[2000-03-19-WCW-Uncensored] Fit Finlay vs Vampiro (Falls Count Anywhere)

[soup23]

I said in the Barbarian match thread that hardcore Finlay doesn’t interest me. That was on display here. Dragging each other through the arena, into the bathroom, outside. This was all of the tropes rolled into one of ECW style brawling. As a result, it was a match I pretty much outright hated. Vampiro wins with the coffin drop on the concrete that didn’t look good at all. *1/2

[Loss]

Perhaps we consider this the symbolic bathroom break match after Sasaki-Kojima? It's a pretty big comedown to hear Mark Madden rambling on about this like people cared about it after that one. I remember a controversy about this match at the time because fans who voted this the best match of the show on WCW.com were having their vote counted five times for Hogan vs Flair. Oh, WCW. Finlay tried, but it takes a certain alignment of the stars for Vampiro to be in something decent, and this didn't get there. Lame-o attempt to recreate Benoit-Sullivan too.

[AstroBoy]

At least WCW seemed like they were trying to present Vampiro as a different kind of star. It didn't work but he WAS fresher face at the time. And I actually liked the start to this, felt like a real fight of attrition at first. Vampiro's strikes and kicks in particular were awfully tentative. I don't really buy him as some lethal kickboxer but whatever.

 

The crowd is pretty dead for this and they start walking up the stairs as I realize this is one of *those* matches where it's just a tour around the building to get over the stipulation. So we get some lame walk and brawl moments. Seems like a good time to point out Charles Robinson acting like a doofus and not letting Finlay use a chair.

 

"They're going outside!" screamed Shiavone and nobody cares. This was much better when it was two guys fighting with a modicum of hatred inside the ring. At least stuff looked decent. Nail in the Coffin somewhere backstage on the floor ends this just as things reach the height of tedium. This could have been much more decent but it was pretty lackluster.

 

*1/2

[GSR]

‘Falls Count Anywhere’ match and both men are wearing casts after having their arms ‘broken’ by Lex Luger. Fit with a knee to the mid-section, an elbow acorss the bridge of the nose and a clothesline. Nerve hold whilst ripping at Vampiro’s nose before dropping an elbow onto him. Finlay telegraphs a backdrop off an Irish whip and Vampiro nails him with a spinning kick. Spinning leg lariat off the top for two. Vampiro unloads with an array of strikes and kicks as Fit is backed up on the ropes. Whip to the corner, but as he comes charging in Finlay gets his foot up. Forward roll slam and he collects a chair from the outside and lays it across Vamp’s face. This might be ‘falls count anywhere’ but it’s clearly not ‘no DQ’ as Charles Robinson removes it off him. Finlay shoves Robinson and grabs the chair back, but is met by a superkick from Vampiro with the chair crashing into his own face. Vamp throws him to the floor and rams his head into the announcing desk. Fit fights back and drops him throat first across the barricade, only for Vamp to reverse and Irish whip into the guard rail. When he charges at him, Finlay backdrops him over the rail and into the audience. The two then go on a little walk through the crowd and to the back of the arena, every now and then stopping to throw the odd punch at each other. They continue to walk until they get to the men’s bathroom, which allows Mark Madden to make a joke about how the ‘uranage’ would be a good hold to use… Vamp jumps off the top of the stall, but Fit throws a steel trash can at him. They head out the bathroom and briefly outside the arena, although because of the lighting and the crowd it’s tough to follow what’s going on. The fight amongst the fans and Vamp gets backdropped onto the concrete floor, but ends up picking up the win after the ‘nail in the coffin’.

 

The in ring action was solid and not bad at all, but this match went down the pan the moment they exited the ring. This is supposed to be a fight and these two go for a lengthy walk around the building holding each other, throwing the occasional punch along the way. It gets even worse after they’ve done their section in the urinal as there are fans everywhere, the lighting is atrocious and you lose the wrestlers and can’t see what’s going on. Seriously, the fans here are more annoying than any ECW crowd, not really watching the action and more concerned with mugging and waving at the camera.