[2000-02-21-WCW-Nitro] Lex Luger vs Hulk Hogan (Cage)

[soup23]

Nostalgia is running wild. Hogan is still really getting a good reaction here and I do like that he isn't even faking being a total babyface by using his cast at will. Flair and Luger is also being used as a nostalgia act but again they are bringing up their past which is about all I can ask for. I liked the action here better than the PPV match and thought this was actually a perfectly decent match. The finish with the heels winning isn't spectacular but I will take it over the NWO nonsense. **3/4

 

[Loss]

Okay cage match. Tons of heat and better than the PPV match for sure. It's really, really basic. I mean super, super basic. But it's solid. The Flair interference is done well and this effectively transitions to a Hogan-Flair feud, which while hot the week before is the last thing WCW needs at this point. Luger looked like a convincing heel though and gave one of his best performances in a long time, while Hogan was Hogan and was over with the shrinking WCW audience. Not bad, almost good.

[GSR]

The match was set up earlier in the show after Lex Luger had been saying he kicked the crap out of Hulk Hogan for 15 minutes at Superbrawl. If Hogan thinks he’s done with the Total Package he’s mistaken as this is just the beginning and next time he won’t get out of it so lucky. Hogan interrupts him and says with Lex running his mouth about what he’ll do ‘next time’, they can do it again tonight. He heard his complaints about how he was worried about big Jimmy Hart busting him up, so he’s made some special arrangements and had a cage set up in preparation.

 

Team Package see Jimmy Hart backstage and they attack him and drag him to the ring with Flair choking and whipping him with a belt. Hogan’s music plays and he rushes out and goes straight for Luger and Flair. He levels both in the back with a chair and Flair starts chopping him to no effect. Naitch backs off pleading, but it’s all a ruse as he low blows Hulk. Flair holds him while Lex jabs the chair into his mid-section and clobbers him over the back with it. Security and Doug Dillinger order Flair to the back and Luger throws Hogan into the ring to get this match officially under way. Lex starts putting the boots to him, and Tony Schiavone informs us this is a ‘last man standing’ cage match where pins and submissions don’t count and first man out the cage wins. Luger tries to ram Hogan’s head into the turnbuckles, but he blocks it and sends Lex’s into it instead. A pair of clotheslines and he chokes the Package with his vest. Hulk stand on his throat then again uses his cast as a weapon. Some rapid fire punches to the temple and as he goes to throw Lex head first into the cage, he puts on the brakes, blocks it and sends the Hulkster flying into it. Luger with a double axe handle off the middle turnbuckle. A trio of elbows and he cups his ear mocking Hogan. Suplex, Torture Rack, although not sure why when you can’t win by submission. He drops the Hulkster to the canvas, calls for them to openbut Hogan’s back to his feet. Mark Madden is pretty funny on commentary saying ‘oh, for heaven’s sake’, while Schiavone can’t believe what he’s seeing! Lex turns around to see him and Hogan ‘hulks up’ while Luger tries to retreat. A series of punches, big boot and Ric Flair is sprinting back down to ringside. Leg drop and Flair kicks the referee out of the way so he can enter the cage. He starts chopping and punching Hogan but those shots do nothing. A big boot to Flair, leg drop and the Hulkster covers him (huh?). Double clothesline and as he takes off his belt ready to whip Ric, he’s nailed in the back by Luger with a steel chair that Liz had thrown into the cage. Flair whips the Hogan with his belt and security enter the cage to try to help. Doug Dillinger is attacked by Luger, who then puts his arm between the chair and stomps on it ‘breaking’ it. Some more security come out but are quickly beaten down as the show goes off the air with Hogan laid out.

 

The crowd were electric at times during this. Better than the Superbrawl match, and I really liked the opening few minutes with them outside the cage and everything with Flair at the end. It started to lose my attention slightly in the middle, but the match was on fire from the moment Hogan popped up from the ‘Torture Rack’. No real logical reason for Lex to go for that hold mind when you can’t win the match by submission!