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Pro Wrestling

RAW vs. Nitro Week 3 – 9/18/95

Week 3

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Nitro: 9/18/95
Jefferson City, TN

It’s the night after Fall Brawl! Nitro had the better show last week so they’ll go first!

An ambulance starts the show…and inside is Kevin Sullivan and The Giant. Mean Gene tells him that this father would be disappointed. Remember, he’s the son of Andre! Kinda funny promo from the Giant. He had a solid three months in pro wrestling at the time, so we’ll have to cut him some slack.

The American Males vs. The Bluebloods

This would be Regal and Bobby Eaton. Jean-Paul was gone at this point.

Well, it wouldn’t really be them either, since Harlem Heat attacks. They offer the American Males a World Tag Team Title shot. The American Males get a free shot at the tag title just like that!

WCW World Tag Team Championship
Harlem Heat© vs. The American Males

Riggs sells the Axe Kick in seemingly slow motion. At least it wasn’t Booker’s finisher yet.

Booker’s flying side kick was always awesome. Watching Booker knowing what I know now I can’t say it’s surprising he became a big star.

Nice “WE WANT IT RAW” sign in the crowd there.

The American Males win the title in 4:40 when Marcus Bagwell pinned Booker T. Sherri Martel is about to hit Bagwell, but Col. Robert Parker comes down and Sherri falls into his arms (I totally forgot the slave owner angle of Harlem Heat. Yikes). Sherri and Parker are apparently in love. Whatever. Anyway Bagwell reverses a pump handle slam into a bodypress pin and gets the win. It’s a weak victory, but once again, something notable happens on Nitro.

SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!

Ric Flair interview. He’s angry that Arn Anderson got a non-Horseman to help him in their feud (referring to Brian Pillman). He also calls it Johnson City, Tennessee. Based on what Mene Gene says I think that was a sexual reference.

Mr. Wonderful vs. Johnny B. Badd

I really love that music for Orndorff.
Badd was on his way out here. He’d be Marc Mero in the WWF in five months.

Mr. Wonderful pins Johnny B. Badd in 6:40. Orndorff blocks a sunset flip. The finish is botched though, as Badd’s shoulders were clearly up and the ref didn’t seem to actually count the three.

Randy Savage gets attacked by Sullivan on a beach, so Savage responds in an interview. Flair is one of those who help him. Savage says he thinks Luger is joining the Dungeon of Doom. Luger comes out to respond. He wants a match right now but Mean Gene says this isn’t the time of the place (the middle of the ring on Nitro?!).

We go back to the day of Fall Brawl for a Hulk Hogan interview. The Giant comes in on a monster truck and smashes the motorcycle Hogan was on. This would lead to the Monster Truck Match at Halloween Havoc of course. There’s a funny scene here where Hogan is slamming on the truck and Giant is just laughing.

Then a Fall Brawl recap of Giant at Fall Brawl interfering in the War Games, where he attacked Hogan.

Ric Flair vs. Flyin’ Brian Pillman

Flair actually comes off the top rope and hits Pillman with an axhandle smash on the floor. Didn’t expect that from Flair.

This match has been ALL Flair.

Flair goes for the Figure Four, but Pillman reverses into a small package, but doesn’t get the hook of the leg.

Ric Flair wins by submission in 5:24. Figure Four gets it done. Total burial of Pillman there? I mean I think he got two moves in. Flair taunts Arn afterwards.

Overall, I think this was a step back for Nitro. The first show felt like can’t miss TV. Same with the second show (with Sabu and the Hogan vs. Luger title match). Here? Nothing special really. American Males winning the tag titles is cool I guess and a moment for sure, but it doesn’t compare to watching international talents like Sabu and Jushin Liger. And Flair vs. Pillman wasn’t that good either.

Every show can’t be blow away, but there isn’t anything to take me away from RAW this week. Unless of course the RAW show blows. The rating here also indicated that this was a step back.

Oddly, they didn’t give away any RAW Results this week.

TV Rating: 1.9 (-0.5)
Grade: C+

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RAW: 9/18/95
Canton, Ohio

We get a recap of the 1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon issue from last week.

It should be pointed out that Vince keeps saying this is a special Thursday edition of RAW…but nothing else seems to indicate that. The research I did. The Network. Etc.

This is still taped from August, so no responding to Nitro yet.

1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon

Kid starts off fast. All of this would lead to the eventual Kid heel turn.

Nice flying over the top rope dropkick from the Kid!

The Kid has dominated the match-up. We also get a sleeper, which is also when they go to commercial. I’m okay with commercials during matches during a hold though.

We got a ref bump!

The 1-2-3 Kid pins Razor Ramon in 7:08. After a collision where the ref got hurt, Dean Douglas comes flying off the top onto Ramon. Kid rolls in to get the pin. The wheels of the turn were starting.

Dean Douglas interview now. Kid gets a D for dumb. Ramon gets an E. Elevate. He’s doing that in order to face Dean Douglas. A for Douglas! The PPV this weekend gets a N. No-Brainer on who will be victorious. That spells Dead. To be honest, that was a good promo.

Tatanka and Kama Mustafa vs. Savio Vega and Bob Holly

Crowd is pretty dead for this, although Vega got a solid reaction for his entrance.

Vega is your face in peril.

We don’t even see the hot tag to Holly on camera.

Kama and Tatanka win when Kama pins Holly in 5:47. Holly comes off the top with a bodypress, but Kama “rolls” through and gets the pin. Ugly finish. Match wasn’t too bad though.

Ramon interview. He’s of course responding to Douglas.

Jean Pierre LaFitte vs. Brian Walsh

Squash match for the pirate ahoy! We go over LaFitte stealing the Hitman sunglasses from fans. Yeah, that wasn’t Bret’s best feud.

We get Bret on the phone. He’s upset that Bret has gotten his jacket and stuff stolen. He’s also confused as he didn’t know pirates still existed. Poor Bret.

LaFitte pins Walsh in 3:18. Cannonball (Swanton?) for the win. I hope this is the last squash we get on RAW ever.

We get some hype about the In Your House main event of HBK and Diesel vs. Owen and Yoko. All titles on the line!

Owen Hart and Yokozuna vs. Men on a Mission

Non-title match here. This is your main event! It’s also heel vs. heel, which is strange.

Owen is playing the face in peril. Interesting. Well it can’t be anyone else in this match for sure.

Here comes Yokozuna! We get Yoko and Mabel going at it as Owen now plays the heel. I actually like both teams cheating. It’s an interesting dynamic.

Mo and Owen both go for spinning wheel kicks at the same time. Never seen that before.

Weird, now Mabel is playing the face making the big comeback.

Owen Hart and Yokozuna win when Owen pinned Mo in 9:30. Yoko kills Mo with the big legdrop, and then holds Mabel’s foot so he can’t break up the pin. Pretty good match amazingly. Owen carried the whole thing, and the heel vs. heel dynamic oddly worked.

Diesel and HBK interview about Owen and Yoko. Something about John Madden.

Cornette interview. Runs down HBK and Diesel of course. He brings up a good point that the last time Diesel and HBK were a team, they broke up.

Lawler predicts Yokozuna walks out of In Your House with the WWF Title. Vince then tells us that we are getting Undertaker vs. British Bulldog on RAW next week. Not bad.

Anyway…solid showing here. A good opener and a surprisingly good main event bookends a lot of boring stuff. The wrestling itself was also better than this week’s Nitro. Sure, nothing between Summerslam and Survivor Series really mattered, but they still had to get to Survivor Series…right?

TV Rating: 2.7
Grade: B

Weekly Review

All the talent in the world and that’s the Nitro we get? Shoulda just scrapped Badd vs. Orndorff and let Pillman and Flair go another five minutes in that case. Nitro for the first time felt like it could be a miss, unless you like monster trucks or something.

That doesn’t mean RAW was can’t miss either. But there were better matches on RAW, and solid build for a PPV no one was really talking about at all.

TV Ratings Score: 2-0 RAW

Grade Score: 1-1 Tie

Pro Wrestling

RAW vs. NITRO Week 1 (9/4/95)

Reviewed 9/3/14

September 1995 Background

The latest…and biggest shot has been fired.

The WWF had been the major player in wrestling for a solid decade at this point. The NWA and WCW were always a distant second place until about 1994. Before then it was the WWF’s big gimmicky promotions against the top tier wrestling of WCW (note, each would have a little of the opposite in them). In 1994 though the tides had changed in a big way. The WWF had moved to becoming a more athletic wrestling show led by Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. WCW signed Hulk Hogan to an insane deal and suddenly looked gimmicky all around (and a lot like the old WWF). WCW would continue to sign away big talent from the WWF through 1994 and 1995, with men such as Hogan, Randy Savage and others all jumping ship.

And for some reason, Vince gave up on the athletic type and went back to the superman big man. 1995 this didn’t work. ”Big Daddy Cool” Diesel turned out to be the worst drawing WWF Champion of all time (not all his fault to be fair). WCW also kept the pressure on, running 10 PPV events in 1995 and forcing Vince to run an “In Your House” event each month. Reviews on the IYH events ranged from mixed to poor. 1995 was just a bad year for the WWF. Bad booking, competition on the way, and stars leaving to WCW.

WCW meanwhile hit some big peaks in 1994 when Hogan showed up. Hogan’s popularity did plateau rather quickly though. But with bigger star power overall (Flair, Sting, Savage, Hogan vs. Michaels, Bret, Diesel) Ted Turner famously asked Eric Bischoff “Hey Eric, what would it take to compete with WWF?” Bischoff joking said Monday Night primetime. And Turner gave it to him. The Monday Night War had begun.

For September, we would see that WCW smartly began on a date that the WWF would be pre-empted. WCW would hit upon some big moments right away and immediately change how each show would be booked.

Note, the show that has the best review the week prior will go first in the post, as insignificant as that actually is.

Week 1

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Nitro: 9/4/95
Minneapolis, MN

It should be pointed out that Nitro debuted at a time where RAW was pre-empted for two weeks. Pretty smart right off the bat.

Nitro intro video is pretty cool even today. Theme is great too.

Very odd that Nitro is coming live from the Mall of America.

Nitro already puts something on that was pretty unique and cool, which is the opening match.

Steve McMichael calls Bobby Heenan “Bobby the Stain” for the whole show. Ugh.

Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Flyin’ Brian

Cool cartwheel kick to start. Bischoff on commentary is really pumping Nitro up as something never seen before in big league wrestling.

Pretty bad timing as Jushin Liger climbs up to the top rope and Pillman just stands there and takes the moonsault.

Wooo, surfboard!

Decent high flying stuff from Liger, including a somersault off the apron. Maybe it hasn’t aged great, but it was pretty cool stuff for its time, even if the 1-2-3 Kid was doing just as good stuff.

Pillman gets a perfect dropkick on Liger coming from the top.

Top rope hurricanrana from Liger!

Tornado DDT from Pillman! Maybe it’s just a bunch of spots, but it’s a fun match.

Brian Pillman pins Jushin Liger. Pillman gets a victory roll from the win. A fun little 6 minute match that wouldn’t be great if it was on PPV, but just fine for a TV show. Bischoff went right ahead in trying to get a good start for Nitro with something unique and he succeeded.

Sting promo. He’s gonna lock Flair in the Scorpion!

Hulk Hogan is promoting PASTAMANIA in the Mall of America! He hypes up the WCW Title match later in the show. PASTAMANIA is gonna run wild on Big Bubba brother!

WCW United States Championship
Sting© vs. Ric Flair

I’d almost be upset this wasn’t main eventing, but it makes sense as Hogan is Hogan.

One of the most historic moments in the entire war happens in the first show as Lex Luger walks down the aisle. Luger had just appeared at WWF Summerslam eight nights prior. No one in the WWF locker room knew it was happening. Want to complain about WWF no-competes these days, it was moments like this that caused them. This was absolutely brilliant from Bischoff.

Of course, Sting and Flair give him a look, since that’s who had history with Luger when he left in 1992. Another great thing about this moment is the less is more approach. All Luger did was just walk down the aisle. That was it. Big Luger chants too.

We get some typical Sting-Flair stuff, which is always great. Of course, it’s the shortened version, but that’s okay.

WCW’s star power was pretty much on display here. While the WWF did have big matches on RAW before this, you never really saw two top guys go at it (say, Bret vs. Shawn on RAW). Here, WCW could afford to do Sting vs. Flair since the roster was deep.

Arn Anderson is down here. This was a time that Anderson and Flair were not getting along.

I like how a great wrestler like Ric Flair had a finish that always seemed to get broken.

Sting retains by DQ. Arn Anderson just walks into the ring and breaks up the Figure Four. He proceeds to beat the crap out of Ric Flair. Good match, and it furthered the story for Anderson and Flair. Anderson got a huge reaction.

Scott “Flash” Norton confronts Bischoff, but is cut off by Randy Savage. Fans pop huge for this, I didn’t even remember this Norton moment to be fair. Savage wants to go right now, but it doesn’t happen. Still, really cool and another moment that showed anything could happen.

We get a Sabu hype video! Interesting Sabu didn’t get over in WCW. Probably cause he bought Mr. JL and Alex Wright every week. Still cool though.

We get some WCW Saturday Night hype. Then some Fall Brawl hype!

Michael Wallstreet debut promo. “I’m sure the IRS is going to be watching me real close.” Brilliant!

WCW World Championship
Hulk Hogan© vs. Big Bubba Rogers

Hogan vs. Bossman in 1995! It works though.

Hogan had actually been champion for some 13 months at this point.

We do get the announcement of Savage vs. Norton next week on Nitro! I’m actually excited for that one even though Norton would become a midcard guy.

Hogan looks better here than he did in WWF 1993, if that matters.

Oddly Hogan and the ref exchange words after Hogan gets his hair pulled by the ref. Interesting.

I always wondered how Hogan got away with heel moves like the double elbow foot eye rake deal.

The crowd is actually pretty dead for the Hulk Up.

Hulk Hogan retains by pin. But the pop huge for the pin. By the numbers Hogan match, but the Bossman sold for Hogan like a million bucks. Good main event considering who’s involved.
The Dungeon of Doom run in and attack Hogan…and Lex Luger runs in to fight them off! Hogan and Luger come back to back and nearly come to blows.

Luger challenges Hogan for a WCW World Title match, deriding the WWF in the process. He says some questionably true statements (“I’VE BEATEN WHO YOU’VE BEATEN”) and Hogan gives him credit…then offers him the title shot for next week’s Nitro! Sure, some words went wrong there (“I’ll shake your stinky palm” from Hogan and “you don’t have to wait till next week”, also from Hogan), but the whole segment was really effective.

This show was very good, and EXACTLY what WCW needed to kick off the Monday Night War. Vince probably watched this show and shit his pants, especially when Luger showed up. Now Vince had to go up against Hogan vs. Luger for the WCW Title next week. Serves Vince right for wasting Luger after he didn’t get over as the top guy in 93-94.

Not the best show, but a very good one that showcased a lot of great stuff for WCW. Historically, it’s one of the most important dates in pro wrestling history, and it laid the groundwork for RAWs you even see today, as this would be the end of squash matches against nobodies on Monday Night. Of course…that matters.

TV Rating: 2.5
Grade: A+

Weekly Review

RAW was pre-empted by the US Open and in fact had already taped all of their shows for the next two weeks. Nitro being live each week would put some serious pressure on the WWF to step up their game. The last RAW on August 21st, 1995 had MOM vs. two jobbers, the 1-2-3 Kid vs. The Brooklyn Brawler, The Undertaker vs. Tatanka, Jean-Pierre LaFitte vs. Scott Taylor (a nobody at this point) and Diesel and the British Bulldog vs. MOM. This show had Sting vs. Flair, Pillman vs. Liger and Hogan vs. the former Big Bossman. I mean…which show is the minor leagues again?

Nitro’s rating was also quite impressive. RAW had done (I am missing a source though) mid 2s to low 3s, so for Nitro to put up a rating in that range right off the bat was impressive.

The score remains tied at 0-0 here as there was no heads up battle…but next week will be a bigger story.

TV Ratings Score: 0-0

Grade Score: 0-0

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WCW Great American Bash ’96

GAB_96

WCW Great American Bash ‘96
June 16, 1996
Baltimore, MD
Reviewed on May 11, 2014

WCW was coming on strong now. WCW had more than held its own since launching Nitro opposite of RAW every Monday Night. Eric Bischoff used every tactic he could to get the upper hand on the WWF…and it worked. Reveal RAW taping results? Did it. He even put the show on at five minutes before the hour…just to get the lead-in advantage. But the biggest change happened when Scott Hall showed up on Nitro in late May. Hall was one of the WWF’s top guys from 1993 through 1995. Kevin Nash showed up a few weeks later…and in 1995 he was THE top WWF guy. Let history show that the Nitro right before this show, the June 10th edition, would be the last victory in the Monday Night ratings war for the WWF until April 13th, 1998.

WCW had more than Hall and Nash though. It had the best matches. It had some of the biggest stars in wrestling (Hogan, Savage, Flair etc.). It had fresh main eventers (The Giant). Overall it was just a more compelling company at that point. Vince had several lawsuits going on against WCW, even some involving Hall and Nash, but it didn’t matter (although it would matter for a segment on this show).

The 1996 edition of the Great American Bash was the first PPV that was a part of 83 weeks of dominance from WCW.

The Card

There’s a lot going on with this show. Bobby Heenan has a team going up against a Randy Savage team tonight. I actually forgot about this.

The Steiner Bros.(c) vs. Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice is Scott Norton and Ice Train. Norton would gain some fame for his run in the nWo and Japan. Ice Train…actually I have no idea what he did after feuding with Norton.

An okay power match so far. It seems like Ice Train is WAY out of his league here though.

Yikes Scott Steiner drops Scott Norton on his head with a suplex. That was almost a broken neck.

Admittedly a great spot where Norton locks in an armbar. When Rick Steiner tries to break it, Norton no sells a bunch of kicks to the face. It was pretty bad ass.

The Steiners win when Scott pins Norton in 10:29. Flying Bulldog…then a horrible Frankensteiner for the win. Not a good start when the first finish is botched. Match…was okay. A good point was that it was non stop action, not one rest hold. The bad point is several botched moves.

Some hype for the Falls Count Anywhere match between Kevin Sullivan and Chris Benoit. Not really digging the promo though. Somehow Sullivan is making it NOT about Benoit, but more about Ric Flair and Arn Anderson.

WCW United States Championship
Konnan© vs. El Gato

Seriously? This is the best we can do in WCW 1996 for WCW’s 2nd biggest singles title?

El Gato is Pat Tatanka.

Konnan is wearing the stupidest mask.

There’s some good Konnan offence to start. I don’t say that often.

Konnan retains in 6:03 by pin. Ugly sunset flip to the outside to El Gato. Konnan then got a jackknife pin in the ring for the win. It had a good start…then sucked the rest of the way. Not really a good start to this show.

Sting mocks Steven Regal…and it’s pretty funny to be fair.

Lord of the Ring Match
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Marcus Bagwell

This is for Page’s Battlebowl ring…I think?

It’s jarring to see Page as the chicken-shit heel and Bagwell as the good guy.

Page hilariously misses? a kick and sells it like a mullion dollars…even if it wasn’t a million dollar move.

DDP pins Bagwell in 9:39. Diamond Cutter for the win. Okay back and forth match…but three okay matches isn’t the way to start a PPV.

Jimmy Hart is questioned about his allegiance to The Giant or Lex Luger. He’s with the Giant here. Giant’s early promos were pretty funny. He does look badass as World Champion here though.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Dean Malenko© vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Rey Jr’s debut here.

I like that Rey began with the technical wrestling…and not Malenko.

Really good sequence to start with a double nip up.

Nice over the head sunset flip from Rey.

Malenko expertly works on the arm. He does a hold I never seen that I can’t explain, pulling the arm then kicking it away.

Malenko traps Rey’s arm in the guardrail then kicks the guardrail. Ouch!

Malenko counters the hurricarana by flipping Rey back to his feet then leveling him with a clothesline! Nice!

Malenko with my favorite hold, the surfboard! Then he turns it into a pin! Only two though.

Malenko is dominating this match…but it’s a great way to put over Rey’s resilience.

Perfect springboard somersault to the outside from Rey!

Dean Malenko retains by pin 17:50. Mysterio is on a roll hitting a lot of high flying spots…but a hurricanrana turns into a stiff powerbomb! Malenko uses the ropes as well for the pin. Great match that has kicked this PPV into high gear. Malenko looked great and Rey looked great. This match is also the match that kicked the Cruiserweight division into high gear. There were talks of ending the division before this.

Lex Luger interview. He’s already a tag and TV champ. Will he add the World Title tonight?!

Big Bubba vs. John Tenta

Enzugiri from Big Bubba!

Awkward fall from Tenta that had Bubba land on him.

John Tenta pins Bubba in 5:24. Big slam to win. Basically the opposite speed wise of the match before. Match was slow…and not good. Tenta can barely move here.

We get an interview with Steve McMichael and Kevin Greene. I always thought it was weird Greene became this part time wrestler, but he wasn’t horrible.

Falls Count Everywhere
Kevin Sullivan vs. Chris Benoit

A blood feud spawning from the Dungeon of Doom vs. the Horsemen.

They don’t even get into the ring, as Benoit attacks in the aisleway and they end up going through the crowd.

In the men’s bathroom now! HE PUT HIS HEAD IN THE COMMODE!

Now out of the bathroom, Sullivan knocks Benoit down the steps in the crowd. Really entertaining brawl.

Benoit and Sullivan both try spots on the table…but it doesn’t break either time. Clearly a non-gimmicked table.

Chris Benoit pins Kevin Sullivan in 9:58. Benoit hits a superplex off the top using the table to stand. Pin gets three. Arn Anderson comes down to stop Benoit from beating down Sullivan…but then attacks Sullivan, showing allegiance to the Four Horsemen. That gets a huge reaction. Really good brawl here, even if some of the bathroom stuff was kinda funny. Even though this match wasn’t the first WCW Falls Count Anywhere match, it has a lot of influence on the later WWF Hardcore division. Still, at the time some people called this one of the greatest matches they’d ever seen…but I wouldn’t go that far. Just a really good brawl with some originality.

Reunited Horsemen interview. But there are only three of them!

Bobby Heenan managing the Horsemen kinda owns.

Sting vs. Lord Steven Regal

Story here: Regal thought the WCW Championship committee overlooked him and he wanted to make a statement.

Here’s someone who got lost in the shuffle when the nWo showed up: Steven Regal.

Regal was such a good unique heel even then. He just had a style no one else used.

Regal had some awesome heel taunts as well.

Match has had a great story, with Regal working on the arm and using cheap tactics anytime Sting makes a comeback.

Sting makes Steven Regal submit in 16:30. Sting superman comeback…but it had a nice small varation. Regal actually counters the Stinger Splash by getting his knees up…but falls to the Scorpion anyway. Pretty good match here, it definitely made Regal look like he was at a comparable level to Sting. Too bad Regal wasn’t pushed much later in the year.

Legends of the Gridiron vs. Legends of the World of Wrestling
Ric Flair and Arn Anderson vs. Steve McMichael and Kevin Greene

This was an extension of the Flair vs. Randy Savage feud. Savage was suspended for something and couldn’t wrestle…but was in Greene and McMichael’s corner here.

This might be Debra McMichael’s debut.

Sorry to spoil the ending, but there is some great commentary here. Tony talks about a story that Mongo signed with the Packers of the Bears for money. I like forshadowing.

There’s some funny stuff with Flair and Greene in here. Flair tricks Greene into the three point stance before stepping on his hand. Greene later tosses Flair out and does the Flair strut.

It’s kinda jarring to see Steve McMichael put a Figure Four on Ric Flair.

All the women at ringside chase each other to the back. This also will be significant soon.

Watching this re-enforces the idea to me that Kevin Greene would have been a decent full time wrestler.

Some expert heeling from Anderson and Flair…but Savage attacks Anderson. Benoit comes out to attack Savage.

Debra is back out here with a briefcase!

Ric Flair and Arn Anderson win when Flair pins Greene in 20:51. Debra shows Mongo that the briefcase is full of money and a Horsemen shirt! Of course Mongo accepts, and smashes the briefcase over Greene’s head and Flair gets the pin. Very well done, and there’s your 4th Horseman! Match wasn’t good, but it had entertaining moments and Greene isn’t even a wrestler, so it’s all good. But the finish was what mattered, and it was good.

Ok this next segment is one of the most revolutionary segments in professional wrestling history. Eric Bischoff comes out and talks about the interruptions that’s taken place on Nitro, that being Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Nash and Hall come out. Nash and Hall made a challenge for a three on three. Bischoff says it will be at Bash at the Beach. Bischoff asks them both if they work for the WWF, which they both say no. That ended some lawsuits right there. Bischoff refuses to tell Hall and Nash who team WCW is, that it will be revealed on Nitro. Hall gets pissed and nails Bischoff. Nash then powerbombs Bischoff through a portion of the stage. This was HUGE at the time. Nothing had been seen on national wrestling TV like it. WCW as we knew it would never be the same, as the nWo era had been in full gear now.

WCW World Championship
The Giant© vs. Lex Luger

Seeing the Giant with the WCW World title makes me think about what a waste it was when the nWo just buried him.

Match starts with Luger running into a big boot of the Giant. I don’t know why, but I thought that owned.

Sting chases Jimmy Hart away…so it’s a real 1 on 1 now!

The Giant retains by pin in 9:58. Luger goes for the Rack, and has him up…but collapses (and Giant lands on his head…that could have been a lot worse). Chokeslam for the win. Um…I mean it’s obvious this match was boring and sucked right? I mean that’s the ceiling for Giant vs. Luger (I liked their Starrcade match better to be fair). Right man went over though, Giant was the man at the time.

This show constantly gets brought up as one of the greatest PPVs ever and in that first hour I wasn’t sure why. Then Malenko vs. Mysterio practically created the Cruiserweight division. Then Benoit and Sullivan had their great match. Then Sting and Regal had a good match. Flair and Arn did entertaining stuff. Nash and Hall changed the business. A lot of damn good stuff happened here.

The positives definitely outweigh the negatives…but this still isn’t nearly the greatest PPV ever. It’s very good, but there was too much crap to really get there (Big Bubba vs. John Tenta? Page vs. Bagwell?). I don’t think Sullivan vs. Benoit is the five star classic people said it was (still, it was very good). Maybe if the main event was better, it would be close to the elite, but Giant vs. Luger was pretty bad.

I would normally say this is in the B, B+ range…but the historical value of this show is quite high. The Hall and Nash stuff alone just blew everyone away at the time. And that Rey Mysterio guy kinda became a big deal.

Final Grade: A-

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews NWA/WCW Starrcade ’88

Starrcade88

NWA/WCW Starrcade 1988
December 26, 1988
Norfolk, VA
Reviewed on June 21, 2014

A high point for the NWA. The NWA had tons of talent and while not drawing as well as the WWF, they were arguably putting on a better quality of shows. Earlier in 1988 WCW put on a Clash of the Champions PPV that hurt the WWF’s Wrestlemania IV, headlined by a Sting vs. Ric Flair classic.

Ric Flair was truly the man at this point. Flair and the Horsemen were the main event, and Flair was doing all he could to get Lex Luger over as a top face. At the time, Luger was a pretty solid wrestler and it worked out well, leading to the main event here. Unlike the main for Starrcade 1987 (Flair vs. Ronnie Garvin) this felt like one of the biggest matches the NWA could throw out there at the time. The NWA would continue the roll they were on through 1989 with the Flair-Steamboat series.

The Card

US Tag Team Championship
The Fantastics © vs. Steve Williams and Kevin Sullivan

The Fantastics are Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton. Williamd and Sullivan had a brighter future, even then.

Apparently the Bushwackers were supposed to be in this, but Vince signed them away.

Not sure if it’s supposed to be booked this way, but the champs are getting no offense in whatsoever.

JR is putting over Dr. Death like a million bucks…of course.

Williams and Sullivan win the title when Williams pins Fulton in 15:50. Hotshot for the win. Pretty solid hard hitting opener. Match was clear designed for Williamd and Sullivan to get over.

The Midnight Express vs. The Original Midnight Express

Jim Cornette’s Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton (the most popular version) against Paul E’s Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose.

Kinda amazing not only how long Paul Heyman has been around, but how many different things he’s done in wrestling.

The story is really a battle of managers. To be fair, this seems like the older teams comes back to take back their glory angle, but it seems quite well done here.

Referee asking the crowd if the Old Express cheated was interesting.

New Midnight Express wins when Lane pins Condrey in 17:46. After referee Teddy Long (playa!) determines the Originals used Paul E’s telephone as a weapon, the Express get the Goozie for the win. They get beat down afterwards. Pretty solid back and forth match, crowd was into it.

The Russian Assassins vs. Junkyard Dog and Ivan Koloff

If the Assassins lose their manager Paul Jones has to retire.

Pretty big downgrade from earlier.

The Assassins win when #1 pins Koloff in 6:47. Koloff has it won, but the #2 Assassin puts something in his mask and headbutts Koloff, leading to the win. A lot of whatever here. I don’t think the fans caught onto what happened in the finish.

NWA Television Championship
Mike Rotonda© vs. Rick Steiner

Sullivan is locked in a cage here. This is the big blowoff to all the Varsity Club stuff.

Rick Steiner could really go at this point.

Dr. Death comes down and rings the bell, confusing everyone…

Rick Steiner wins the title by pin in 17:59. The ref, Steiner and Rotunda are confused about the bell. Even the cage comes down and Sullivan gets on the apron. Steiner shoves Rotunda into Sullivan and gets the pin. Really fun finish and a good match here too. Rick Steiner was pretty good at one time for sure. Crowd pops huge for Steiner’s win.

NWA US Championship
Barry Windham © vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Bam Bam looks like a star ahead of his time here…but interestingly by 1998 he would look behind the times.

Bam Bam was just coming off his first WWF stint, which had mixed results.

Windham is a Horseman here.

What’s weird about Bam Bam is that he doesn’t look like he ages.

Always thought it was crazy how aerial Bigelow was.

Seriously Barry Windham used a clawhold?

Barry Windham retains by countout in 16:17. Both men end up on the outside, and Bigelow misses a charge and slams into the post, allowing Windham to get back in. Pretty good back and forth match, Windham seemed like a good workhorse back in the day. Disappointing ending though.

Rick Steiner interview. Very happy about winning the TV title. Of course he is.

NWA World Tag Team Championship
The Road Warriors © vs. Sting and Dusty Rhodes

Fans are mega into Sting here. Sting gets a dropkick to stop the Warriors from attacking early, which is smart booking.

Pretty crazy dive from Sting off the top to the outside onto Animal!

Dusty’s no selling comeback is pretty entertaining to watch.

Dusty is the face in peril.

Sting is getting a huge reaction destroying The Warriors.

Sting and Dusty win by DQ in 11:20. Sting has it won, but Paul Ellering breaks up the count for the DQ. Pretty basic match and the crowd was hot. Sting stole the show and no wonder he was the future of the company. Of course, another non-finish is pretty lame.

NWA World Championship – If Ric Flair is DQed he loses the title
Ric Flair© vs. Lex Luger

Flair gets a huge reaction.

Flair knew how to make strong babyfaces look great, and this match is no exception.

It’s absolutely jarring seeing Luger as this good wrestler. Leapfrogs, great agility, just a lot of stuff from Luger you didn’t remotely see seven years later.

Luger amazingly no sells the Figure Four with some flexing.

The story has been working on the leg, and there’s some great psychology here as Luger keeps going for slams and such, but always tending to, or even further hurting, the leg.

Ric Flair retains by pin at 30:59. Luger gets on fire and totally no sells a big forearm from Flair. Big powerslam and then the Torture Rack…but the leg gives way! Flair gets the pin AND the feet on the ropes, and Flair gets the three! Great match, Luger looked like a million bucks and Flair showed he was the best in the world at the time. How the NWA didn’t ride the Luger gravy train is surprising to me, but some of that sounds like it’s on Flair since he wanted to work with Steamboat. To be fair, those are some of the best matches of all time.

A very good Starrcade with a great main event. So what’s wrong with this show? Absolutely no historical significance here. This wasn’t a really important card in the development of Sting, and Luger’s career ended up with a choker label that could actually be traced to this match. I’m not sure Flair winning was a good idea…even though he was the man. Everything else? I mean Rick Steiner got development here, but nothing else really mattered in the long run. Even early on, I thought Starrcade should make of solidify stars. Despite Luger looking like a million bucks, that didn’t happen here. The first few Starrcades made Ric Flair, but Flair was already made here. Maybe I am being too hard on this aspect of the show, but does anyone really remember Starrcade 1988?

Great card match quality wise though. Can’t deny that.

Final Grade: B+