? They had to build the cage (I doubt they saved the one from 1988), had to bring in another ring, had to spend at least double the usual ring-crew manhours for the whole thing to be set up for the show.

[The Following Contest]

I always loved that as part of a non-sanctioned and irresponsibly dangerous televised thunderdome, where a bunch of the most psychotic sub-human animals were prepared to gang-beat two muscle heads... said group of psychopaths patiently waits, like ninjas in a bad Kung-Fu flick, for Hogan and Savage to enter their section of the cage. "Let's take our numerical advantage and flush it down the crapper," said a bunch of face painted lunatics.

[thebrainfollower]

Hahahahahaha. I GUESS you could argue that it made the victory seem a touch more plausible. I am grateful he did turn heel because if he did not the next year would have been him beating the whole NWO by himself in the second version of this match.