[2000-08-07-WCW-Nitro] Lance Storm vs Booker T

[soup23]

Lance has been built up so well that this match probably should have been the main event of the PPV. The match itself is well done and has a good pace of back and forth. Awesome is on commentary and his “friend” receives some sub sandwiches halfway thru. Storm locking on the Maple Leaf really makes the title feel like it is in peril and Booker looks strong fighting and getting to the ropes. Storm is also able to look strong kicking out of Booker’s secondary finishers like the missile dropkick and side kick. The Bookend gets the win for Booker and as predicted, we get a schmozz at the end of the show with Jarrett and Awesome getting involved. **1/2

[AstroBoy]

One of the few things WCW hit on at this point was building Storm into a legit hot act so quickly. So of course they job him 6 DAYS before his hometown PPV. What idiocy. This could have been saved and built into something more substantial. Alas.

 

Execution-wise it's a sloppy match. They don't seem to gel well at least at first and Booker's offense is so light and contrived in spots here that it takes a minute to get going. But it's a lesson in two wrestlers with emotional investment from the crowd using nearfalls to create real suspense and value to the match. Storm gets to kick out of a ton and the Maple Leaf is treated like a big deal. Booker breaking it is a nice moment. For a sprint kind of match this was actually really good despite some of the sloppiness.

 

***

[GSR]

Mike Awesome and Mighty Heidi have joined Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden and Scott Hudson on commentary for the title match. Lance says that tonight he will fulfil his destiny as an all time Canadian great when he makes Booker T submit and becomes the World Heavyweight champion. No Canadian national anthem here as Booker’s entrance music plays instead of ‘O Canada’. Booker drops Storm with a flying forearm when out walks someone with a tray of ham sandwiches for Heidi. The camera is focusing on this nonsense as opposed to the match so it is clearly more important! Lance dropkicks Booker in the leg and he rolls to the outside to try and shake it off. There’s no chance of a rest bite though as Storm nails him with a springboard plancha to the floor. Heidi is chomping away on those ham sandwiches leading Madden to warn her about being careful and “remember Mama Cass”, prompting Hudson to quip “alright Heenan!”, presumably for the dated reference. Booker blocks the suplex and counters with one of his own. Attempted backdrop, Storm with a sunset flip that he tries to transition to the single leg crab but Booker is able to power him away. Axe kick, Harlem side kick and Lance kicks out of the pin in time. ‘The Book’ walks into a Storm big boot, reverse crossbody off the top, however Booker catches and powerslams him in one motion for another close fall. Storm blocks the belly to back, grabs the leg and rolls through, trapping Booker in the ‘Canadian Maple Leaf’ crab. Mark Madden needs to STFU at this point! ‘The Book’ slowly inches his way over to the ropes for the break, becoming the first man to survive the hold in the process. Storm levels him with a superkick, but Booker responds with a spinebuster. Missile dropkick for a great near fall and ‘The Book End’ soon follows for the three. Jeff Jarrett jumps Booker after the match, attacking his knee as he tries to soften him up for New Blood Rising. Lance doesn’t take too kindly to ‘Double J’ using the Canadian flag as a weapon and they get into it and end up fighting at ringside. Jarrett whips him into the guard rail by the announcer’s table and Awesome tells Heidi that they better get out of there, only for ‘Double J’ to accidentally break a guitar over her head when he was aiming for Storm. Awesome stalks Jarrett who gets back into the ring where Booker lays him out with ‘the Book End’.

 

Good match for Nitro with a hot crowd who were into it and bought those near falls. With New Blood Rising being six days away, the matches for the PPV already made and it being in Storm’s home country, I don’t think this was the right time for these two to face each other though (unless they did a schmozz there was really only one outcome). I get them wanting to make Booker look strong so they have to put him over, but surely they could’ve found someone else to put in Lance’s spot? Even just delaying the match by a week would have worked better than having it here. It also shows how short-sighted the booking was to have Kidman beat Storm last month. Although Booker became the first man to escape the single leg crab, imagine how stronger he could have looked had Storm been undefeated going into this as he attempted to complete the ‘Grand Slam’ of WCW single titles? A note on Mark Madden who, between his dated references and constant screaming throughout, was at his worse here.