Week 1 - The WCW Reboot
I've been wanting to go back and watch this period in WCW history for a while now, and I was going to wait for my Guest Host series to finish, but then I realized there's still at least 9 months worth of shows to cover there, so instead, I'll run them side by side with this. As the title suggests, I'll be covering WCW's final year in business, starting with the reboot episode of Nitro, on April 10 of the year 2000, along with Thunder that week, and weeks following. Side by side with that, I'll be covering the episodes of Raw and Smackdown each week, as I'm kinda curious to see what WWE is putting together against WCW.
For those unfamiliar with this, I'll do my best to recap, seeing as my knowledge of WCW's history is limited as is. Bischoff, former president of WCW, had been removed back in September of '99, as a fall guy for the issues WCW was having. Meanwhile, Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara were brought in, only to be fired 3 months later. Then after Kevin Sullivan and his booking committee managed to do a worse job, they brought back Russo and Bischoff to save the sinking ship that was WCW. Their solution? Well I'll get to that shortly.
Meanwhile at this point in the WWF, Wrestlemania had just taken place a week prior, which I already covered here. The night after on Raw, Eddie Guerrero defeated newly crowned European Champion Jericho for the title, Crash defeated his cousin for the Hardcore Title to fix that botch from the night before, and Rock beat Shane in the main event, along with a few other matches and events, but I'm sure I'll get to those as the show goes along.
WCW Nitro
We get our opening intro, and we're live from the Pepsi Centre in Denver, Colorado. Schiavone tells us that it's a landmark event in sports entertainment, that Nitro turns a page on a new chapter, a ne day, a new era. We see the ring and ringside area filled with WCW's various talents, and we see more come down, because Russo has called a meeting.
Jarrett grabs a mic and says when he came to WCW 6 months ago, he told everyone that he was the Chosen One, hand picked to be the next world champion, that his future was in the hands of the man who had the biggest hand in turning the WWF around, which he knows because he was there. He says that somewhere along the way their plan got derailed by a pack of good ol' boys, who weren't in his league and knew it too. He calls out to the pack of slap nuts sitting around at home watching this on TV, saying what goes around comes around, before introducing Vince Russo, who he says was once Vince McMahon's best kept secret, and once again change the game.
Russo makes his way out, and commentary point out how he once said he'd never appear on camera, and yet here we are. He takes the mic from Jarrett, and says after giving 6 years to the WWF, he came to WCW with one thing in mind, to beat Vince McMahon at his own game, and within a matter of weeks, the new blood in WCW were getting back in and changing the game, and that's when the good ol' boy network kicked in. He says they were afraid of change, afraid of their jobs, the political BS in the back to bring Russo down. He calls them scum and knows they're watching at home right now. Then he's told one day there's going to be a change in direction, one that he knew sucked. He says he wasn't the only one who knew, and points to the Radicalz and Shane Douglas as proof. He says Steiner knew, and they suspended him. He says that's all over now, done, and Russo is back in charge again. He turns to the guys in the ring, and says the ol' boys management, the overinflated egos of guys scared to lose their spot are over, a dawning of a new day, and says it's their opportunity.
Bischoff pipes in from the back asking if Russo's done yet and makes his way out. He gets a mic and shakes Russo's hand and they hug, and says he and Russo have more in common than anyone knows, mainly that they were both screwed by the good ol' boys network, and that those days are over. He says he doesn't mind though, because it's given him a hell of an opportunity, to think about all the great things he did in WCW, as well as the mistakes he made, like Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sting, DDP, and Sid "wish he was" Vicious, and the biggest mistake being Hogan. He says he really is sorry and we cut to the back to see Sid, Sting, Luger and DDP along with Elizabeth and Kimberly, standing in front of a monitor. He says everyone told him Hogan would would screw and use Bischoff, and not to look into that red and yellow light, because he would be blinded. Tonight, he's got 20/20 vision, and seeing more clearly than he ever has, and apologizes to everyone in the ring, the new blood, and if there's anything he can do for Russo that can help them, he's there him and them, because it is a whole new WCW.
He asks where DDP, Sting and company. Russo says they're in the back with their tails between their legs, and out they come onto the stage. Bischoff says for once they showed up ready for work, then makes a crack at Sid about a softball game, one at Lex about a golf game or lunch with Michael Jordan. Then a crack at DDP about his 7 fans at the trailer park wanting an autograph on his new book. Then at Sting about a Hollywood premiere. DDP's got a mic now, saying he's got no idea what Eric is smoking and he'd better step off. Bischooff says screw Page, and if it wasn't for him, he'd be schlepping drinks at a redneck bar in the middle of Florida, telling people he's friends with Bon Jovi, and asks where he's been the last 6 months while he's been at home unemployed. Then he goes to Sting, saying he rebuilt his career, the same guy who made Luger a multimillionaire when Vince wanted nothing to do with him. He says he made them and can sure as hell break them, but this time it'll be more fun and fair, on a level playing field.
Russo pipes in before they get to that, who has something to say to Flair, who he knows is hiding in the back. He calls Flair a piece of shit on the bottom of his shoe. He says he's gonna scrape off that shit and Flush him down the toilet personally. He turns to Jarrett and asks him to trust him, and brings up the even playing field. He asks Jarrett to hand over his US Title, that all titles are being stripped tonight, and that it's a brand new playing field. Jarrett hands it over rather reluctantly, then takes the tag titles from the Harris Brothers. We get a loud Goldberg chant, and Bischoff talks to Sid, the World Champion. Sid gets a mic and tell Bischoff to come take the belt himself. Bischoff leaves the ring and up the ramp and asks Sid if he wants to lay him out, but he'll be out of a job if he does. He says he's been beat up before and it won't be the last time. He asks if Si can't find his scissors, which is a cheap shot at his incident with Arn Anderson, then repeats it when the crowd don't get it. He tells Sid not to let him push his buttons, and wouldn't wanna see Sid ruin his career. He says it's a long, lonely life in West Memphis. Sid finally and reluctantly hands it over, and Bischoff declares that on the 16th at Spring Stampede, that's when the real WHC will wear the belt. That's the coming Sunday, as an FYI. More Goldberg chants as Bischoff returns to the ring to delighted talent. Well that was... something. Almost 20 minutes of confusion, yapping and unnecessary cheap shots, and I thought modern day WWE was bad for opening talk segments.
We go to the announce desk, where we see Scott Hudson, Tony Schiavone and Mark Madden. He says the new blood are now in charge and the established talent have to fight for their spot again, while Scott says they never expected something like this, while Mark goes on about how Bischoff and Russo verbally abused Hogan and Flair. We see Hogan just arriving to the arena before commercial.
We go to the back where Sting walks in to Hogan's locker room as he's taping his wrists. Sting tells Hogan's Bischoff's on him, so bad that he may as well kick Hogan between the legs. Hogan says he's on it and leaves, and Sting insists he's not ribbing him.
Back to the arena, we learn that 4 men will compete in a mini tournament to see who will face Jarrett for the world title on Sunday: DDP, Sting, Luger and Sid Vicious. Plenty of new blood there huh? DDP and Kimberly come out, and they cut off his music halfway through, and no pyro either.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Match: Diamond Dallas Page (w/ Kimberly) vs Lex Luger (w/ Elizabeth)
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: DDP and Kimberly come out, and they cut off his music halfway through, and no pyro either. Luger is the same. He does get his spotlight though for some reason, although it's cut off early for him to pose and flex, much to Luger's anger. DPP just wants to go immediately.
Lock up to begin into a hammerlock by Page, then reversed by Luger into one of his own, DDP elbows out and off the ropes into a shoulder block. Off the ropes again, Luger goes low and tries for a hip toss, but DDP reverses into a swinging neckbreaker. Luger retreats to the ropes and nails a blatant low blow with a mule kick. Ax handle and boots to the back by Luger now, working the back now with hip drops across it. Forearm and boots in the corner, then chokes Page with his boot before flexing. Page back up and throws Luger into the corner with rights and lefts, whips Luger into the opposite and follows right into a boot and down with a clothesline.
Luger with three back breakers, before he's interrupted by music, and out comes Buff Bagwell. He flexes and walks down to the ring with pyro, playing to the crowd, distracting Luger and the ref. DDP nails a low blow now then stomps away. Buff flirts with Kimberly and it distracts Page, allowing Luger to club him from behind. Page sent off the ropes into a powerslam, then Buff over to Elizabeth. Luger distracted again as Buff makes his advances, allowing Page to hit the Diamond Cutter and advance in the tournament in 4:23. I mean it was alright for as short as it was.
Kimberly and Page celebrate while we cut to Hogan in the back looking for Eric before we go to commercial.
Back from the break, Henning has caught up with Russo, apparently having just gotten there and asks what's up, and mentions... stuff, and I guess is upset about not getting a chance at the world title, saying that he was Russo's right hand man, something about powers that be and he was the man that delivered. Russo apologizes and gives Henning a chance, saying if he can beat Jarrett tonight, he'll take his spot at Spring Stampede. They shake hands and Russo enters what I assume is his office.
Back to Hogan looking for Bischoff, before we go back to the arena.
Out comes Tank Abbott and gets a mic. He says he's gonna keep it short and sweet. He says he's not some candy ass "wrassler," he's a shoot fighter, and he doesn't know the difference between a wristwatch and a wristlock, but he knows how to kick your ass. He says he came there for one reason, because some yahoo thinking he's a shoot fighter wiggling his tongue and acting tough. He says he came for Goldberg, and says it's no coincidence he's hurt and ran away, this being after Goldberg sliced his arm open smashing a car window on Nitro some months back. He says until Goldberg grows balls big enough to fight him, he's gonna beat the holy hell out of innocent victims, even if it's Mother Teresa, it's gonna start tonight. He looks around before he leaves the ring, pacing around ringside and eyes the announce team. Mark tries to use Tony or Scott but Tank goes right after him, smacking his headset off and pushing him over the table. He tears Mark's shirt off and rolls him in the ring and starts taking blows at Mark's head and body before security rush in and Tank makes his escape up the ramp.
To the back, Jarrett is upset with Russo, saying he's the Chosen One and already earned his spot. Russo asks who labeled him the Chosen One, and asks how he doesn't trust him after everything they've been through, asking if he looks like JJ Dillon to him before walking off.
Next we see Kidman and Torrie entering the building, and Kidman has to take care of... something. Then to Hogan who runs into Terry Taylor who finally tells him where Bischoff is and... we go to break.
Back from break, Hogan finally arrives at Eric's office and out he comes. Bischoff basically tries to deny what Sting was saying earlier, and Eric invites him into his office.
Back to the arena now and out comes Kidman with mic in hand. He says he feels like he's been handed a get out of jail free card, because him and the rest of the New Blood have been held down by the egomaniacs trying to hold onto their fading careers. He says he's been used, abused and told to keep quiet, but tonight is his night. He calls out Hogan, being the biggest egomaniac of them all. He says Hogan's been badmouthing him for weeks, talking about his size and admits to not having the body Hogan has, but he has heart and talent, two things Hogan will never have and can never take away from him. He then knocks Hogan's tan, saying the only way to get it is being on the spotlight for so long. He says Hogan may be right when he says Kidman can't draw flies, seeing as Hogan would know about drawing flies, calling him a piece of shit. He officially calls out Hogan and we see him leaving Hogan's office, as Kidman says he wants to see if Hogan's balls are as big as his bald spot.
Kidman talks more trash before Hogan's "American Made" music hits and out he comes. Damn, Hogan's gotten the biggest reaction so far tonight, this crowd loves him. Hogan gets a mic and says this isn't the first night he's listened to Kidman's crap, asking who the hell he thinks he is. He's been watching Kidman the last couple months, hearing him crying, about when he's gonna get a break or a push, and says Kidman's the kind of punk that gives young guys in the business a bad name. Kidman takes the mic and says Hulk had a good run but it's over now, before handing it back. Hogan says if Kidman was in his league, he might understand what the business is about, then says Kidman is pussy whipped before knocking Hogan back with a right hand. Kidman lays into him with more rights and stomps away, sending Hogan out of the ring. Kidman misses an ax handle into the guardrail and Hogan lays in a few rights of his own before sending Kidman shoulder first into the ring post, then into the guardrail.
Back into the ring, Hogan takes a mic and tells Kidman to get up, picking him up in the corner for more rights before Eric rushes down with chair in hand. Eric cracks Hogan in the head once he turns around, as if this is supposed be a swerve, and Kidman pins Hogan, Bischoff counts the three because.... reasons? Hogan's been cut, Bischoff looks on with a grin as he and Kidman make their exit.
Outside a while limo has pulled up and out comes Flair, then we go to break.
Back from break we go to replays of what just happened, then to the back we see Hogan throwing stuff around, still bleeding backstage. Then we see Flair looking on from a monitor, watching the opening segment earlier tonight, with Terry Taylor sitting nearby, then makes his way out to the arena as his music hits.
Flair basically says he's been given the greenlight to say how he feels about Russo... at least I think I do, Ric kinda rambles a bit to start. He says Russo came from another... something bleeped out to save WCW, yet he grew up watching Flair. Russo calls him old, he needs to replace old with great. He gets some cheap pops for mentioning local sports stars, basically to say that he can still go I guess? Honestly it's hard to follow, this is one of Ric's intense, rambling promos. He gives props to Eric for having the balls to walk up to Sid, and calls Russo out and tells him to scrap Flair from the bottom of his show is the end result.
Steiner comes out instead, calls Flair an old bastard and says he's been boring him to death. He says last time he did an interview with Flair, he obviously listened to Steiner because he bleached his teeth, even though they're still crooked. Then he says him and his bastard friends tried to get him fired, but it doesn't surprise him, because if you look at the WWF now and who's been champ with one exception, they've all come from WCW. It's only because him and his friends ran them out so he could be a x14 World Champion, but that doesn't mean anything to Steiner, because when he sees a fat ass in the front row, with no teeth he could have been a x14 World Champion if he had his friends pulling the strings. He looks at Flair and sees a confused face, which is exactly what he has on his face, so he puts it another way: since there's no way he could ever bring Flair to his level, physically or mentally, he'll lower himself to Ric's level, which is a low-class, white trash from Charlotte. Steiner challenges Ric to guess who he is, and proceeds to put fake teeth under his lower lip, to do an impression of Flair, calling him a backstabbing son of a bitch. He says he has more loose skin than a sharpei puppy.
Suddenly from behind, Shane Douglas attacks Flair, and security rush him. Commentary point out he had left the company and don't know why he's there.
Suddenly to the back, Nash walks into the building on crutches and.... For some reason a grey filter goes over the footage, but Bret Hard is seen in the crowd before we go to commercial. Fucking hell, that segment was bonkers.
Back from the break, no grey filter and we see Bret clearly sitting in the crowd now, who's been gone for 5 months. Then we go to a replay of what just happened, and we see that Shane actually had brass knuckles on, which would explain Flair being knocked out cold.
To the back, now Flair is pissed off, gone in search of Shane. Then we go to Mean Gene who's standing by with Shane, who gets right to the point and asks what he's doing here. He says he's doing whatever the hell he wants, having sat back for seven years, having had to watch that son of a bitch Flair make a joke of the sport. Flair always says "To be the man, you gotta beat the man," and Shane points out that he just left Flair laying out flat. He says Ric was just franchised, and it's the beginning of a long road, he's hated Ric's guts since day one, and there's nothing stopping him. Since Russo said it's an open forum, but Gene cuts him off saying he's out of line. He tells Gene to kiss his ass and watch him be a franchise before he walks off. Alright the first straight to the point thing on this god damn show, but how he's able to do that interview without a job is beyond me.
Back to the arena, for the first time in 25 minutes, we actually have another match on this show.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Tournament: Sting vs Sid Vicious
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: I guess they stopped the gimmick of cutting off the music for the egomaniacs, because Sting and Sid get their full entrances.
Lock up to start but Sid gets Sting in the corner, then rights to the midsection. Sting whipped into the opposite and Sid follows but hits the corner shoulder first. Sting with a kick to the midsection, sending Sid upward and laid across the top rope, more kicks to the midsection, then Stinger Splash before clotheslining Sid to the outside.
Sting follows and sends Sid into one of the chairs, and there's a blatant low blow in front of the referee, then Sid lifts and drops Sting chest first onto the guardrail. Sid working as a heel here despite having been a face prior to this. Sid with a kick to the midsection and a right to the face before going back to the ring.
Sid with another stomp to the chest, Sting sent off the ropes but catches Sid with a bulldog, then tries a splash but Sid gets the knees up. Sid yells "wrong place, wrong time" in Sting's face before more stomps to the chest, then chokes Sting with his boot.
Sid gets a cobra clutch applied, Sting tries to fight out but Sid slams him down on his back. Sid hooks the leg but Sting gets the shoulder up. Rear chinlock now by Sid, Sting rallies himself back up and fights out, shots to the midsection, comes off the ropes but take each other out with a double clothesline.
Suddenly, The Wall comes out with a table over his head, Sting makes a cover but Sid powers out and throws Sting onto the referee. Sting with a Stinger Splash in the corner while Wall sets up a table at ringside, then tries another splash but Sid moves. Sid nails a powerbomb, but Wall slides in and nails him with a chair to the back, taking Sid out of the ring. Wall puts Sid through the table with a chokeslam and out come security way too late and back wall off. The referee counts Sid out and Sting wins in 6:18.
Sting gets his arm raised as he looks down at Sid and we go to commentary, and they recap what's happened tonight as well as what's to come. They have no idea what's next, but as they say that, Flair appears out of nowhere in the ring. Ric says Shane made a lifetime out of trying to be him, says he walked in the backdoor tonight and jumped him when he wasn't looking, and made a point, but now he's pissed off. He's tired of hearing and reading about it, and is going to make Shane Douglas tonight. Flair calls him out, and tells Russo that diamonds are forever, and so is the Nature Boy, then he leaves.
To the back, Hogan is still bleeding and on a rampage, throwing everything around before we go to break.
Back from break, more bloody pissed off Hogan, throwing Shane Helms and... someone into a steel gate, then back to the arena. We see some footage from the premiere of Ready to Rumble from this last weekend. Oh god, that's gonna happen soon. Then to the arena for our next match.
Jeff Jarrett vs Curt Henning
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: Apparently Arquette will be on Thunder this week, so... (sigh) I'm not looking forward to this at all. Jarrett wastes no time meeting Curt in the aisle way to get this started.
Curt with rights and sends Jeff into the guardrail. Boot to the head, then whips Jarrett into the guardrail. Apparently Hogan's been notified Bischoff's in a skybox so, there's that. More rights by Curt and a chop, over to ringside. More shots into the guardrail an a chop sending Jeff onto the announce table then more clubbing shots and chops. Another boot to the head before things finally go to the ring.
Henning goes to pull Jeff in only to be hung up over the top rope, Jarrett sends him off the ropes into a back elbow. Curt whipped into the corner, then starts a 10 punch. Curt with rights and chops, but whipped off the ropes into a sleeper hold by Jarrett, only for Curt to turn into a back suplex. Then Shawn Stasiak comes out Mr. Perfect-esque music as the action continues, towel in hand. He's just coming off being Meat in WWF.
Henning with a running knee. He goes for a Perfectplex but Shawn distracts. Jeff escapes and attacks from behind, but Curt takes him out and the ref with an elbow. Shawn in now and does.... something? He's supposed to catch Henning on his shoulders for some kind of spinning move but he botches the hell out of it. Jarrett whips Curt into the corner, and it looks like Henning got hurt off that botch. Jarrett hits the Stroke for the win in 4:26.
Jarrett poses in the corner before we go to the back.
A still bloody Hogan storms into a skybox looking for Bischoff with no luck, then storms out. Then we see Flair walking down the hallway before we go to break.
Back from the break, Nash is on his phone and tells whoever he's talking to that Bischoff and Russo are out of control, and asks if they'll be there, and to be there if they can.
Cut to Gene who's standing by with Sting, who asks about his upcoming match with DDP. Sting says with all the trash talk going on tonight, he gets the idea that Russo and Bischoff think they have it all figure out. He tells Eric that since '88 he's worked his butt off, he says Eric talks about loyalty, yet he is loyalty. He owes Bischoff, and starting tonight and ending Sunday, he's coming after Eric's so called golden boy, and the company boy gone out the door because it's showtime, then he leaves.
Ric Flair vs Shane Douglas
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: Flair is wrestling in a shirt and slacks for... reasons? And yet again he gets his full entrance because they gave up on that. Ric sets his watch down in the corner and the camera makes a point of zooming in on it, that can't possibly have an impact here. Shane is wrestling in some fancy shirt and slacks, but at least with him it makes sense. Ric wastes no time going after Shane and the match starts.
Ric with shots to the midsection in the corner, but Shane fights back with shots to the head before tossing him out. Ric face first off the guardrail, Shane with more rights, but Ric reverses a whip into the guardrail into a chop. Ric rips a shirt off Shane to real another shirt and another chop, then back to the ring.
In the corner, Ric with rights, then a blatant low blow before Ric pull his shirt off. Chops to the bare chest in the corner, but Shane fights out with a thumb to the eye, then a low blow of his own, before choking with his shoe. Ric face first in the corner, a right by Shane, then Ric rakes the eyes before they go out. Shane into the guardrail now, Ric with rights and another eye rake. Back in the ring again, chop by Flair, Shane sent off the ropes into another right hand. More rapid fire rights.
Russo walks down with a bat in hand and starts whaling at Flair, causing the DQ in 3:06. Makes sense, sure why not.
Russo tosses the bat to Shane who wails away at Ric now, then chokes him with the bat. More shots to the back and crotch chops by Russo. Shane talks some trash then poses in the corner, while Russo steals Ric's watch, and they make their exit. More crotch chops by Russo before he and Shane embrace and head to the bac. The ref calls for doctors to help Ric, then we cut to see Nash, who's on his way to the ring before the break.
Back from break, replays from what just happened, then Nash makes his way out with his Wolfpack theme on crutches. He gets a mic and shouts out Denver. He calls Eric and Russo jackoffs, saying they're running around deciding who's careers they're gonna make and break, plus to add insult to injury, they decided to play wrestler and attack the boys. He does say that after travelling up and down the road with Scott Hall, he admits he's lost some brain cells, but asks what happened to the sweet lil' wrasslin show they were doing every Monday. He asks where the hell dog is when you need him. He says he's gonna give Eric and Russo another opportunity, revealing he was talking to Scott earlier, saying he's straight and sober and in a real bad mood. He says neither Russo nor Eric would be there if not for he and Scott, saying to Russo that when he was in the WWF, he and Hall saved him from being decapitated by Michaels numerous times. Then to Eric, if not for the Outsiders, there'd have been no NWO, and he'd still be bringing Verne Gagne coffee up in Minnesota. He says if they want him and Hall out, he says it's simple, but they better bring their bat and chair and most importantly their balls.
Oh I didn't even realize this was THAT episode too, because here comes current ECW Champion Mike Awesome attacking Nash from behind. He knocks Nash down with a clothesline, then proceeds to break one of Nash's crutches over his body. He grabs the mic, flips the bird and says when he heard Russo and Eric were back in the saddle, he knew this was just too sweet of an opportunity to pass up, then drops the mic and leaves.
To what appears to be a limo, a still bloodied Hogan is on the phone with someone, saying to get his attorney on something, not caring about the cost. He says that piece of shit Kidman is history, and he's gonna eat Eric's ass alive. He keeps yelling to get it done, and do it before he gets home, then closes the door on the limo.
All of a sudden, a white hummer slams into the side of the limo, then again. Apparently this is some reference to an unresolved storyline from last summer. Out comes Bischoff and Kidman, yelling at Hogan to buy his way out of that, then we go to break.
Back from break, we get a replay of what just happened. We see Hogan loaded onto a stretcher, before Kidman and Bischoff run up. Kidman sprays NB on Hogan's chest, Bischoff mocks him before we go back to the arena.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Finals: Diamond Dallas Page (w/ Kimberly) vs Sting
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: Jarrett decides to come out, seeing as he's facing the winner of this match on Sunday. Sting and DDP still get full entrances. Jarrett joins commentary for this match.
DDP tries for a Diamond Cutter after a lock up but gets pushed all the way across and out of the ring. DDP casually re-enters the ring before they lock up again. Quick back and forth action before Sting gets the advantage with a bulldog. Pair of Stinger Splashes in the corner, then Sting locks tries for the Scorpion Deathlock but DDP gets to the ropes.
DDP slips out for some recovery before climbing back in, a bit of trash talk, before they trade right hands. Sting gets the upper hand, but DDT reverses a whip into the corner chest first. DDP with his arms around the waist but Sting lays in elbows to the side of the head, only for Page to nail a belly to belly slam, covers but Sting gets the shoulder up. Sting takes Page out with a clothesline and sends Page to the outside. Jarrett goes after Kimberly but Page takes him out. Meanwhile, Vampiro suddenly enters the ring and goes after Sting and hits the Nail in the Coffin before leaving. DDP gets back in the ring and hits the Diamond Cutter to win in 3:42. Every match on this show has had interference. Plus there's still 7 minutes in the runtime.
Kimberly joins Page to celebrate but Jarrett comes behind to nail Page, but he ducks and Jarrett nails Kimberly instead. Jeff makes a fast exit before we go to break.
Back from break, we get a replay from what just happened, over and over again. We see Page carrying her to the back during the break. Jeff is in the back with Eric and Russo, mocking Hogan's ear gesture and tells Jarrett to go back out because the fans are calling for him. Jarrett does his full entrance, pyro and everything before he takes the mic. He says in 6 days the Chosen One will realize his destiny and gets to show who has all the stroke around there, 6 days until he's crowned the new WCW WHC. He tells Page that if he wants to bring Kimberly with him, there's gonna be a real man in the ring to show her more wood.
Page's music hits and lays into Jarrett with rights and lefts, but Steiner comes in from behind, rights for him too, then back to Jarrett, but Steiner cuts him off. Luger now to even the odds, then Buff, then Vampiro and Wall. New Blood have the numbers game here. Sting runs down now and low blows Vampiro and lays into the rest of them, doing his best to hold his own, but then Booker and Ernest Miller join in. Jarrett hits DDP with the Stroke while the crowd chant for Goldberg. Russo and Eric come out on stage as the assault continues and shake hands, proud of their work. Bret Hart appears from behind and... Oh it just ends...
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Fucking hell what a mess that was. I swear they name dropped WWF about a dozen times, not to mention the talking segments were a mess, the random debuts, the Mike Awesome controversy,and the PPV coming up has one match announced as of this show. And as a final cherry on top, with a run time of 1:42:48, there was only 21:55 of total wrestling on this show, holy hell. That being said, let's get to Thunder.
WCW Thunder
We get a recap of Monday's event via video package to start things out. Then we see Russo and Eric arriving in a Porsche earlier in the day, then our intro for the show, live from the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado, four days from Spring Stampede. We see David Arquette at ringside, and on commentary we have Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and the late Bobby Heenan. Eric and Russo come out, along with some of the New Blood. Tenay tells us we'll get more details on the other title matches for Sunday later. Eric says they love the people, and talks about what a night Nitro was. The story, intrigue, suspense, classic screwjobs and car wrecs. He asks Hulk can hear him, but he's in a hospital bed. He hands the mic to Kidman, saying he had a hell of a night.
Kidman thanks Eric, then says he pinned, busted open and finally ended the career of Hulk Hogan with the hummer in one night. He tells the marks to get out their scorecards, saying it's Flea Market Champion 3, Hulk Hogan 0. He says they shouldn't be booing him, they should be thanking him, since they don't have to sit through Hogan's boring ass matches anymore. He tells them to shut up, then proudly says the New Blood has Hogan's old blood all over their hands, and it feels great.
Russo says it almost sounds like New York with the roar of the crowd, but says it's not New York because this town sucks, asking what kind of person lives in Colorado Springs, like John Denver? Shane whispers in his ear that Denver is dead, and Russo doesn't care. He says last night, Flair and the fans learned two things about Russo: 1) he is the Bat Man, and 2) New Yorkers have respect for no one. He tells Flair that when all is said and done, with the help of The Franchise, he will be Russo's New York bitch. Shane gets the mic, and says for 7 years he's called Flair's ass out, and he's finally bitten the bait. He tells Flair he's about to get franchised, because Shane plans on retiring his ragged, millionaire ass.
Eric gets the mic to talk about the PPV Sunday, where we'll see new world champions all around. Then he gets to tonight, saying they have to think about the World Title situation, and gave Jarrett the night off as the only fair thing to do, because it has to be a level playing field, as well as DDP. But it's a problem now, because the people came to see the very best entertainment in the world, and if you ask Kimberly, she is the very best talent in the world. So he books Kimberly in a match with Madusa. Um... alright. He runs an idea by Russo, then tells DDP to think positive no matter what happens, then Page's music hits and out he comes.
He calls Eric a monkey, and if Eric's got a problem with him, he has no problem with that, because it'll be between the two of them. He tells silverback Bischoff to leave Kimberly out of it. He has an idea, give the fans what they really wanna see: Eric against DDP in the ring, kicking his ass from one side to another. Eric says he hasn't earned that spot yet, and it'll be more fun to see what kind of stripper outfit Kimberly will wear tonight. Page suggests he goes down to kick Eric's teeth down his throat, but says he's not the only one who wants a piece of his ass.
All of a sudden, Bigelow attacks from behind and throws Page into the guardrail then in the ring. Sting and the other Millionaire's Club run down to even it out and a brawl breaks out. Sid hits Wall with a chair while Russo and Eric stay clear of the chaos. Security try and break things up but it's no use. Russo and Eric manage to escape to the ramp as chaos ensues, then go to break.
Back from break to commentary, and I guess the chaos has been broken up. Tony tells us, there will be a Suicide 6-Man Elimination match for the Cruiserweight Title on Sunday, where 2 will start and another on each corner. So it's pretty much a 6 Pack Elimination Challenge. Those three will be in a 6 man tag later tonight. Then for the tag titles, a mini-tournament happening on Sunday: the Mamalukes, Harlem Heat, Buff Bagwell & Shane Douglas, and Team Package, with one on one warm ups taking place tonight: Flair vs Buff, and Luger vs Douglas. There's also a tournament for the US Title on Sunday, so far 6 are in, and Sting and Sid have to earn their spots to make 8 in handicap matches tonight. They'll tell us how we'll find out the contenders for the Hardcore Title later, but right now we have a match to get to. Holy hell, how in God's name are they gonna fit all this on one PPV?
Six-Man Tag Match: "Hard Knox" Chris Candido, Juventud Guerrera & The Artist FKA Prince Iaukea (w/ Paisley) vs Crowbar, Lash Leroux & Shannon Moore (w/ Daffney, Shane Helms & David Flair)
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: They did the latter team's entrances during the run down from commentary. The Artist is the former Cruiserweight Champion as of Monday's Nitro. Lash and Crowbar go right after the Artist to get things started.
The crowd seems more interested in something else, hell we even have a beach ball thrown into the ring. It's too bad, this is a goo match, way too fast paced to cover move by move here. We get fighting between David Flair and Crowbar, despite being partners, tension with Daffney and Paisley, some nice spots. This should be a fantastic match at the PPV, if given proper time, but it probably won't. Daffney hits a Frankensteiner on Shane Helms after Shannon goes after his own partner Crowbar, this thing is a chaotic mess. Juvie hits the Juvie Driver and goes for the pin but Chris breaks it up, because... Why? They're partners. Crowbar with a jawbreaker but Prince and Chris hit a double DDT, Chris goes to pin but Prince pulls him off. Chris up top with a diving headbutt, makes a pin but Artist stops the ref, then hits the jumping DDT on Chris and leaves. Crowbar hits a front suplex for the win in 6:31. It was going really good, then the booking quickly became nonsensical. Sounds like WCW in a nutshell.
No time to let Crowbar celebrate as we cut to DDP backstage with Gene, who asks about his thoughts on what's happened tonight. He says he's gonna rip Jarrett's head off for smashing his guitar over Kimberly's head, and refuses to let the match with Medusa tonight happen. Gene says that apparently someone arranged for Bigelow to attack Page, and Page says Jersey Style, so I guess they're gonna have a match? Also based on the noise in the background, I think there's still more going on in the ring off camera.
We see Harlem Heat in what looks like a conference room, talking about some lady with one leg having to go, and in comes Eric and Russo. Eric says a bit annoyed with... Big T?... whichever one Ahmed Johnson is... being in his chair, so he gets up. Eric tells them that business tonight is all about Sid, saying it's not about beating Sid, it's about beating Sid. He tells them to put him down, because if they don't he'll do everything to keep them down, and tells them not to disappoint him and Russo. They leave the room and go to footage from Ready to Rumble's premiere,, where Sting describes it as Dumb and Dumber, Beavis and Butt Head, wrestling and Wayne's World combined in one, then go to commercial.
Back from break, Shawn Stasiak is in a room I guess getting oiled up or something, and Henning comes in from behind. They go at it before security rush in to break them up. Then we go to the arena.
WCW United States Championship Tournament Qualifier: Sid Vicious vs Harlem Heat 2000 (Stevie Ray, Cash & Big T) (w/ J Biggs)
Sid wastes no time with a pair of rights for Ray and T, then clotheslines to the outside. Cash enters the ring now off the ropes into a big boot. Sid grabs Biggs as he jumps the apron and yanks him into the ring, bringing him to the corner before HH attacks from behind. Sid sent off the ropes for whats supposed to be a double clothesline, but T botches it a bit. Sid sent off the ropes again and down after a double bicycle kick. Commentary mention it's no DQ, which is why all 3 are in the ring at once. Sid sent off the ropes into a slam, and cash off the ropes with a splash and a cover but Sid gets the arm up.
Sid pulled back up by Ray and into the corner, double teaming with T, and Booker makes his way out. Booker lures in Cash and pulls the top rope down, sending him to the floor. Side kick for Ray and a spinebuster for T, then a Book End for Ray. Sid nails a powerbomb, makes the cover and gets the win in 2:44.
Wall immediately hits the ring and nails Sid in the back with a chair, Biggs pulls Ray out and... Oh we just cut back to Bischoff and Russo in the back. They're surprised at Booker's actions seeing he was supposed to be a member of the New Blood. Bischoff says he's going to fix this and leaves the room.
Sid is still laid out while Harlem Heat heads to the back. Bischoff comes down to the ring with mic in hand. Bischoff makes sure Sid is out and makes an executive decision, saying that due to outside interference, and despite commentary clearly saying it was no DQ, Eric rules the match in favor of Harlem Heat by disqualification, so Sid doesn't qualify for the US Title tournament. Commentary pointing out the lack of logic and the no DQ stipulation previously stated as Eric leaves, saying he has business to take care of. Then to commercial.
Back from break, Jimmy Hart is backstage looking for Bischoff. Then to the locker room where Eric is chewing out Booker alongside some of the other New Blood talent and Russo. He tells Booker to wipe the smug look off his face or he'll hire someone to do it for him.
Back to the arena now for our next match.
"The Franchise" Shane Douglas vs The Total Package (w/ Elizabeth)
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: We see a replay of what happened between Shane and Flair on Nitro. Also I only just realized Luger's name change, and probably missed it in my Nitro viewing. Liz rips his shirt off but doesn't waste time with his pants, as he goes right after Shane in the corner with right hands to get started.
Rights and stomps in the corner before raking Shane's face across the rope, then removes his pants and uses them to choke Shane. Commentary announce DDP vs Bigelow for tonight. More stomps to the chest before whipping Shane into the corner and following with a clothesline, dropping Shane into a seated position. More raking across the top rope for Shane, then sent off the ropes and taken down with a series of clotheslines and a forearm. Lex hooks the leg for a 2 count.
Shane whipped into the corner and Lex follows, but Shane gets the boot up and comes out with a clothesline. Rapid fire rights follows by a belly to belly suplex. Shane up top but Lex biels him to the mat and out to the floor. Lex follows and whips Shane into the barricade, followed by a clothesline. Face first repeatedly off the apron before going back in the ring. Shane begs but Lex gets a boot in, whips him off the ropes but Shane gets a boot in coming back, off the ropes for a clothesline. He goes for another but Lex ducks and Shane takes out the referee, allowing Shane to nail a low blow.
Flair runs down as Shane puts the boots to a downed Lex, attacking from behind and takes Shane to the corner for chops and rights and lefts, rakes the eyes. Shane whipped into the corner and Flair with a low blow of his own. Lex gets Shane up and applies the Torture Rack for the win in 3:46.
No time for Lex's celebration as we go to the back to Jimmy Hart who catches Bischoff coming out of a room. Eric doesn't want to hear any of it and Jimmy's looking for answers for why Eric did what he did to Hulk, but all Eric does is mock him and keeps walking, then we go to break.
Back from the break, commentary tell us that Russo is irate of Ric's actions before the break. Apparently they've been given a directive to give to Luger in regards to Flair's match later with Bagwell, saying if Lex interferes there will be suspensions for 6 months for both he and Flair, barred from ringside. Then we have footage from a conveniently placed camera inside Hogan's limo from Nitro's hummer attack. They update us on Hogan, saying he has severe head trauma, cracked ribs, internal bleeding, and will be hospitalized for 2 weeks, so he won't be at Spring Stampede... supposedly.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Hart makes his way to the ring with mic in hand. He says he's been chasing Eric all over the building all day long, and insists he needs answers and calls Eric out. He says he's not gonna leave until he comes out. He says he was the one who made negotiations when Eric tried to get Hogan to WCW, and he was the one Eric called anytime he had problems with Hogan to smooth things over. He asks how everything could go straight to hell.
Kidman's music interrupts and out he comes with Eric. They talk briefly, then Kidman rushes down to the ring and lays out Hart. He lays in with rights and tears away his shirt. Kidman pulls out spray paint and sprays NB on his back in red, much to the delight of Eric.
To the back we see Kimberly getting ready for her match tonight, and DDP insists he's not gonna let her get in the ring with Medusa, no matter what Eric says. She insists that she needs to do this, saying she's going to step up to the plate and deliver. He reminds her that Jarrett smashed the guitar over her head on Monday, and doesn't want her getting in the ring hurt. He quips that she's constantly begging him not to do the same thing, saying he's the one person she needs to be supportive of her right now, not to doubt her and be positive, then she leaves.
Back to the arena for our next match.
Colorado Collision Match: Booker vs The Wall vs Ernest "The Cat" Miller vs Scott Steiner vs Billy Kidman (w/ Torrie Wilson) vs Vampiro
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: So here's how this one works. Two start in the ring, with another wrestler coming out every minute. Elimination occurs by pinfall, submission or disqualification, with the last man standing winning the match. These of course being a 6 men fighting for the US Title on Sunday. Wall comes out with a table in hand, setting it up at ringside. Booker lays in with rights as Wall slides in to get things started.
Wall sent to the corner before he turns things around, boots to Booker and choking him with his boot. Wall reverses Booker into the corner but eats a boot as he follows, Booker with a Harlem Sidekick. Wall sent off the ropes, reverses but Booker turns it into a Book End. Booker nails the Ax Kick but Wall gets back up and clotheslined to the outside as the next entrant comes out.
Miller nails a standing side kick as Booker turns around, sending him over the ropes to the outside. Wall chokeslams Booker through the table, meanwhile the referee has reached a count of 10 already, eliminating Wall and Booker from the match. Huh? Cat grabs a mic and calls the fans rednecks, saying he's gonna show them why he's here and why he's the #1 man in WCW. He points at someone and says when he's through beating the whole locker room, he's gonna beat his fat ass too. He says he's gonna give the people what they deserve, meanwhile the countdown has started, saying they deserve to see him dance.
Cat's music hits and he starts to dance, putting on some red shoes at the same time. Steiner makes his way out, clearly not in a dancing mood. Steiner nails a clothesline as he turns around, removing his red shoes and throws them at him. Cat in the corner and Steiner chops across the chest, sending him off the ropes but Cat ducks a clothesline and nails a standing side kick. More dancing then an elbow as the clock ticks down for the next entrant.
Kidman comes out as Cat gets in some more shots, but I guess Steiner catches him and nails a back breaker. Kidman takes his time walking down, Steiner nails a belly to belly overhead before going to the corner to pose, Kidman slides in and eliminates Cat.
Steiner levels him with a clothesline then up with a press slam to the mat. Spinning belly to belly slam and eliminated Kidman as the final entrant comes out.
Steiner tosses Kidman out and Cat goes right after him. Sting sneakily follows close behind Vampiro as he comes out, sliding in behind him and nails the Scorpion Death Drop, much to Steiner's confusion. Steiner locks in the Recliner and Vamp passes out, giving Steiner the win in 5:34.
Steiner poses in the corner before we see Medusa in the back, on her way out, hen Kimberly close behind, before we go to break.
Back from break, Gene is with Team Package, bringing up the suspension stipulation announced earlier. Flair yells into the camera, telling Russo to learn to love it. He says he's wrestling as he's dressed in his expensive suit, ribs taped up, saying he's Micky Mantle in Russo's lifetime before a woo.
Medusa vs Kimberly Page
Medusa seemingly tries to tell Kimberly to go to the back and not go through with this, but she insists on going through with this. Kimberly shoves Medusa, and she shoves back into the corner. She screams that Kimberly's not a wrestler, as we cut to the back to see DDP watching on a monitor. Medusa pulls her out of the corner by the hair and rubs Kimberly's face back and forth into the mat then talks some trash.
DDP rushes the ring and pulls Medusa off, he goes to check on Kimberly and Medusa lays in with some kicks to the back and chest. DDT catches her and nails the Diamond Cutter, causing the ref to call for I imagine the DQ, giving Medusa the win in 1:25.
Kimberly visibly not happy as they leave and head to the back, then we go to break.
Back from break, already mid-entrances for our next match.
Triple Threat Tag Team Hardcore Match: Brian Knobbs & Fit Finlay vs Hugh Morrus & Meng vs Terry Funk & Screamin' Norman Smiley
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: The team who wins this match will go one on one to crown a new Hardcore Champion at Spring Stampede. Funk and Smiley are the only ones who get a full TV entrance, Funk coming out with two chairs in hand, Norman with trash can lids. Bell is run halfway through Norman's entrance.
We have Knobbs and Meng fighting in the crowd, the other four in the ring. They have three referees looking over things, so at least they did one smart thing tonight. Everything quickly spills outside the ring. Morrus sets up a table by the stage while Funk hits Finlay with a trash can. Morrus sets Smiley on the table and is supposed to do a running elbow off the stage but he completely misses the table as Norman rolls off, his elbow catching the very edge of the table.
Knobbs and Meng are fighting in the concourse of the arena, sending Meng into the wall. Knobbs grabs a refreshment before throwing it at Meng, then a trash can off the back, then a pizza tray off the head. Meng throws him into a condiments table, then hits him with one of those line signs. Meng spears a Goldberg cut out for some reason before being sprayed with a fire extinguisher, only to hit Knobbs with what's left of the cut out. They stumble out to the balcony surrounded by fans and... Knobbs falls over the balcony after missing Meng, and commentary basically tell us he's dead from a 30ft drop.
Back to the arena, Hugh and Norman fight to the back, throwing Hugh into boxes. Finlay hits Funk with a trash can lid. Hugh thrown into metal racks, then scoop slams Norman onto a trash can. Broom across the back, Finlay with a chair to the neck of Funk. Norman throws a trash can at Hugh, then Norman whipped into the opening of... a giant lion head, I assume it's the arena mascot? Norman thrown into it, then Hugh misses a kick. Norman hits Hugh with a broken off tooth from the lion.
Back to the arena, Finlay exposes the concrete floor at ringside and nails a DDT on Funk. Finlay pulls out a table and slides it and Funk back in the ring. Finlay sets up the table in the corner but Funk nails a low blow, whipping Finlay through the table. Funk pulls the table to the middle of the ring and piledrives Finlay onto the broken table.
All of a sudden now, Dustin Rhodes comes out as Funk folds part of the table over Finlay. Dustin attacks from behind as Funk goes to climb up top, getting a low blow. Dustin with right hands as Finlay exits and grabs a chair. Dustin nails Funk with Shattered Dreams, then gets the chair handed to him. Chair to the hip, then gets his face slammed repeatedly into the chair. Finlay pulls out another table while Norman returns and... pins Funk for the win in 9:04? That match was a mess in itself, and Brian Knobbs is supposedly dead, but how did that ending even make sense?
Norman makes a quick exit and Finlay and Dustin go after him.
To the back, Russo and Eric are with... 3 masked luchadors, or I assume that's who they're supposed to be, when Bischoff says comprende. He says it's not about beating Sting uno, dos, tres, it's about beating Sting UNOS, DOS, TRES, and he pounds his fist into the palm of his hand with each count. He tells them to hurt the man, then turns to Russo to ask how to say it in Spanish, and Russo gets in their faces to tell them to beat Sting to a "friggin bloody pulp." Great Spanish there Vinny Roo. Then we see Sting on his way to the back before we go to break.
Back from break for our next match already mid-entrances.
WCW US Championship Tournament Qualifier: The Villanos vs Sting
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: I had to look up their names because they didn't make it very clear. Commentary send their condolences to Scott Hudson, who unexpectedly lost his father on Monday. Sting's music is already playing as we come back, and the Villanos immediately attack to get things started.
Sting gets beaten down a bit to start then mounts a comback, nailing a double clothesline. Double Scorpion Deathdrop and a double pin and... oh I guess this is an elimination match.
The remaining Villano pushes Sting from behind and takes out the referee in the process. Sting reverses a whip off the ropes into an inverted atomic drops, then a series of clotheslines coming off the ropes. Villano sent off the ropes and Sting tries to leapfrog but comes up short. Villano with a low blow before going outside the ring. He goes under the apron, and... Oh it's Jarrett, because he pulls out a guitar. He smashes it over Sting's head and Jarrett removes the mask for the big reveal. DDP sneaks up from behind though and nails the Diamond Cutter. DDP pulls Sting on top to get the win and qualify in 2:32.
The ref looks at Jarrett confused before he checks on Sting and we go to break.
Back from break we go to replays of what just happened. Then to the back, Gene is with Jarrett, who points out everyone thought Jarrett had the night off. Jarrett tells him not to be a wise ass or he'll knock his liver spots off. He says DDP isn't done working tonight, so since he wants to jump Jeff from behind, he's not done tonight either. He brings up slap ass Arquette, saying he's gonna serve up a double dose of payback tonight, referencing when Arquette smashed a guitar over Jarrett's head during the movie premiere, and to top it off, he's going to be crowned the new WHC, and tells slap nuts Gene to choke on that.
Arquette screams into the camera from ringside before we get to our next match.
Buff Bagwell vs Ric Flair
Bagwell does some posing, then Ric with some strutting. They lock up and Flair pushed into the corner. Then some chops into the corner. Buff reverses a whip into the opposite corner and follows, nailing a back body drop as Ric hits the corner. Couple of clothesline by Bagwell then some mounted rights, more posing. Flair retreats to the corner and Bagwell with some more rights, then a rake of the eyes. Flair face first into the adjacent corner, then a chop before being taken down with a right. Knees into the hurt ribs before he chokes Ric with his boot, then mocks the strut.
Flair with a low blow, then an elbow drop coming off the ropes. Rights and lefts in the corner by Flair, stomps to the midsection before they take it to the outside. Bagwell face first into the barricade, but then a "fan" in a Sting disguise nails Ric with a bat and hops the barricade. Turns out it's Russo as he takes off the disguise, laying in with another bat shot. Referee calls for the bell to give Flair the DQ win in 3:13.
Back in the ring, Russo with bat shots and down comes Shane Douglas. Luger rushes the ring and lays in with rights until Bagwell cracks him in the back with the bat. Russo chokes Ric with the bat then some crotch chops. Shane with an elbow as Bagwell chokes Lex. Shane with more mounted rights before they tant the crowd and make their exit before the break.
Back from break we get replays of what just happened, then back to the arena for our main event.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs Diamond Dallas Page (w/ Kimberly)
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: We get a replay of Bigelow's attack at the start of the show as he comes out, then out come Page. Kimberly's changed out of her earlier attire into a regular dress.
Lock up to start but Page gets overpowered into the corner, Bigelow with rights and stomps. Page throw him into the corner with some right and lefts and stomps of his own. Page goes for a kick but gets caught and spun around, nailing Bigelow with a clothesline. Page with a cover and a 2 count. Page up top with a flying clothesline, cover and another 2 count.
Page sent off the ropes into a Samoan drop, cover and a kick out. Bigelow with headbutts to the back now, then a rear chinlock. Page tries to fight out but Bigelow drops himself on the back. Bigelow up to p with a diving headbutt to the back, cover but Page kicks out. Bigelow goes for a powerbomb but Page fights off, landing on Bigelow as he falls back, cover but Bigelow kicks out.
Page with a swinging neckbreaker as they get back up, another cover and a near fall. Page tries for a Diamond Cutter but Bigelow shoves him into the referee and nails a side suplex. Bigelow goes up top again but misses a headbutt. Page tries for the Diamond Cutter again but Bigelow pushes him off the ropes, tries for Greeting from Ashbury Park but Page slips free and nails the Diamond Cutter. Page covers but the ref is still out. Bischoff runs out to count, but obviously stops at two.
Page grabs Bischoff and pushes him into the corner, just as Jarrett runs in and smashes a guitar over his head. Arquette out of nowhere off the top and into Bischoff, grabbing hold of him. Jarrett throws him over the ropes to the outside and goes after him. Jarrett lifts and drops him chest first onto the barricade. Arquette thrown back in and Jarrett nails the Stroke. Chris Kanyon now out here and lays into Jarrett with right hands, sent off the ropes and reverses a hip toss into a swinging neckbreaker, while Arquette rolls out. Eric has a chair as he comes behind Kanyon and nails him in the head as he turns around. Jarrett poses in the corner as Eric's music hits and the New Blood join them. They lay into Arquette while NB is sprayed on DDP. Wall nails Kanyon with a chokeslam and... Well the matc just doesn't end and the show fades out.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
I'm already starting to regret doing this. So much on this show to give me a headache. With a runtime of 1:27:07, there was approximately a total 34:39 of wrestling, approximately being I have no idea what to put down for that main event.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Yeah, the writing is on the wall for week one of this, and next I have Spring Stampede to cover, after my WWE side. Here's the card for the PPV that we know:
4 Team Tournament to Crown New Tag Team Champions: Team Package (Flair & Luger) vs The Mamalukes (Big Vito & Johnny the Bull) vs Shane Douglas & Buff Bagwell vs Harlem Heat 2000
7(?) Man Tournament to Crown a New US Champion: Scott Steiner vs The Wall vs Ernest "the Cat" Miller vs Booker vs Billy Kidman vs Sting vs Vampiro vs (?)
Hardcore Championship: Terry Funk vs Norman Smiley
Six-Way for the Cruiserweight Championship: Chris Candido vs The Artist FKA Prince Iaukea vs Juventud Guerrera vs Shannon Moore vs Lash Leroux vs Crowbar
WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Jeff Jarrett vs Diamond Dallas Paige
That's 13 matches to fit into what I assume is a 3 hour time span. This thing is gonna be a fucking mess.
For those unfamiliar with this, I'll do my best to recap, seeing as my knowledge of WCW's history is limited as is. Bischoff, former president of WCW, had been removed back in September of '99, as a fall guy for the issues WCW was having. Meanwhile, Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara were brought in, only to be fired 3 months later. Then after Kevin Sullivan and his booking committee managed to do a worse job, they brought back Russo and Bischoff to save the sinking ship that was WCW. Their solution? Well I'll get to that shortly.
Meanwhile at this point in the WWF, Wrestlemania had just taken place a week prior, which I already covered here. The night after on Raw, Eddie Guerrero defeated newly crowned European Champion Jericho for the title, Crash defeated his cousin for the Hardcore Title to fix that botch from the night before, and Rock beat Shane in the main event, along with a few other matches and events, but I'm sure I'll get to those as the show goes along.
WCW Nitro
We get our opening intro, and we're live from the Pepsi Centre in Denver, Colorado. Schiavone tells us that it's a landmark event in sports entertainment, that Nitro turns a page on a new chapter, a ne day, a new era. We see the ring and ringside area filled with WCW's various talents, and we see more come down, because Russo has called a meeting.
Jarrett grabs a mic and says when he came to WCW 6 months ago, he told everyone that he was the Chosen One, hand picked to be the next world champion, that his future was in the hands of the man who had the biggest hand in turning the WWF around, which he knows because he was there. He says that somewhere along the way their plan got derailed by a pack of good ol' boys, who weren't in his league and knew it too. He calls out to the pack of slap nuts sitting around at home watching this on TV, saying what goes around comes around, before introducing Vince Russo, who he says was once Vince McMahon's best kept secret, and once again change the game.
Russo makes his way out, and commentary point out how he once said he'd never appear on camera, and yet here we are. He takes the mic from Jarrett, and says after giving 6 years to the WWF, he came to WCW with one thing in mind, to beat Vince McMahon at his own game, and within a matter of weeks, the new blood in WCW were getting back in and changing the game, and that's when the good ol' boy network kicked in. He says they were afraid of change, afraid of their jobs, the political BS in the back to bring Russo down. He calls them scum and knows they're watching at home right now. Then he's told one day there's going to be a change in direction, one that he knew sucked. He says he wasn't the only one who knew, and points to the Radicalz and Shane Douglas as proof. He says Steiner knew, and they suspended him. He says that's all over now, done, and Russo is back in charge again. He turns to the guys in the ring, and says the ol' boys management, the overinflated egos of guys scared to lose their spot are over, a dawning of a new day, and says it's their opportunity.
Bischoff pipes in from the back asking if Russo's done yet and makes his way out. He gets a mic and shakes Russo's hand and they hug, and says he and Russo have more in common than anyone knows, mainly that they were both screwed by the good ol' boys network, and that those days are over. He says he doesn't mind though, because it's given him a hell of an opportunity, to think about all the great things he did in WCW, as well as the mistakes he made, like Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sting, DDP, and Sid "wish he was" Vicious, and the biggest mistake being Hogan. He says he really is sorry and we cut to the back to see Sid, Sting, Luger and DDP along with Elizabeth and Kimberly, standing in front of a monitor. He says everyone told him Hogan would would screw and use Bischoff, and not to look into that red and yellow light, because he would be blinded. Tonight, he's got 20/20 vision, and seeing more clearly than he ever has, and apologizes to everyone in the ring, the new blood, and if there's anything he can do for Russo that can help them, he's there him and them, because it is a whole new WCW.
He asks where DDP, Sting and company. Russo says they're in the back with their tails between their legs, and out they come onto the stage. Bischoff says for once they showed up ready for work, then makes a crack at Sid about a softball game, one at Lex about a golf game or lunch with Michael Jordan. Then a crack at DDP about his 7 fans at the trailer park wanting an autograph on his new book. Then at Sting about a Hollywood premiere. DDP's got a mic now, saying he's got no idea what Eric is smoking and he'd better step off. Bischooff says screw Page, and if it wasn't for him, he'd be schlepping drinks at a redneck bar in the middle of Florida, telling people he's friends with Bon Jovi, and asks where he's been the last 6 months while he's been at home unemployed. Then he goes to Sting, saying he rebuilt his career, the same guy who made Luger a multimillionaire when Vince wanted nothing to do with him. He says he made them and can sure as hell break them, but this time it'll be more fun and fair, on a level playing field.
Russo pipes in before they get to that, who has something to say to Flair, who he knows is hiding in the back. He calls Flair a piece of shit on the bottom of his shoe. He says he's gonna scrape off that shit and Flush him down the toilet personally. He turns to Jarrett and asks him to trust him, and brings up the even playing field. He asks Jarrett to hand over his US Title, that all titles are being stripped tonight, and that it's a brand new playing field. Jarrett hands it over rather reluctantly, then takes the tag titles from the Harris Brothers. We get a loud Goldberg chant, and Bischoff talks to Sid, the World Champion. Sid gets a mic and tell Bischoff to come take the belt himself. Bischoff leaves the ring and up the ramp and asks Sid if he wants to lay him out, but he'll be out of a job if he does. He says he's been beat up before and it won't be the last time. He asks if Si can't find his scissors, which is a cheap shot at his incident with Arn Anderson, then repeats it when the crowd don't get it. He tells Sid not to let him push his buttons, and wouldn't wanna see Sid ruin his career. He says it's a long, lonely life in West Memphis. Sid finally and reluctantly hands it over, and Bischoff declares that on the 16th at Spring Stampede, that's when the real WHC will wear the belt. That's the coming Sunday, as an FYI. More Goldberg chants as Bischoff returns to the ring to delighted talent. Well that was... something. Almost 20 minutes of confusion, yapping and unnecessary cheap shots, and I thought modern day WWE was bad for opening talk segments.
We go to the announce desk, where we see Scott Hudson, Tony Schiavone and Mark Madden. He says the new blood are now in charge and the established talent have to fight for their spot again, while Scott says they never expected something like this, while Mark goes on about how Bischoff and Russo verbally abused Hogan and Flair. We see Hogan just arriving to the arena before commercial.
We go to the back where Sting walks in to Hogan's locker room as he's taping his wrists. Sting tells Hogan's Bischoff's on him, so bad that he may as well kick Hogan between the legs. Hogan says he's on it and leaves, and Sting insists he's not ribbing him.
Back to the arena, we learn that 4 men will compete in a mini tournament to see who will face Jarrett for the world title on Sunday: DDP, Sting, Luger and Sid Vicious. Plenty of new blood there huh? DDP and Kimberly come out, and they cut off his music halfway through, and no pyro either.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Match: Diamond Dallas Page (w/ Kimberly) vs Lex Luger (w/ Elizabeth)
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: DDP and Kimberly come out, and they cut off his music halfway through, and no pyro either. Luger is the same. He does get his spotlight though for some reason, although it's cut off early for him to pose and flex, much to Luger's anger. DPP just wants to go immediately.
Lock up to begin into a hammerlock by Page, then reversed by Luger into one of his own, DDP elbows out and off the ropes into a shoulder block. Off the ropes again, Luger goes low and tries for a hip toss, but DDP reverses into a swinging neckbreaker. Luger retreats to the ropes and nails a blatant low blow with a mule kick. Ax handle and boots to the back by Luger now, working the back now with hip drops across it. Forearm and boots in the corner, then chokes Page with his boot before flexing. Page back up and throws Luger into the corner with rights and lefts, whips Luger into the opposite and follows right into a boot and down with a clothesline.
Luger with three back breakers, before he's interrupted by music, and out comes Buff Bagwell. He flexes and walks down to the ring with pyro, playing to the crowd, distracting Luger and the ref. DDP nails a low blow now then stomps away. Buff flirts with Kimberly and it distracts Page, allowing Luger to club him from behind. Page sent off the ropes into a powerslam, then Buff over to Elizabeth. Luger distracted again as Buff makes his advances, allowing Page to hit the Diamond Cutter and advance in the tournament in 4:23. I mean it was alright for as short as it was.
Kimberly and Page celebrate while we cut to Hogan in the back looking for Eric before we go to commercial.
Back from the break, Henning has caught up with Russo, apparently having just gotten there and asks what's up, and mentions... stuff, and I guess is upset about not getting a chance at the world title, saying that he was Russo's right hand man, something about powers that be and he was the man that delivered. Russo apologizes and gives Henning a chance, saying if he can beat Jarrett tonight, he'll take his spot at Spring Stampede. They shake hands and Russo enters what I assume is his office.
Back to Hogan looking for Bischoff, before we go back to the arena.
Out comes Tank Abbott and gets a mic. He says he's gonna keep it short and sweet. He says he's not some candy ass "wrassler," he's a shoot fighter, and he doesn't know the difference between a wristwatch and a wristlock, but he knows how to kick your ass. He says he came there for one reason, because some yahoo thinking he's a shoot fighter wiggling his tongue and acting tough. He says he came for Goldberg, and says it's no coincidence he's hurt and ran away, this being after Goldberg sliced his arm open smashing a car window on Nitro some months back. He says until Goldberg grows balls big enough to fight him, he's gonna beat the holy hell out of innocent victims, even if it's Mother Teresa, it's gonna start tonight. He looks around before he leaves the ring, pacing around ringside and eyes the announce team. Mark tries to use Tony or Scott but Tank goes right after him, smacking his headset off and pushing him over the table. He tears Mark's shirt off and rolls him in the ring and starts taking blows at Mark's head and body before security rush in and Tank makes his escape up the ramp.
To the back, Jarrett is upset with Russo, saying he's the Chosen One and already earned his spot. Russo asks who labeled him the Chosen One, and asks how he doesn't trust him after everything they've been through, asking if he looks like JJ Dillon to him before walking off.
Next we see Kidman and Torrie entering the building, and Kidman has to take care of... something. Then to Hogan who runs into Terry Taylor who finally tells him where Bischoff is and... we go to break.
Back from break, Hogan finally arrives at Eric's office and out he comes. Bischoff basically tries to deny what Sting was saying earlier, and Eric invites him into his office.
Back to the arena now and out comes Kidman with mic in hand. He says he feels like he's been handed a get out of jail free card, because him and the rest of the New Blood have been held down by the egomaniacs trying to hold onto their fading careers. He says he's been used, abused and told to keep quiet, but tonight is his night. He calls out Hogan, being the biggest egomaniac of them all. He says Hogan's been badmouthing him for weeks, talking about his size and admits to not having the body Hogan has, but he has heart and talent, two things Hogan will never have and can never take away from him. He then knocks Hogan's tan, saying the only way to get it is being on the spotlight for so long. He says Hogan may be right when he says Kidman can't draw flies, seeing as Hogan would know about drawing flies, calling him a piece of shit. He officially calls out Hogan and we see him leaving Hogan's office, as Kidman says he wants to see if Hogan's balls are as big as his bald spot.
Kidman talks more trash before Hogan's "American Made" music hits and out he comes. Damn, Hogan's gotten the biggest reaction so far tonight, this crowd loves him. Hogan gets a mic and says this isn't the first night he's listened to Kidman's crap, asking who the hell he thinks he is. He's been watching Kidman the last couple months, hearing him crying, about when he's gonna get a break or a push, and says Kidman's the kind of punk that gives young guys in the business a bad name. Kidman takes the mic and says Hulk had a good run but it's over now, before handing it back. Hogan says if Kidman was in his league, he might understand what the business is about, then says Kidman is pussy whipped before knocking Hogan back with a right hand. Kidman lays into him with more rights and stomps away, sending Hogan out of the ring. Kidman misses an ax handle into the guardrail and Hogan lays in a few rights of his own before sending Kidman shoulder first into the ring post, then into the guardrail.
Back into the ring, Hogan takes a mic and tells Kidman to get up, picking him up in the corner for more rights before Eric rushes down with chair in hand. Eric cracks Hogan in the head once he turns around, as if this is supposed be a swerve, and Kidman pins Hogan, Bischoff counts the three because.... reasons? Hogan's been cut, Bischoff looks on with a grin as he and Kidman make their exit.
Outside a while limo has pulled up and out comes Flair, then we go to break.
Back from break we go to replays of what just happened, then to the back we see Hogan throwing stuff around, still bleeding backstage. Then we see Flair looking on from a monitor, watching the opening segment earlier tonight, with Terry Taylor sitting nearby, then makes his way out to the arena as his music hits.
Flair basically says he's been given the greenlight to say how he feels about Russo... at least I think I do, Ric kinda rambles a bit to start. He says Russo came from another... something bleeped out to save WCW, yet he grew up watching Flair. Russo calls him old, he needs to replace old with great. He gets some cheap pops for mentioning local sports stars, basically to say that he can still go I guess? Honestly it's hard to follow, this is one of Ric's intense, rambling promos. He gives props to Eric for having the balls to walk up to Sid, and calls Russo out and tells him to scrap Flair from the bottom of his show is the end result.
Steiner comes out instead, calls Flair an old bastard and says he's been boring him to death. He says last time he did an interview with Flair, he obviously listened to Steiner because he bleached his teeth, even though they're still crooked. Then he says him and his bastard friends tried to get him fired, but it doesn't surprise him, because if you look at the WWF now and who's been champ with one exception, they've all come from WCW. It's only because him and his friends ran them out so he could be a x14 World Champion, but that doesn't mean anything to Steiner, because when he sees a fat ass in the front row, with no teeth he could have been a x14 World Champion if he had his friends pulling the strings. He looks at Flair and sees a confused face, which is exactly what he has on his face, so he puts it another way: since there's no way he could ever bring Flair to his level, physically or mentally, he'll lower himself to Ric's level, which is a low-class, white trash from Charlotte. Steiner challenges Ric to guess who he is, and proceeds to put fake teeth under his lower lip, to do an impression of Flair, calling him a backstabbing son of a bitch. He says he has more loose skin than a sharpei puppy.
Suddenly from behind, Shane Douglas attacks Flair, and security rush him. Commentary point out he had left the company and don't know why he's there.
Suddenly to the back, Nash walks into the building on crutches and.... For some reason a grey filter goes over the footage, but Bret Hard is seen in the crowd before we go to commercial. Fucking hell, that segment was bonkers.
Back from the break, no grey filter and we see Bret clearly sitting in the crowd now, who's been gone for 5 months. Then we go to a replay of what just happened, and we see that Shane actually had brass knuckles on, which would explain Flair being knocked out cold.
To the back, now Flair is pissed off, gone in search of Shane. Then we go to Mean Gene who's standing by with Shane, who gets right to the point and asks what he's doing here. He says he's doing whatever the hell he wants, having sat back for seven years, having had to watch that son of a bitch Flair make a joke of the sport. Flair always says "To be the man, you gotta beat the man," and Shane points out that he just left Flair laying out flat. He says Ric was just franchised, and it's the beginning of a long road, he's hated Ric's guts since day one, and there's nothing stopping him. Since Russo said it's an open forum, but Gene cuts him off saying he's out of line. He tells Gene to kiss his ass and watch him be a franchise before he walks off. Alright the first straight to the point thing on this god damn show, but how he's able to do that interview without a job is beyond me.
Back to the arena, for the first time in 25 minutes, we actually have another match on this show.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Tournament: Sting vs Sid Vicious
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: I guess they stopped the gimmick of cutting off the music for the egomaniacs, because Sting and Sid get their full entrances.
Lock up to start but Sid gets Sting in the corner, then rights to the midsection. Sting whipped into the opposite and Sid follows but hits the corner shoulder first. Sting with a kick to the midsection, sending Sid upward and laid across the top rope, more kicks to the midsection, then Stinger Splash before clotheslining Sid to the outside.
Sting follows and sends Sid into one of the chairs, and there's a blatant low blow in front of the referee, then Sid lifts and drops Sting chest first onto the guardrail. Sid working as a heel here despite having been a face prior to this. Sid with a kick to the midsection and a right to the face before going back to the ring.
Sid with another stomp to the chest, Sting sent off the ropes but catches Sid with a bulldog, then tries a splash but Sid gets the knees up. Sid yells "wrong place, wrong time" in Sting's face before more stomps to the chest, then chokes Sting with his boot.
Sid gets a cobra clutch applied, Sting tries to fight out but Sid slams him down on his back. Sid hooks the leg but Sting gets the shoulder up. Rear chinlock now by Sid, Sting rallies himself back up and fights out, shots to the midsection, comes off the ropes but take each other out with a double clothesline.
Suddenly, The Wall comes out with a table over his head, Sting makes a cover but Sid powers out and throws Sting onto the referee. Sting with a Stinger Splash in the corner while Wall sets up a table at ringside, then tries another splash but Sid moves. Sid nails a powerbomb, but Wall slides in and nails him with a chair to the back, taking Sid out of the ring. Wall puts Sid through the table with a chokeslam and out come security way too late and back wall off. The referee counts Sid out and Sting wins in 6:18.
Sting gets his arm raised as he looks down at Sid and we go to commentary, and they recap what's happened tonight as well as what's to come. They have no idea what's next, but as they say that, Flair appears out of nowhere in the ring. Ric says Shane made a lifetime out of trying to be him, says he walked in the backdoor tonight and jumped him when he wasn't looking, and made a point, but now he's pissed off. He's tired of hearing and reading about it, and is going to make Shane Douglas tonight. Flair calls him out, and tells Russo that diamonds are forever, and so is the Nature Boy, then he leaves.
To the back, Hogan is still bleeding and on a rampage, throwing everything around before we go to break.
Back from break, more bloody pissed off Hogan, throwing Shane Helms and... someone into a steel gate, then back to the arena. We see some footage from the premiere of Ready to Rumble from this last weekend. Oh god, that's gonna happen soon. Then to the arena for our next match.
Jeff Jarrett vs Curt Henning
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: Apparently Arquette will be on Thunder this week, so... (sigh) I'm not looking forward to this at all. Jarrett wastes no time meeting Curt in the aisle way to get this started.
Curt with rights and sends Jeff into the guardrail. Boot to the head, then whips Jarrett into the guardrail. Apparently Hogan's been notified Bischoff's in a skybox so, there's that. More rights by Curt and a chop, over to ringside. More shots into the guardrail an a chop sending Jeff onto the announce table then more clubbing shots and chops. Another boot to the head before things finally go to the ring.
Henning goes to pull Jeff in only to be hung up over the top rope, Jarrett sends him off the ropes into a back elbow. Curt whipped into the corner, then starts a 10 punch. Curt with rights and chops, but whipped off the ropes into a sleeper hold by Jarrett, only for Curt to turn into a back suplex. Then Shawn Stasiak comes out Mr. Perfect-esque music as the action continues, towel in hand. He's just coming off being Meat in WWF.
Henning with a running knee. He goes for a Perfectplex but Shawn distracts. Jeff escapes and attacks from behind, but Curt takes him out and the ref with an elbow. Shawn in now and does.... something? He's supposed to catch Henning on his shoulders for some kind of spinning move but he botches the hell out of it. Jarrett whips Curt into the corner, and it looks like Henning got hurt off that botch. Jarrett hits the Stroke for the win in 4:26.
Jarrett poses in the corner before we go to the back.
A still bloody Hogan storms into a skybox looking for Bischoff with no luck, then storms out. Then we see Flair walking down the hallway before we go to break.
Back from the break, Nash is on his phone and tells whoever he's talking to that Bischoff and Russo are out of control, and asks if they'll be there, and to be there if they can.
Cut to Gene who's standing by with Sting, who asks about his upcoming match with DDP. Sting says with all the trash talk going on tonight, he gets the idea that Russo and Bischoff think they have it all figure out. He tells Eric that since '88 he's worked his butt off, he says Eric talks about loyalty, yet he is loyalty. He owes Bischoff, and starting tonight and ending Sunday, he's coming after Eric's so called golden boy, and the company boy gone out the door because it's showtime, then he leaves.
Ric Flair vs Shane Douglas
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: Flair is wrestling in a shirt and slacks for... reasons? And yet again he gets his full entrance because they gave up on that. Ric sets his watch down in the corner and the camera makes a point of zooming in on it, that can't possibly have an impact here. Shane is wrestling in some fancy shirt and slacks, but at least with him it makes sense. Ric wastes no time going after Shane and the match starts.
Ric with shots to the midsection in the corner, but Shane fights back with shots to the head before tossing him out. Ric face first off the guardrail, Shane with more rights, but Ric reverses a whip into the guardrail into a chop. Ric rips a shirt off Shane to real another shirt and another chop, then back to the ring.
In the corner, Ric with rights, then a blatant low blow before Ric pull his shirt off. Chops to the bare chest in the corner, but Shane fights out with a thumb to the eye, then a low blow of his own, before choking with his shoe. Ric face first in the corner, a right by Shane, then Ric rakes the eyes before they go out. Shane into the guardrail now, Ric with rights and another eye rake. Back in the ring again, chop by Flair, Shane sent off the ropes into another right hand. More rapid fire rights.
Russo walks down with a bat in hand and starts whaling at Flair, causing the DQ in 3:06. Makes sense, sure why not.
Russo tosses the bat to Shane who wails away at Ric now, then chokes him with the bat. More shots to the back and crotch chops by Russo. Shane talks some trash then poses in the corner, while Russo steals Ric's watch, and they make their exit. More crotch chops by Russo before he and Shane embrace and head to the bac. The ref calls for doctors to help Ric, then we cut to see Nash, who's on his way to the ring before the break.
Back from break, replays from what just happened, then Nash makes his way out with his Wolfpack theme on crutches. He gets a mic and shouts out Denver. He calls Eric and Russo jackoffs, saying they're running around deciding who's careers they're gonna make and break, plus to add insult to injury, they decided to play wrestler and attack the boys. He does say that after travelling up and down the road with Scott Hall, he admits he's lost some brain cells, but asks what happened to the sweet lil' wrasslin show they were doing every Monday. He asks where the hell dog is when you need him. He says he's gonna give Eric and Russo another opportunity, revealing he was talking to Scott earlier, saying he's straight and sober and in a real bad mood. He says neither Russo nor Eric would be there if not for he and Scott, saying to Russo that when he was in the WWF, he and Hall saved him from being decapitated by Michaels numerous times. Then to Eric, if not for the Outsiders, there'd have been no NWO, and he'd still be bringing Verne Gagne coffee up in Minnesota. He says if they want him and Hall out, he says it's simple, but they better bring their bat and chair and most importantly their balls.
Oh I didn't even realize this was THAT episode too, because here comes current ECW Champion Mike Awesome attacking Nash from behind. He knocks Nash down with a clothesline, then proceeds to break one of Nash's crutches over his body. He grabs the mic, flips the bird and says when he heard Russo and Eric were back in the saddle, he knew this was just too sweet of an opportunity to pass up, then drops the mic and leaves.
To what appears to be a limo, a still bloodied Hogan is on the phone with someone, saying to get his attorney on something, not caring about the cost. He says that piece of shit Kidman is history, and he's gonna eat Eric's ass alive. He keeps yelling to get it done, and do it before he gets home, then closes the door on the limo.
All of a sudden, a white hummer slams into the side of the limo, then again. Apparently this is some reference to an unresolved storyline from last summer. Out comes Bischoff and Kidman, yelling at Hogan to buy his way out of that, then we go to break.
Back from break, we get a replay of what just happened. We see Hogan loaded onto a stretcher, before Kidman and Bischoff run up. Kidman sprays NB on Hogan's chest, Bischoff mocks him before we go back to the arena.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Finals: Diamond Dallas Page (w/ Kimberly) vs Sting
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: Jarrett decides to come out, seeing as he's facing the winner of this match on Sunday. Sting and DDP still get full entrances. Jarrett joins commentary for this match.
DDP tries for a Diamond Cutter after a lock up but gets pushed all the way across and out of the ring. DDP casually re-enters the ring before they lock up again. Quick back and forth action before Sting gets the advantage with a bulldog. Pair of Stinger Splashes in the corner, then Sting locks tries for the Scorpion Deathlock but DDP gets to the ropes.
DDP slips out for some recovery before climbing back in, a bit of trash talk, before they trade right hands. Sting gets the upper hand, but DDT reverses a whip into the corner chest first. DDP with his arms around the waist but Sting lays in elbows to the side of the head, only for Page to nail a belly to belly slam, covers but Sting gets the shoulder up. Sting takes Page out with a clothesline and sends Page to the outside. Jarrett goes after Kimberly but Page takes him out. Meanwhile, Vampiro suddenly enters the ring and goes after Sting and hits the Nail in the Coffin before leaving. DDP gets back in the ring and hits the Diamond Cutter to win in 3:42. Every match on this show has had interference. Plus there's still 7 minutes in the runtime.
Kimberly joins Page to celebrate but Jarrett comes behind to nail Page, but he ducks and Jarrett nails Kimberly instead. Jeff makes a fast exit before we go to break.
Back from break, we get a replay from what just happened, over and over again. We see Page carrying her to the back during the break. Jeff is in the back with Eric and Russo, mocking Hogan's ear gesture and tells Jarrett to go back out because the fans are calling for him. Jarrett does his full entrance, pyro and everything before he takes the mic. He says in 6 days the Chosen One will realize his destiny and gets to show who has all the stroke around there, 6 days until he's crowned the new WCW WHC. He tells Page that if he wants to bring Kimberly with him, there's gonna be a real man in the ring to show her more wood.
Page's music hits and lays into Jarrett with rights and lefts, but Steiner comes in from behind, rights for him too, then back to Jarrett, but Steiner cuts him off. Luger now to even the odds, then Buff, then Vampiro and Wall. New Blood have the numbers game here. Sting runs down now and low blows Vampiro and lays into the rest of them, doing his best to hold his own, but then Booker and Ernest Miller join in. Jarrett hits DDP with the Stroke while the crowd chant for Goldberg. Russo and Eric come out on stage as the assault continues and shake hands, proud of their work. Bret Hart appears from behind and... Oh it just ends...
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Fucking hell what a mess that was. I swear they name dropped WWF about a dozen times, not to mention the talking segments were a mess, the random debuts, the Mike Awesome controversy,and the PPV coming up has one match announced as of this show. And as a final cherry on top, with a run time of 1:42:48, there was only 21:55 of total wrestling on this show, holy hell. That being said, let's get to Thunder.
WCW Thunder
We get a recap of Monday's event via video package to start things out. Then we see Russo and Eric arriving in a Porsche earlier in the day, then our intro for the show, live from the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado, four days from Spring Stampede. We see David Arquette at ringside, and on commentary we have Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and the late Bobby Heenan. Eric and Russo come out, along with some of the New Blood. Tenay tells us we'll get more details on the other title matches for Sunday later. Eric says they love the people, and talks about what a night Nitro was. The story, intrigue, suspense, classic screwjobs and car wrecs. He asks Hulk can hear him, but he's in a hospital bed. He hands the mic to Kidman, saying he had a hell of a night.
Kidman thanks Eric, then says he pinned, busted open and finally ended the career of Hulk Hogan with the hummer in one night. He tells the marks to get out their scorecards, saying it's Flea Market Champion 3, Hulk Hogan 0. He says they shouldn't be booing him, they should be thanking him, since they don't have to sit through Hogan's boring ass matches anymore. He tells them to shut up, then proudly says the New Blood has Hogan's old blood all over their hands, and it feels great.
Russo says it almost sounds like New York with the roar of the crowd, but says it's not New York because this town sucks, asking what kind of person lives in Colorado Springs, like John Denver? Shane whispers in his ear that Denver is dead, and Russo doesn't care. He says last night, Flair and the fans learned two things about Russo: 1) he is the Bat Man, and 2) New Yorkers have respect for no one. He tells Flair that when all is said and done, with the help of The Franchise, he will be Russo's New York bitch. Shane gets the mic, and says for 7 years he's called Flair's ass out, and he's finally bitten the bait. He tells Flair he's about to get franchised, because Shane plans on retiring his ragged, millionaire ass.
Eric gets the mic to talk about the PPV Sunday, where we'll see new world champions all around. Then he gets to tonight, saying they have to think about the World Title situation, and gave Jarrett the night off as the only fair thing to do, because it has to be a level playing field, as well as DDP. But it's a problem now, because the people came to see the very best entertainment in the world, and if you ask Kimberly, she is the very best talent in the world. So he books Kimberly in a match with Madusa. Um... alright. He runs an idea by Russo, then tells DDP to think positive no matter what happens, then Page's music hits and out he comes.
He calls Eric a monkey, and if Eric's got a problem with him, he has no problem with that, because it'll be between the two of them. He tells silverback Bischoff to leave Kimberly out of it. He has an idea, give the fans what they really wanna see: Eric against DDP in the ring, kicking his ass from one side to another. Eric says he hasn't earned that spot yet, and it'll be more fun to see what kind of stripper outfit Kimberly will wear tonight. Page suggests he goes down to kick Eric's teeth down his throat, but says he's not the only one who wants a piece of his ass.
All of a sudden, Bigelow attacks from behind and throws Page into the guardrail then in the ring. Sting and the other Millionaire's Club run down to even it out and a brawl breaks out. Sid hits Wall with a chair while Russo and Eric stay clear of the chaos. Security try and break things up but it's no use. Russo and Eric manage to escape to the ramp as chaos ensues, then go to break.
Back from break to commentary, and I guess the chaos has been broken up. Tony tells us, there will be a Suicide 6-Man Elimination match for the Cruiserweight Title on Sunday, where 2 will start and another on each corner. So it's pretty much a 6 Pack Elimination Challenge. Those three will be in a 6 man tag later tonight. Then for the tag titles, a mini-tournament happening on Sunday: the Mamalukes, Harlem Heat, Buff Bagwell & Shane Douglas, and Team Package, with one on one warm ups taking place tonight: Flair vs Buff, and Luger vs Douglas. There's also a tournament for the US Title on Sunday, so far 6 are in, and Sting and Sid have to earn their spots to make 8 in handicap matches tonight. They'll tell us how we'll find out the contenders for the Hardcore Title later, but right now we have a match to get to. Holy hell, how in God's name are they gonna fit all this on one PPV?
Six-Man Tag Match: "Hard Knox" Chris Candido, Juventud Guerrera & The Artist FKA Prince Iaukea (w/ Paisley) vs Crowbar, Lash Leroux & Shannon Moore (w/ Daffney, Shane Helms & David Flair)
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: They did the latter team's entrances during the run down from commentary. The Artist is the former Cruiserweight Champion as of Monday's Nitro. Lash and Crowbar go right after the Artist to get things started.
The crowd seems more interested in something else, hell we even have a beach ball thrown into the ring. It's too bad, this is a goo match, way too fast paced to cover move by move here. We get fighting between David Flair and Crowbar, despite being partners, tension with Daffney and Paisley, some nice spots. This should be a fantastic match at the PPV, if given proper time, but it probably won't. Daffney hits a Frankensteiner on Shane Helms after Shannon goes after his own partner Crowbar, this thing is a chaotic mess. Juvie hits the Juvie Driver and goes for the pin but Chris breaks it up, because... Why? They're partners. Crowbar with a jawbreaker but Prince and Chris hit a double DDT, Chris goes to pin but Prince pulls him off. Chris up top with a diving headbutt, makes a pin but Artist stops the ref, then hits the jumping DDT on Chris and leaves. Crowbar hits a front suplex for the win in 6:31. It was going really good, then the booking quickly became nonsensical. Sounds like WCW in a nutshell.
No time to let Crowbar celebrate as we cut to DDP backstage with Gene, who asks about his thoughts on what's happened tonight. He says he's gonna rip Jarrett's head off for smashing his guitar over Kimberly's head, and refuses to let the match with Medusa tonight happen. Gene says that apparently someone arranged for Bigelow to attack Page, and Page says Jersey Style, so I guess they're gonna have a match? Also based on the noise in the background, I think there's still more going on in the ring off camera.
We see Harlem Heat in what looks like a conference room, talking about some lady with one leg having to go, and in comes Eric and Russo. Eric says a bit annoyed with... Big T?... whichever one Ahmed Johnson is... being in his chair, so he gets up. Eric tells them that business tonight is all about Sid, saying it's not about beating Sid, it's about beating Sid. He tells them to put him down, because if they don't he'll do everything to keep them down, and tells them not to disappoint him and Russo. They leave the room and go to footage from Ready to Rumble's premiere,, where Sting describes it as Dumb and Dumber, Beavis and Butt Head, wrestling and Wayne's World combined in one, then go to commercial.
Back from break, Shawn Stasiak is in a room I guess getting oiled up or something, and Henning comes in from behind. They go at it before security rush in to break them up. Then we go to the arena.
WCW United States Championship Tournament Qualifier: Sid Vicious vs Harlem Heat 2000 (Stevie Ray, Cash & Big T) (w/ J Biggs)
Sid wastes no time with a pair of rights for Ray and T, then clotheslines to the outside. Cash enters the ring now off the ropes into a big boot. Sid grabs Biggs as he jumps the apron and yanks him into the ring, bringing him to the corner before HH attacks from behind. Sid sent off the ropes for whats supposed to be a double clothesline, but T botches it a bit. Sid sent off the ropes again and down after a double bicycle kick. Commentary mention it's no DQ, which is why all 3 are in the ring at once. Sid sent off the ropes into a slam, and cash off the ropes with a splash and a cover but Sid gets the arm up.
Sid pulled back up by Ray and into the corner, double teaming with T, and Booker makes his way out. Booker lures in Cash and pulls the top rope down, sending him to the floor. Side kick for Ray and a spinebuster for T, then a Book End for Ray. Sid nails a powerbomb, makes the cover and gets the win in 2:44.
Wall immediately hits the ring and nails Sid in the back with a chair, Biggs pulls Ray out and... Oh we just cut back to Bischoff and Russo in the back. They're surprised at Booker's actions seeing he was supposed to be a member of the New Blood. Bischoff says he's going to fix this and leaves the room.
Sid is still laid out while Harlem Heat heads to the back. Bischoff comes down to the ring with mic in hand. Bischoff makes sure Sid is out and makes an executive decision, saying that due to outside interference, and despite commentary clearly saying it was no DQ, Eric rules the match in favor of Harlem Heat by disqualification, so Sid doesn't qualify for the US Title tournament. Commentary pointing out the lack of logic and the no DQ stipulation previously stated as Eric leaves, saying he has business to take care of. Then to commercial.
Back from break, Jimmy Hart is backstage looking for Bischoff. Then to the locker room where Eric is chewing out Booker alongside some of the other New Blood talent and Russo. He tells Booker to wipe the smug look off his face or he'll hire someone to do it for him.
Back to the arena now for our next match.
"The Franchise" Shane Douglas vs The Total Package (w/ Elizabeth)
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: We see a replay of what happened between Shane and Flair on Nitro. Also I only just realized Luger's name change, and probably missed it in my Nitro viewing. Liz rips his shirt off but doesn't waste time with his pants, as he goes right after Shane in the corner with right hands to get started.
Rights and stomps in the corner before raking Shane's face across the rope, then removes his pants and uses them to choke Shane. Commentary announce DDP vs Bigelow for tonight. More stomps to the chest before whipping Shane into the corner and following with a clothesline, dropping Shane into a seated position. More raking across the top rope for Shane, then sent off the ropes and taken down with a series of clotheslines and a forearm. Lex hooks the leg for a 2 count.
Shane whipped into the corner and Lex follows, but Shane gets the boot up and comes out with a clothesline. Rapid fire rights follows by a belly to belly suplex. Shane up top but Lex biels him to the mat and out to the floor. Lex follows and whips Shane into the barricade, followed by a clothesline. Face first repeatedly off the apron before going back in the ring. Shane begs but Lex gets a boot in, whips him off the ropes but Shane gets a boot in coming back, off the ropes for a clothesline. He goes for another but Lex ducks and Shane takes out the referee, allowing Shane to nail a low blow.
Flair runs down as Shane puts the boots to a downed Lex, attacking from behind and takes Shane to the corner for chops and rights and lefts, rakes the eyes. Shane whipped into the corner and Flair with a low blow of his own. Lex gets Shane up and applies the Torture Rack for the win in 3:46.
No time for Lex's celebration as we go to the back to Jimmy Hart who catches Bischoff coming out of a room. Eric doesn't want to hear any of it and Jimmy's looking for answers for why Eric did what he did to Hulk, but all Eric does is mock him and keeps walking, then we go to break.
Back from the break, commentary tell us that Russo is irate of Ric's actions before the break. Apparently they've been given a directive to give to Luger in regards to Flair's match later with Bagwell, saying if Lex interferes there will be suspensions for 6 months for both he and Flair, barred from ringside. Then we have footage from a conveniently placed camera inside Hogan's limo from Nitro's hummer attack. They update us on Hogan, saying he has severe head trauma, cracked ribs, internal bleeding, and will be hospitalized for 2 weeks, so he won't be at Spring Stampede... supposedly.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Hart makes his way to the ring with mic in hand. He says he's been chasing Eric all over the building all day long, and insists he needs answers and calls Eric out. He says he's not gonna leave until he comes out. He says he was the one who made negotiations when Eric tried to get Hogan to WCW, and he was the one Eric called anytime he had problems with Hogan to smooth things over. He asks how everything could go straight to hell.
Kidman's music interrupts and out he comes with Eric. They talk briefly, then Kidman rushes down to the ring and lays out Hart. He lays in with rights and tears away his shirt. Kidman pulls out spray paint and sprays NB on his back in red, much to the delight of Eric.
To the back we see Kimberly getting ready for her match tonight, and DDP insists he's not gonna let her get in the ring with Medusa, no matter what Eric says. She insists that she needs to do this, saying she's going to step up to the plate and deliver. He reminds her that Jarrett smashed the guitar over her head on Monday, and doesn't want her getting in the ring hurt. He quips that she's constantly begging him not to do the same thing, saying he's the one person she needs to be supportive of her right now, not to doubt her and be positive, then she leaves.
Back to the arena for our next match.
Colorado Collision Match: Booker vs The Wall vs Ernest "The Cat" Miller vs Scott Steiner vs Billy Kidman (w/ Torrie Wilson) vs Vampiro
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: So here's how this one works. Two start in the ring, with another wrestler coming out every minute. Elimination occurs by pinfall, submission or disqualification, with the last man standing winning the match. These of course being a 6 men fighting for the US Title on Sunday. Wall comes out with a table in hand, setting it up at ringside. Booker lays in with rights as Wall slides in to get things started.
Wall sent to the corner before he turns things around, boots to Booker and choking him with his boot. Wall reverses Booker into the corner but eats a boot as he follows, Booker with a Harlem Sidekick. Wall sent off the ropes, reverses but Booker turns it into a Book End. Booker nails the Ax Kick but Wall gets back up and clotheslined to the outside as the next entrant comes out.
Miller nails a standing side kick as Booker turns around, sending him over the ropes to the outside. Wall chokeslams Booker through the table, meanwhile the referee has reached a count of 10 already, eliminating Wall and Booker from the match. Huh? Cat grabs a mic and calls the fans rednecks, saying he's gonna show them why he's here and why he's the #1 man in WCW. He points at someone and says when he's through beating the whole locker room, he's gonna beat his fat ass too. He says he's gonna give the people what they deserve, meanwhile the countdown has started, saying they deserve to see him dance.
Cat's music hits and he starts to dance, putting on some red shoes at the same time. Steiner makes his way out, clearly not in a dancing mood. Steiner nails a clothesline as he turns around, removing his red shoes and throws them at him. Cat in the corner and Steiner chops across the chest, sending him off the ropes but Cat ducks a clothesline and nails a standing side kick. More dancing then an elbow as the clock ticks down for the next entrant.
Kidman comes out as Cat gets in some more shots, but I guess Steiner catches him and nails a back breaker. Kidman takes his time walking down, Steiner nails a belly to belly overhead before going to the corner to pose, Kidman slides in and eliminates Cat.
Steiner levels him with a clothesline then up with a press slam to the mat. Spinning belly to belly slam and eliminated Kidman as the final entrant comes out.
Steiner tosses Kidman out and Cat goes right after him. Sting sneakily follows close behind Vampiro as he comes out, sliding in behind him and nails the Scorpion Death Drop, much to Steiner's confusion. Steiner locks in the Recliner and Vamp passes out, giving Steiner the win in 5:34.
Steiner poses in the corner before we see Medusa in the back, on her way out, hen Kimberly close behind, before we go to break.
Back from break, Gene is with Team Package, bringing up the suspension stipulation announced earlier. Flair yells into the camera, telling Russo to learn to love it. He says he's wrestling as he's dressed in his expensive suit, ribs taped up, saying he's Micky Mantle in Russo's lifetime before a woo.
Medusa vs Kimberly Page
Medusa seemingly tries to tell Kimberly to go to the back and not go through with this, but she insists on going through with this. Kimberly shoves Medusa, and she shoves back into the corner. She screams that Kimberly's not a wrestler, as we cut to the back to see DDP watching on a monitor. Medusa pulls her out of the corner by the hair and rubs Kimberly's face back and forth into the mat then talks some trash.
DDP rushes the ring and pulls Medusa off, he goes to check on Kimberly and Medusa lays in with some kicks to the back and chest. DDT catches her and nails the Diamond Cutter, causing the ref to call for I imagine the DQ, giving Medusa the win in 1:25.
Kimberly visibly not happy as they leave and head to the back, then we go to break.
Back from break, already mid-entrances for our next match.
Triple Threat Tag Team Hardcore Match: Brian Knobbs & Fit Finlay vs Hugh Morrus & Meng vs Terry Funk & Screamin' Norman Smiley
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: The team who wins this match will go one on one to crown a new Hardcore Champion at Spring Stampede. Funk and Smiley are the only ones who get a full TV entrance, Funk coming out with two chairs in hand, Norman with trash can lids. Bell is run halfway through Norman's entrance.
We have Knobbs and Meng fighting in the crowd, the other four in the ring. They have three referees looking over things, so at least they did one smart thing tonight. Everything quickly spills outside the ring. Morrus sets up a table by the stage while Funk hits Finlay with a trash can. Morrus sets Smiley on the table and is supposed to do a running elbow off the stage but he completely misses the table as Norman rolls off, his elbow catching the very edge of the table.
Knobbs and Meng are fighting in the concourse of the arena, sending Meng into the wall. Knobbs grabs a refreshment before throwing it at Meng, then a trash can off the back, then a pizza tray off the head. Meng throws him into a condiments table, then hits him with one of those line signs. Meng spears a Goldberg cut out for some reason before being sprayed with a fire extinguisher, only to hit Knobbs with what's left of the cut out. They stumble out to the balcony surrounded by fans and... Knobbs falls over the balcony after missing Meng, and commentary basically tell us he's dead from a 30ft drop.
Back to the arena, Hugh and Norman fight to the back, throwing Hugh into boxes. Finlay hits Funk with a trash can lid. Hugh thrown into metal racks, then scoop slams Norman onto a trash can. Broom across the back, Finlay with a chair to the neck of Funk. Norman throws a trash can at Hugh, then Norman whipped into the opening of... a giant lion head, I assume it's the arena mascot? Norman thrown into it, then Hugh misses a kick. Norman hits Hugh with a broken off tooth from the lion.
Back to the arena, Finlay exposes the concrete floor at ringside and nails a DDT on Funk. Finlay pulls out a table and slides it and Funk back in the ring. Finlay sets up the table in the corner but Funk nails a low blow, whipping Finlay through the table. Funk pulls the table to the middle of the ring and piledrives Finlay onto the broken table.
All of a sudden now, Dustin Rhodes comes out as Funk folds part of the table over Finlay. Dustin attacks from behind as Funk goes to climb up top, getting a low blow. Dustin with right hands as Finlay exits and grabs a chair. Dustin nails Funk with Shattered Dreams, then gets the chair handed to him. Chair to the hip, then gets his face slammed repeatedly into the chair. Finlay pulls out another table while Norman returns and... pins Funk for the win in 9:04? That match was a mess in itself, and Brian Knobbs is supposedly dead, but how did that ending even make sense?
Norman makes a quick exit and Finlay and Dustin go after him.
To the back, Russo and Eric are with... 3 masked luchadors, or I assume that's who they're supposed to be, when Bischoff says comprende. He says it's not about beating Sting uno, dos, tres, it's about beating Sting UNOS, DOS, TRES, and he pounds his fist into the palm of his hand with each count. He tells them to hurt the man, then turns to Russo to ask how to say it in Spanish, and Russo gets in their faces to tell them to beat Sting to a "friggin bloody pulp." Great Spanish there Vinny Roo. Then we see Sting on his way to the back before we go to break.
Back from break for our next match already mid-entrances.
WCW US Championship Tournament Qualifier: The Villanos vs Sting
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: I had to look up their names because they didn't make it very clear. Commentary send their condolences to Scott Hudson, who unexpectedly lost his father on Monday. Sting's music is already playing as we come back, and the Villanos immediately attack to get things started.
Sting gets beaten down a bit to start then mounts a comback, nailing a double clothesline. Double Scorpion Deathdrop and a double pin and... oh I guess this is an elimination match.
The remaining Villano pushes Sting from behind and takes out the referee in the process. Sting reverses a whip off the ropes into an inverted atomic drops, then a series of clotheslines coming off the ropes. Villano sent off the ropes and Sting tries to leapfrog but comes up short. Villano with a low blow before going outside the ring. He goes under the apron, and... Oh it's Jarrett, because he pulls out a guitar. He smashes it over Sting's head and Jarrett removes the mask for the big reveal. DDP sneaks up from behind though and nails the Diamond Cutter. DDP pulls Sting on top to get the win and qualify in 2:32.
The ref looks at Jarrett confused before he checks on Sting and we go to break.
Back from break we go to replays of what just happened. Then to the back, Gene is with Jarrett, who points out everyone thought Jarrett had the night off. Jarrett tells him not to be a wise ass or he'll knock his liver spots off. He says DDP isn't done working tonight, so since he wants to jump Jeff from behind, he's not done tonight either. He brings up slap ass Arquette, saying he's gonna serve up a double dose of payback tonight, referencing when Arquette smashed a guitar over Jarrett's head during the movie premiere, and to top it off, he's going to be crowned the new WHC, and tells slap nuts Gene to choke on that.
Arquette screams into the camera from ringside before we get to our next match.
Buff Bagwell vs Ric Flair
Bagwell does some posing, then Ric with some strutting. They lock up and Flair pushed into the corner. Then some chops into the corner. Buff reverses a whip into the opposite corner and follows, nailing a back body drop as Ric hits the corner. Couple of clothesline by Bagwell then some mounted rights, more posing. Flair retreats to the corner and Bagwell with some more rights, then a rake of the eyes. Flair face first into the adjacent corner, then a chop before being taken down with a right. Knees into the hurt ribs before he chokes Ric with his boot, then mocks the strut.
Flair with a low blow, then an elbow drop coming off the ropes. Rights and lefts in the corner by Flair, stomps to the midsection before they take it to the outside. Bagwell face first into the barricade, but then a "fan" in a Sting disguise nails Ric with a bat and hops the barricade. Turns out it's Russo as he takes off the disguise, laying in with another bat shot. Referee calls for the bell to give Flair the DQ win in 3:13.
Back in the ring, Russo with bat shots and down comes Shane Douglas. Luger rushes the ring and lays in with rights until Bagwell cracks him in the back with the bat. Russo chokes Ric with the bat then some crotch chops. Shane with an elbow as Bagwell chokes Lex. Shane with more mounted rights before they tant the crowd and make their exit before the break.
Back from break we get replays of what just happened, then back to the arena for our main event.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs Diamond Dallas Page (w/ Kimberly)
Pre-Match Notes & Thoughts: We get a replay of Bigelow's attack at the start of the show as he comes out, then out come Page. Kimberly's changed out of her earlier attire into a regular dress.
Lock up to start but Page gets overpowered into the corner, Bigelow with rights and stomps. Page throw him into the corner with some right and lefts and stomps of his own. Page goes for a kick but gets caught and spun around, nailing Bigelow with a clothesline. Page with a cover and a 2 count. Page up top with a flying clothesline, cover and another 2 count.
Page sent off the ropes into a Samoan drop, cover and a kick out. Bigelow with headbutts to the back now, then a rear chinlock. Page tries to fight out but Bigelow drops himself on the back. Bigelow up to p with a diving headbutt to the back, cover but Page kicks out. Bigelow goes for a powerbomb but Page fights off, landing on Bigelow as he falls back, cover but Bigelow kicks out.
Page with a swinging neckbreaker as they get back up, another cover and a near fall. Page tries for a Diamond Cutter but Bigelow shoves him into the referee and nails a side suplex. Bigelow goes up top again but misses a headbutt. Page tries for the Diamond Cutter again but Bigelow pushes him off the ropes, tries for Greeting from Ashbury Park but Page slips free and nails the Diamond Cutter. Page covers but the ref is still out. Bischoff runs out to count, but obviously stops at two.
Page grabs Bischoff and pushes him into the corner, just as Jarrett runs in and smashes a guitar over his head. Arquette out of nowhere off the top and into Bischoff, grabbing hold of him. Jarrett throws him over the ropes to the outside and goes after him. Jarrett lifts and drops him chest first onto the barricade. Arquette thrown back in and Jarrett nails the Stroke. Chris Kanyon now out here and lays into Jarrett with right hands, sent off the ropes and reverses a hip toss into a swinging neckbreaker, while Arquette rolls out. Eric has a chair as he comes behind Kanyon and nails him in the head as he turns around. Jarrett poses in the corner as Eric's music hits and the New Blood join them. They lay into Arquette while NB is sprayed on DDP. Wall nails Kanyon with a chokeslam and... Well the matc just doesn't end and the show fades out.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
I'm already starting to regret doing this. So much on this show to give me a headache. With a runtime of 1:27:07, there was approximately a total 34:39 of wrestling, approximately being I have no idea what to put down for that main event.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Yeah, the writing is on the wall for week one of this, and next I have Spring Stampede to cover, after my WWE side. Here's the card for the PPV that we know:
4 Team Tournament to Crown New Tag Team Champions: Team Package (Flair & Luger) vs The Mamalukes (Big Vito & Johnny the Bull) vs Shane Douglas & Buff Bagwell vs Harlem Heat 2000
7(?) Man Tournament to Crown a New US Champion: Scott Steiner vs The Wall vs Ernest "the Cat" Miller vs Booker vs Billy Kidman vs Sting vs Vampiro vs (?)
Hardcore Championship: Terry Funk vs Norman Smiley
Six-Way for the Cruiserweight Championship: Chris Candido vs The Artist FKA Prince Iaukea vs Juventud Guerrera vs Shannon Moore vs Lash Leroux vs Crowbar
WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Jeff Jarrett vs Diamond Dallas Paige
That's 13 matches to fit into what I assume is a 3 hour time span. This thing is gonna be a fucking mess.
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