WCW Mayhem 99
November 21, 1999
Toronto, Ontario, CA
Reviewed on March 20, 2014
Background: Twelve months before this Vince Russo was the primary booker for the Survivor Series 98 Deadly Game tournament…which was average at best. I’m sure he one of the first things he wanted to do was re-create that idea in WCW…considering that is one of the first things he did. I don’t think the idea is terrible…but the tournament itself was a bit of a mess. Still, the Russo era had begun.
Let’s talk a little WCW 99. At this point the WWF had run away with the Monday Night Wars, and WCW hiring Russo was their answer. The issue with WCW was that the whole creating new stars thing wasn’t happening. Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Sting, Randy Savage and the “addition” of Sid Vicious were WCW’s main storyline throughout the summer. Well, Hogan, Sting, Nash and Savage had been on top for years now. It was time to change. Sid wasn’t (and never is) the answer. Thing is WCW had the new guys! Bill Goldberg was being wasted. Goldberg should have been at the very top, but somehow was fighting Rick Steiner or The Jersey Triad. Speaking of the Triad, Diamond Dallas Page got about a month on top (turning heel no less) before being shunted right back to the midcard. Bret Hart too was absolutely wasted in the first half of 1999. Hart may have not been a fresh face…but he would have been fresh in WCW’s main event.
To quickly explain why there’s a World Title tournament in the first place: Sting beat Hulk Hogan for the title when Hogan just laid down (UGH!). Somehow a Goldberg-Sting match happened at Havoc and Goldberg won the title. Sting attacked a ref and said he never agreed to defend the title but JJ Dillion stripped Sting of the belt because of that attack. Don’t know the story of why Goldberg lost a first round match to Bret Hart. Anyway, that’s how we are here. We are down to the semi-finals. Benoit vs. Jarrett andBret vs. Sting. This group of four is actually exciting!
The Card
We get a recap of the tournament. I missed the Hart-Goldberg explanation. 2/3rd of the matches seemed to have some crazy stip or interference, but that’s how we got to Jarrett, Benoit, Bret and Sting.
WCW World Title Tournament: Semi-Final
Jeff Jarrett vs. Chris Benoit
Jarrett had just turned up in WCW after leaving the WWF in October. Benoit is someone fans everywhere wanted to see get a chance at the top. Great having these two in this position.
We’re in Canada, so obviously fans are really hot for Benoit.
We’re getting Tornado DDTs and Superplexes early on here.
This is a pretty fun opener. I don’t get the high impact moves earlier.
Oh god Creative Control is here. That’s Ron and Don Harris of course.
Nice false finish with the sunset flip counter from Benoit.
Chris Benoit advances when he pins Jeff Jarrett in 9:27. Benoit has it won after a Swandive Heabutt, but one of the Creative Control members breaks it up. Jarrett gets control as a result and his the Stroke…but Dustin Rhodes shows up and breaks that up. Creative Control tries to nail Benoit with a guitar, but Benoit gets it and smashes Jarrett with it for the win. Pretty solid opener (even if the finish is overbooked nonsense), and crowd was very into it because of Benoit and Canada. I’d say Jarrett is a step or two behind Benoit in the ring…but who wasn’t really?
Creative Control beat down Benoit afterwards.
Jarrett and Creative Control beat down Disco Inferno for no reason. I guess they are frustrated!
WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Disco Inferno© vs. Evan Karagias
$25,000 grand apparently on the line too.
Yikes. Not exactly Malenko vs. Mysterio here. Or even Chavo vs. Helms.
Madusa is with Karagias. Talk about plastic.
Disco comes out selling the beatdown from earlier.
That’s Tony Marinara, or Tony Mamaluke with Disco.
Marinara’s commentary is awful. Worst fake Italian accent ever. I also don’t remember any of this.
Match is boring. Fans start chanting boring. They got it right!
A lot of the commentary is about the $25,000 being worth a lot to Disco, as if it is his life. I guess being Cruiserweight Champ doesn’t pay?
Evan Karagias wins the title in 8:28. Madusa slaps Disco. Marinara tries to hit on Madusa, but Karagias confronts. Disco accidentally nails Marinara with a chair. Karagias gets a crossbody for the win. To think the Cruiserweight Division would be worse off two months later. This sucked all around. By the way, why not just steal Little Guido from ECW for the Marinara role? Would have been a lot better.
Bret Hart is here!
The off screen Powers that Be. Of course it’s Russo. He admonishes Jarrett for not winning the WCW title tonight.
Norman Smiley interview…and of course he screams when a sound is made!
WCW Hardcore Title Match
Norman Smiley vs. Brian Knobbs
This is to crown the first ever Hardcore Champ. No idea about the story.
Smiley has a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey on (actually he has the whole hockey gear on EXCEPT a helmet. Smart). I guess he’s the face!
A lot of Knobbs in a garbage can. Feels about right.
Some really bad shots with garbage can lids here.
Norman Smiley wins the title by pin in 7:27. Creative ending spot! Knobbs whips Norman into an elevator but misses an avalanche. Jimmy Hart, Knobbs’ manager tries to hit Smiley with a garbage can but the elevator closes. He reopens it…but accidentally hits Knobbs! Smiley gets the win. Match was a poor version of what the WWF was doing at the time. Just a lot of you hit me I hit you…but Jimmy Hart does steal the show a bit with the food throwing and ending. I would say that this is the way to use Knobbs.
Knobbs throws Jimmy Hart into some food afterwards.
Revolution promo. Gonna make the Filthy Animals extinct like the dinosaurs!
Animals respond. A lot lamer than the Revolution promo.
Tony Mariana tells Disco that on Nitro he’s bringing the boys…and Disco thinks he’s a dead man.
The Revolution (Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko and Asya) vs. The Filthy Animals (Eddy Guerrero, Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson)
When the Radicalz collide!
This is an elimination match.
Saturn takes out his fellow future Radicalz with an Asai Moonsault to the outside!
Asya just takes out Kidman with a clothesline.
Somehow this match has lost all flow.
Eddy accidentally elbows Kidman, and Saturn eliminates him with a roll up. In three minutes. Huge Eddy chants though.
For some reason Malenko isn’t finishing his moves well. Like he doesn’t want to hurt Guerrero in real life or something.
Huge vertical suplex by Asya to Guerrero.
Guerrero pins Malenko with a hurricanrana.
Saturn accidentally kicks Asya, and Guerrero eliminates her with the frog splash. Funny enough, the Filthy Animal theme accidentally plays for a second.
Saturn makes Eddy submit to the Rings of Saturn. Shane Douglas, idiot he is, claims that Eddy tapped. If you saw the Rings of Saturn, you’see why that made no sense.
Saturn vs. Torrie!
The Revolution wins when Saturn pins Torrie at 10:55. Saturn hits a low blow and Torrie sells it (commentators wonder if that hurts a woman) and gets the pin. No wonder he left in two months. Somehow (considering the participants) the match was a mess. Only Eddy Guerrero seemed to want to be there. Also, obligatory Asya is a Chyna ripoff statement. It’s even in the name.
Creative Control and Jeff Jarrett attacks Buff Bagwell!
Retirement Match
Curt Hennig vs. Buff Bagwell
It’s really only Hennig’s career on the line I believe. Same as Flair’s 2008 retirement deal. Of course Hennig was a heel here, so I’m not sure how it was supposed to work.
We get Creative Control and Jarrett instead of Bagwell and they attack Hennig. But then Bagwell comes in to chase them off. Not sure about what sense that made.
Another boring match. I assume Hennig wasn’t into anything at this point either. Crowd with some boring chants.
Buff Bagwell ends Curt Hennig’s career by pin in 7:47. Buff Blockbuster for the win. Fans do give Hennig a standing ovation. Of course, there’s no reason to really buy this…heck Schiovane and Heenan give it a half-assed effort to. Hennig was back with a few weeks I think. Match was boring. Nothing happened.
Heel Sting promo! He brings up a good point that he shouldn’t have lost the title in the first place.
WCW World Title Tournament: Semi-Final
Bret Hart vs. Sting
Bret comes out with a Wayne Gretzky jersey.
Personal gut feeling here: I always wondered if Bret told WCW he wasn’t coming back unless he got the belt put on him after Owen died.
This is really Shades of Grey Sting…as he did get screwed by the Powers that Be.
This is the only crowd to probably hate Sting…and it took Bret Hart and Canada to get it done.
Bret gets the referee on a top rope ax smash.
Luger’s out here.
Bret then attacks Luger! Sharpshooter!
Ref calls for the bell! DQs Sting because Luger and Hart were going at it.
Bret wants it to keep going. And he succeeds. Match restarted.
Bret Hart advances by making Sting submit in 9:27. Scorpion reversed into the Sharpshooter. Didn’t need the Luger run-in, but it helped make Bret look like a solid face. He get a handshake afterwards, which I think makes Sting a face? Match wasn’t much unfortunately, but Bret got a strong win at least. Bret vs. Benoit in Canada!
Luger says Bret hurt his neck. Says he can’t go tonight.
Dog Collar Match
Vampiro vs. Berlyn
Vampiro is announced from Toronto. No reaction.
Here comes OKLAHOMA!
Berlyn nails the ref with the collar. Somehow Jerry Only and The Wall are involved.
Jerry Only can’t even do a suplex. Maybe because he’s not a wrestler.
Vampiro makes Berlyn submit in 4:57. Camel clutch with the chain for the win. Horrible. Berlyn never even wore the Collar. It was more of a tornado tag than anything. Wall walked out of Berlyn. Terrible match that made no sense. Dr. Death attacks Jerry Only and Vampiro afterwards.
About the Oklahoma thing. Honestly, it wouldn’t be that bad if it weren’t for the mocking Bell’s Palsy thing. But of course, they had to do that, which was pretty damn tasteless.
Scott Hall interview. He has both the TV and US Titles.
Curt Hennig is leaving. Shaking people’s hands.
Kimberly Page is here! She will face David Flair later. Yay?
”The Total Package” Lex Luger vs. Meng
Luger still has the neck brace.
A lot of no-selling from both sides here.
Tony Schiavone basically tells the story of the match before it happens, that the neck brace is to block the Tongan Death Grip.
Meng pins Lex Luger in 5:23. Miss Elizabeth accidentally sprays mace in Luger’s face (not well done at all). Meng rips off the brace and Tongan Death Grip for three. Horrible.
Hitman interview. Luger randomly walks by looking for Elizabeth.
US and TV Title Match
Scott Hall© vs. ???
So the story here is that Hall was supposed to originally face TV Champ Rick Steiner but Steiner got hurt, awarding Hall the TV title. The new opponent is…..Booker T. No pop for Booker though.
Booker gets a “Rocky” chant. This crowd seems very WWF strong, for the record (Hall and Hennig pops, nevermind Bret). I wonder if they’ll boo Goldberg later.
God Jarrett and Creative Control again.
Scott Hall retains both titles when he pins Booker T in 6:04. Booker takes out both of Creative Control, but Jarrett’s distraction leads to the Outsider’s Edge for the pin. Boring match. Put Scott Hall on the list of people who don’t want to be there.
Creative Control attacks Booker T.
BONG!
It’s…Midnight, who takes out Creative Control. Another female bodybuilder. At least it wasn’t Seven.
Luger is still looking for Elizabeth.
Kimberly vs. David Flair
Alright, let’s get to this story. Kimberly invited David Flair into her room when DDP wasn’t around. For some reason Ric Flair came instead. Started a fight between David and Kimberly. David Flair then went all The Shining on Kimberly with a crowbar. Weird all around.
Ah Kimberly Page…the main reason why the Undertaker vs. DDP stalker angle was real shit.
Flair with a weird non-sell of a low blow.
Kimberly gets out of being hit with a crowbar by practically teasing a blowjob…then she pulls out the cup and low bridges Flair.
No Contest in 4:55. Kanyon and DDP take out Flair…but then Arn Anderson comes out to save him. Flair then beats the crap out of Anderson with the crowbar. Utter garbage. Arn Anderson does do a great sell job though.
I Quit Match
Goldberg vs. Sid
Boos for Goldberg! Although light.
Goldberg sucks chant!
Huge Sid chants!
Armbreaker and Sid’s arm is hurt!
Goldberg wins when Sid passes out in 5:30. Cobra clutch and Sid passes out in 5 minutes. I think Jerry Flynn put up a bigger fight. Not a good match.
Luger interview. Still didn’t find Elzabeth. He gets even.
WCW World Title Tournament Final
Chris Benoit vs. Bret Hart
You know what’s interesting? I think this match is clearly the right way to go…but the Canadian crowd doesn’t know who to go with. I mean they are cheering for Bret…but they don’t want Benoit to lose.
There was this Canadian fan who attacked Benoit earlier that I didn’t mention as I didn’t think it was important…but he does show up here too and attacks Benoit. Turns out it was Malenko! No DQ called or anything though.
Tombstone from Benoit! Swandive Headbutt!
Scott Hall takes out the referee. Kevin Nash is here too.
Goldberg is here and he takes out Nash with a spear! Bret takes out Hall.
Heenan points out that the referee is going to let this all go without a DQ as the match is too important. I’m okay with that actually.
Split screen now. The World Title match…and the Outsiders/Goldberg confrontation.
Bret Hart wins the World Title when Benoit submits in 17:44. Great sequence at the end where Benoit is playing dead…only for him to come alive and hit the triple Germans. Benoit goes for the Crossface…but Bret gets the Sharpshooter and the win. Good match tarnished by the silly interference midway. I guess disappointing based on what Benoit and Hart could do (the Owen tribute match was WAY better), but still good. Bret’s family celebrates with him. Crowd pops big for the Sharpshooter.
So that’s Mayhem.
It’s a shame that there’s so much crap here because you can see some potential trying to break out with this card. Even though there is way too much interference, at least there were some stories in there that kinda sorta made sense. The Nash, Hall, Goldberg run-ins would lead to Hall/Nash vs. Goldberg and Hart and then NWO 2000, so there is that. The workrate overall was okay, even good in some case (Benoit). And Bret vs. Benoit was pretty new for a WCW main event. Probably the best main event match WCW had in a long time. Even the stuff with Kimberly and Flair and Arn Anderson. If it leads somewhere, okay, maybe something can work (no idea what it led to, I think a DDP vs. David Flair match somewhere). The Marinara-Disco stuff lead to the debut of a new team (Big Vito and Johnny the Bull), which is good. There’s potential!
I’m all for giving this PPV a C+ for effort. Here’s why I can’t:
Still a lot of crap. While the Kimberly-Flair stuff could have worked…the match itself was garbage. Luger vs. Meng? Bad. Hennig’s retirement? Waste of time. Even Revolution vs. Animals was disappointing and lame. Vampiro vs. Berlyn didn’t make sense. All that alone drops it to a C. And then you have Oklahoma. Fuck off Ed Ferrara.
By the way WCW went directly downhill after this. It was once said that Vince Russo can write one hell of a first chapter. For the record, here is a list of the next few WCW World Champions.
Bret Hart (Mayhem)
Vacant
Bret Hart
Vacant
Chris Benoit
Vacant
Sid
Vacant
Kevin Nash
Sid
Vacant
The only question is…how much was Vacant making?
Anyway, this would be the last time WCW would have even potentially good storylines going. It was a mess from this point forward.
Final Grade: C-