WCW Halloween Havoc 1992

Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Michael Hayes vs Tom Zenk, Shane Douglas & Johnny Gunn

Neat little six man opener. Being in Philadelphia, the heel team get cheered on their every move whilst the faces are met with a chorus of boos. Unsurprisingly with this line-up, the match flows really well. Some neat pairings here, Douglas meshing really nicely with Eaton, hitting him with a lovely flying headscissors. Both teams use quick tags to start, with the neatest being Arn tagging himself in while Zenk has Eaton in the air for an atomic drop, allowing him to level the Z-Man with a sneaky clothesline. Eaton takes out Douglas’s leg with a big clip, and delightfully Arn is all over it. He locks in a figure four with Hayes helping with leverage from the apron. It all breaks down as the hot tag is made to Gunn, and in the melee he nails a Thesz Press on Hayes to get the win. Fun match.

Ricky Steamboat vs Brian Pillman

Really good match here, which is still short enough to leave you wanting a future rematch. Loved how this opened, Steamboat lights up Pillman with some stiff chops, which Pillman seems happy to replicate. They go into a nice sequence that ends with a skin-the-cat and Steamboat hitting a trademark armdrag. Steamboat plays up his rare power advantage, grabbing Pillman by the throat and holding him in the air. Loved how Pillman locked on his sleeper as the smaller man, just yanking Steamboat by the neck as he runs the ropes, then leaping onto his back to put all his weight onto Steamer. Pillman heels it up nicely, cowering off and luring Steamboat from the ring, which leads to a nice moment as he knees Steamboat in the face entering the ropes. Moments later this happens again, but this time Steamboat avoids the knee and leg sweeps Pillman to the mat. Loved it. We get a series of roll-ups and Steamboat manages to hold Pillman down for the win. This was some lovely stuff.

Vader vs Nikita Koloff

Vader is defending the US title on behalf of Rick Rude, and I liked how Ventura on commentary highlighted this disadvantage to Koloff, preparing for a very different opponent. Vader is all over Koloff, mauling him from the get go, but then poses giving Nikita a chance to come back, hitting a rare crossbody for two. Vader still controls the bulk of this, battering Nikita outside the ring, and hitting a chokeslam inside that sees Koloff land awkwardly. Koloff gets a little shine, hitting a shoulderblock and an impressive slam, but like an idiot he tries the Russian Sickle on the floor with Vader stood against a ringpost. Surprise – he clotheslines the steel and gets thrown back inside to eat a powerbomb for the Vader win.

Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Austin & Steve Williams

Austin was subbed in here to replace Terry Gordy, who was fired that same morning for a contract dispute. Yet even with the heel team being thrown together, this was really good stuff. Rhodes and Austin already have really good chemistry from their 1991 feud, and Austin and Williams seem to gel more and more as the match continues. There’s a lot to love here, really dug Dustin breaking a Williams wristlock by leaping over the top to the floor, snapping Williams’s arm over the top rope. This is pretty even stuff until Windham gets wiped out with a flying clothesline from Williams. The heat on Windham is really fun, lots of hefty blows being dished out. Loved Windham blocking a superplex and nailing a big top rope clothesline to tag in Dustin. Rhodes swiftly becomes face-in-peril after Williams clotheslines him behind the refs back. Williams then bends Rhodes in half with a nasty looking Boston Crab. Austin hits a rare powerslam on Dustin that looks great, but then the call of “5 minutes left” comes up and suddenly the pressure is on the heels to win. We get a false finish, as the heels throw Dustin out of the ring after a ref bump and pin Windham, but the original ref reverses the decision and continues the match. The match goes on two minutes and ends as a time limit draw. Really neat stuff, basically putting four 5* punchers in one match, and the result was a fun, hard-hitting half hour that flew by.

Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono

This is for Chono’s NWA title, and it’s a direct contrast to the previous match. Whereas the tag match is 30 mins that flies by, this is 22 minutes that drags to fuck. There are two refs, Harley Race inside the ring (calling it down the middle, surprisingly) and Kensuke Sasaki on the floor. There are bits of good in here – Chono snaps Rude to the mat with a sudden back suplex, Rude hits some nice big blows early on, but there’s a lot of very dull matwork that goes nowhere. There’s no fight over it, just two guys who should do better putting on holds slowly. You can hear the crowd audibly deflate when Chono locks on a sleeper. Nice little bit of psychology with Rude hurting his back after hitting a missile dropkick, before Chono accidentally hits Race with a Yakuza Kick. Rude is thrown outside the ring onto Sasaki, meaning that no-one makes a count when he nails the Rude Awakening inside the ring. Chono locks on the STF and Sasaki recovers to call the sub, but Race reverses the decision to DQ Chono. Doesn’t matter, Rude doesn’t get the belt either way, and a screwy finish is the final nail in the coffin of the crowd giving a shit. Awful stuff.

Ron Simmons vs the Barbarian

I’m a big fan of both guys, but I’d heard this was one of the worst WCW title matches. I’d say that was a bit of hyperbole, to be honest, this isn’t that bad. They work a nice power battle early, exchanging shoulderblocks and clotheslines without a winner. Loved Simmons beating Barbarian down with a series of double sledges, hammering him in the face. Barb takes over after dropping Simmons neckfirst over the rope and clotheslining him against the ringpost. Barb misses the ropewalk elbow and Simmons shows nice energy as he hits a series of clotheslines and shoulderblocks. Barbarian gets two after hitting the top rope headbutt, looked really good as he leapt across the ring, before Simmons gets the win from nowhere with a powerslam. This was perfectly decent power wrestling from two great power wrestlers.

Sting vs Jake “the Snake” Roberts

This is a Coal Miner’s Glove match after the whole “Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal” debacle. Roberts distracts Sting to start, and tries to climb the pole quickly, but is stopped. Coy opening, with neither seeming too keen to commit, weighing their opponent up. Loved Roberts doing a cocky little pose after Sting misses a dropkick, before hitting a bunch of knees to the spine. They looked great. Roberts hurts his arm on the ringpost, and I loved that Sting zeroes in on it, using it as his focal point. Clumsy spot with Jake supposedly hitting a kneelift, but selling it like he’d missed and both guys remain down. Ventura, bless him, covers for them both by claiming Jake’s momentum went against him. Roberts hits the DDT, but with the bad arm, meaning he can’t capitalise as quickly as he should, giving Sting a feasible way to recover. Sting goes for the glove, Jake goes for his cobra, and Sting hits Jake from behind, causing him to fall face first into the snake, who bites him as Sting gets the cover. Have to admit that’s an innovative ending, even though it looks a bit shit. Not as bad a match as I’d feared, it’s all logical, some nice selling and I kinda enjoyed it.

WCW Clash of the Champions XX

Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat

Really dug this, and it’s a situation where a good logical bit of storytelling enhanced an already great match. This is for Austin’s TV title, and it’s no DQ with Paul Heyman held in a cage over the ring for good measure. Straight away, when I noticed Heyman taking his phone into the cage, alarm bells started ringing in my head. “That’s the match ending right there then” I thought “Heyman throws the phone to Austin, who clonks Steamboat with it for the win”. It was nice to be proved wrong. Loved Heyman spending the national anthem giving Austin last minute tips. Austin starts off by going for Steamboat’s injured ribs, the bandages giving him a big target to aim for. Austin continues his attack, hitting some backbreakers and then locking in an abdominal stretch, clawing away at Steamboat’s midsection. I liked that, even though Steamboat had to work from beneath, he didn’t spend the whole match on defence, still getting in his fair share of offence, but with the injury giving Austin a focal point to cut Steamboat off. The rib injury doesn’t mean Steamboat can’t do anything, it just means he’s a bit slower each time. The end sees the stipulations used in a clever way, as Steamboat skins the cat, only for Austin to smash him back out with an elbow to the face, not drawing a DQ thanks to the rules. Steamboat crawls under the ring and goes to the top ropes on the opposite side. Without Heyman there to warn him, Austin turns around into a top rope crossbody to give Steamboat the win and the title. Great opener.

Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton vs Greg Valentine & Dick Slater

Interestingly, this is worked as heel vs heel, with both teams cheating and fighting dirty. Both team try two-on-one attacks early, and I loved Anderson and Eaton getting Valentine in their corner, simultaneously hammering him with punches to the face from inside the ring and punches to the back of the head from the apron. As neither team are sympathetic, they don’t bother with prolonged heat sections, so we get nice back and forth action. Eaton nails Slater with a beautiful right hand on the floor. Everything breaks down, and Valentine gets accidentally hit by manager Larry Zbyszko with a cane, allowing Eaton to hit a second rope Alabama Jam for the win.

Ron Simmons vs Cactus Jack

This is for Simmons’ world title. Fun brawl here, loved Cactus using some early misdirection on a rope run to hit Simmons with a big flying headbutt. Simmons looks great on offence, him hammering down Cactus in the corner looked really good, a full energy beatdown. Jack wears down Simmons with clotheslines, then successfully stops Simmons when he tries to make comebacks. There’s an odd spot when Cactus seemingly tries to sunset flip Simmons, and Simmons hits a quasi-Northern Lights suplex for two. Jack hits a powerslam on the floor, followed by the diving elbow, but Simmons quickly rebounds with a spinebuster and a powerslam for the win. Bit of a no-sell by Simmons at the end there.

Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Butch Reed & The Barbarian

Reed is a mystery partner for Barb here. Dustin takes an insane corner bump early, flying into the post so hard that he lands 2-3 metres away from the ring. The heels wear down Dustin nicely, headbutts to the torso, backbreakers  and some big meaty Barbarian elbows. Rhodes builds nicely to the hot tag, getting a few little hope spots in the run up to tagging Windham in. Windham runs through the heels with a huge lariat and superplex on Barbarian, but he gets distracted by Reed, and Barbarian boots him in the face for the win. Could have gone a bit longer as the heat on Rhodes was slightly truncated, but I enjoyed this.

Vader, Rick Rude, Super Invader & Jake Roberts vs Sting, Nikita Koloff & the Steiner Brothers

This is an elimination match, and it’s a decent main event. The Vader/Rick Steiner face off is surprisingly fun, a battle of the big lads throwing bombs. Steiner hitting an unlikely belly-to-belly suplex was really neat. The problem is that the match may well be a bit too short, with a heat section on Scott being pretty short due to having to fit in all the eliminations. Nikita is the first to go, rolled up by Jake after colliding with Rude, then Invader quickly follows after a Sting bulldog. The Steiners continue to look great against Vader, with Rick hitting a German suplex on Vader. However, the Steiners end up looking like idiots on both their eliminations. First Scott comes off the top with an attempt at a top rope clothesline, but Rick obviously can’t hold Vader on his shoulders, so it looks crap and Scott gets DQ’d for breaking the top rope rule. Rick ends up on the floor, and eats a Rude Awakening, causing him to get counted out, and leaving Sting 3-on-1. Sting looks great as the fired up babyface, not backing down and cowering away, but instead is all fight, taking it to the heels. The end though, it’s pretty off. Sting suplexes Rude, but Vader hits a top rope splash, killing both Sting and Rude, getting himself DQ’d. Rude is as dead as Sting, so Jake drags him to the corner, tags in and hits the DDT on Sting for the final fall. Vader getting himself DQ’d and killing his partner in the same move made him look a bit dumb, but the overall match was fun.

I-Generation Wrestling: Rodman Down Under

This is a one-off PPV filmed in Australia in the year 2000, headlined by Curt Hennig and basketball player Dennis Rodman. This used to be shown on the Wrestling Channel in the UK on a semi-regular basis 8 years ago, so I've got fond memories of it, despite a lot of it being terrible. The version I'm reviewing is sadly the German commentary version available on YouTube, so I'm not totally clear on the rules in all the matches.

The Public Enemy vs the Legion of Doom

This is for the tag titles held by the PE, and is a double-elimination table match. Rocco Rock looks to be in decent shape, which puts him ahead of the other competitors in the bout. He takes a nice 360 clotheslines bump early as if to highlight this point. In contrast, Hawk hits a diving shoulderblock which sees him barely leave the mat. The key issue with this match is that everyone seems to move in a hesitant slow motion, making everything seem tentative and fake. Guys seem to be bumping gingerly. I know you aren’t supposed to get hurt on bumps, but the audience is at least supposed to believe you are. The Enemy work heat on Animal, before isolating Hawk off the hot tag. Rock hits a nice flip dive through a table to eliminate Hawk, but an attempt on Animal sees him move, causing Rock to take a nasty landing. Back in the ring, an awkward series of events sees Animal “spear” both members of the PE through a table in the corner (with Grunge tottering backwards embarrassingly) to win the match. Rock looked decent here, the rest were clumsy and inept at best.

Brute Force vs the Barbarian

This is a hardcore match. Brute Force is Brutus Beefcake under a non-copyrighted name. Brutus attacks Barbarian from the bell with a bin and attempts to choke him out with a broom, but a low blow turns the tide in Barbarian’s favour. Barbarian isn’t afraid to lace in the chops in the corner. They brawl outside the ring, culminating in a clumsy spot when Barb seems to give Brutus an atomic drop using the guard rail. That’d be a great spot if it was intentional, but it doesn’t feel like that’s the case. Really, this match is just two guys hitting each other with weapons, with control alternating back and forth at random. Still, fair play to Brutus who really does his part in keeping the crowd into the match, really works the audience. Beefcake gets a series of 2 counts, first off a terrible looking stunner, then off a DDT and a piledriver. I suspect the English commentary would attribute this to the Barbarian’s “hard head”. Beefcake tries a bin shot from the top rope, but as he leaps, Barb boots the bin lid into his face for the three count. Not a great match.

Sweet Destiny vs Brandi Wine

Destiny is accompanied by Australian boxer Joe Bugner, whilst Wine has a short-haired Typhoon, going under the name Sugar Daddy. Destiny is (slightly) better known as Little Jeanne of “feuding with Molly Holly on WCW Saturday Night in 99/2000” fame. She was always a decent worker in those matches, and this is the best match of the night so far. It’s not always pretty – Destiny kinda only glances Brandi with a top rope crossbody – but both girls work hard and take some nice looking bumps. Destiny takes the best looking bump, landing in the railings with some real oomph. Wine hits a poor looking powerbomb, but Destiny’s handspring rana is pretty choice. We get the inevitable face-off between Bugner and Typhoon in the ring, ending with Bugner nailing a straight punch to the face, before Destiny hits a top rope superplex to win. Good enough.

One Man Gang vs Tatanka

Tatanka is defending the “International title” here. This match is strange, in that there’s nothing technically wrong with it, but it’s a deeply uninteresting match. Which is odd, as I really like both guys. OMG in particular works hard to make this good, jawing with the crowd and drawing great heat, causing a deluge of rubbish to be hurled into the ring at one point. Heck, he even takes a big bump by getting slammed off the top rope, which I didn’t expect from year 2000 One Man Gang. For his part, Tatanka throws some nice chops and sells OMG’s offence well, but this match just drags on. It’s almost 20 minutes, which is an insane length for OMG in 2000. If this had been condensed down by even 5 minutes, this could have been really fun. As it is, we sit through a slow match to get a bullshit ending. Tatanka gets a visual pin on Gang following a top rope chop, but the ref has already been bumped. As Tatanka checks on him, Gang pulls out some brass knucks (making sure to raise them high for all the crowd to see, nice touch) and punches him out to win the title.

Curt Hennig vs Dennis Rodman

Hennig is working face here, defending the I Generation world title in a street fight. Rodman doesn’t get much offence in here, believably, but he does win me over with his effort. Rodman cheap shots Hennig from behind to start, and busts him open with the belt, which is a realistic way for a non-wrestler to take over on someone like Hennig. This doesn’t last long, before Hennig is in control and works him over outside. Rodman takes an impressive bump, getting hurled over the Australian announce table, before Henning drives him through it face-first. Back in the ring, Henning stomps on Rodman’s cock, before locking in a camel clutch (only actual wrestling hold of the match) and laying in some big chops in the corner. Rodman strangely escapes from the corner by giving the ref a headbutt, and after another tussle with Hennig, throws the recovered ref from the ring. This prompts a bullshit DQ finish in the street fight main event of a one-off PPV, but I guess both guys were supposed to be protected by it. Not a great match, but strangely entertaining up to that point, despite it being worked as an extended squash for Hennig. Probably still match of the night.

The Best of the Barbarian

The Barbarian & Rip Oliver vs Tatsutoshi Gotoh & Sakurada

JIP. Barbarian looks great on offence here. His strikes look effective and he gets real great height on a legdrop. Barb and Oliver look good in control and I did their use of logic: after Barb drops Gotoh over the railings, he works the ribs with some headbutts and a bearhug, and Oliver follows suit. Sakurada gets a backbreaker on Oliver for the sudden win.

The Barbarian vs Sakurada

What I dig with the Barbarian is the suddenness of his moves, the way his diving headbutts see him drop straight down with velocity instead of just falling. He hits Sakurada with a gorgeous powerslam and leaps halfway across the ring to try a diving headbutt from the top. Sakurada really struggles to retain control, as Barb forces the fight to the outside. Sakurada brings a chair in to try and subdue Barbarian, but this gets taken off him and used against him. Oddly, this doesn’t get Barbarian disqualified, but him relentlessly battering Sakurada in a tree-of-woe does.

The Barbarian vs Antonio Inoki

The dominance of Barb in the last two matches means he goes into this Inoki match looking like a monster. Very cat and mouse feel to start, and I love Inoki learning from a Barb slam and reversing a second attempt into a headscissors. Barb is very much in control and predictably dominates a test of strength. The momentum swings in a lovely manner – Barbarian goes for a strike, but Inoki quickly hits a big chop to the face, stunning Barbarian. He looks like my dog did, when she first saw a hissing cat: confused as to what is happening, but not particularly happy that it is. This gives Inoki hope, showing a weakness in Barb, and he peppers more chops in to send Barbarian to the mat. Barb fires back, but Inoki catches the boot and works over the Barbarian’s legs on the mat with a legbar, a deathlock and an STF, switching holds to stop Barb breaking free. Barbarian goes for the top rope headbutt, but misses and Inoki nails the enzuigiri for the win. Really good match.

The Barbarian & Marioman vs Antonio Inoki & George Takano

Odd bout here. Marioman is a fat black guy in a white singlet and generic white mask. He doesn’t seem particularly good, and this match is disappointingly off. For example, when Inoki manages to pull Marioman to his corner during a test of strength spot, Takano goes to the top rope, doesn’t seem sure what he’s going to do and climbs down again, entering through the ropes instead. Barbarian does perform a swank leglock reversal, which isn’t something I expected to see from him, but the rest of the bout is non-descript with everyone going through the motions. Marioman pins Takano following a splash and an elbow drop.

The Barbarian vs Tatsumi Fujinami

Big upgrade in match quality here. They work a quick tempo to start here, with Fujinami frustrating Barb. Barbarian grabs a chair, playing to his strengths, only for Fujinami to grab the chair and waffle him with it. Fujinami wisely goes to the mat, grounding Barbarian with headscissors and headlocks to negate the power advantage. I loved how they showed Barb’s raw aggression working against him, as he hurts his shoulder on a corner charge, then gets rammed into the ringpost shoulder first when he tries taking the fight to the floor. Back inside, Fujinami is able to escape a suplex and nail a German suplex for the win. Fun stuff here.

The Barbarian vs Steve Williams

Very much a change of pace here, with two big lads having a power match. Loved Williams wisely grabbing a chair at the outset to combat Barbarian’s chain. We clip to them brawling on the floor, and Williams belts Barb with a chair so hard that the seating panel flies into the crowd. These two match up really well, with both feeling comfortable to lay in some snug moves. Loved Barb finally getting wise to Williams reverting back to the chair by big booting it into his face. Impressive press slam by Barb gets a big pop, but he misses the diving headbutt. Williams misses a three-point stance, falling to the floor, and Barb wraps his arm with the chain for a DQ-causing clothesline. Stupid ending considering Williams was battering him with a chair throughout the match, but the meat of the bout was fun.

The Barbarian & Black Bart vs Antonio Inoki & Keiji Mutoh

Bart looks positively bumbling in there with Mutoh, who paces around him. Barb is quicker and less clumsy, so he fares better in there. Bart’s offence looks a bit off, like an odd second rope legdrop he hits on Mutoh. Barb using a standing overhead one-armed choke looks far more impressive. Barbarian is definitely positioned as the superior member of the team, so when Bart lets Mutoh tag out, Barb stops Inoki cold with a boot to the head. Even Bart’s selling is worse – after Barbarian saves him following an Inoki enzuigiri and a Mutoh moonsault, he just gets to his feet despite having been hit by two big finishers. Things break down and Barb chokes out both Inoki and Mutoh with his chain for the DQ.

The Barbarian vs Tatsumi Fujinami

Love seeing Barbarian scare the shit out of the crowd on the way to the ring. Barbarian is seemingly allowed to use his chain freely to attack Fujinami at the start. Fujinami is able to get an advantage using his superior speed, but gets planted with a lovely Barbarian spinebuster. Fujinami is still quicker though, and is able to avoid a chairshot and dropkick the chair into Barb’s face. Fujinami then wears down Barbarian with repeated chinlocks, with Barb selling his grogginess in between each chinlock really well. He noticeably slows down by the time he escapes the final chinlock, and levels Fujinami with his chain, causing a DQ.

The Barbarian vs Antonio Inoki

This is more angle than match, but is still a pretty fun bit of business. Barb is even more aggressive to start here, putting Inoki in a tree of woe, and tying him in place with the chain. One of Inoki’s entourage, a big fat guy seems particularly enraged by Barb’s actions. When Inoki escapes, I dug him wearing down Barbarian with kicks to the leg, like chopping down a big redwood. Eventually, the match ends with chaos, as the fat guy gets fed up with Barb’s cheap tactics and interferes to draw the DQ win for Barbarian.

The Barbarian & Tony St Clair vs Antonio Inoki & Kengo Kimura

Another fun bout, with Barbarian destroying Kimura to start. Inoki fares better against the big man, but his team loses control when Kimura grabs Barbarian by the beard and almost gets his head knocked off with a big strike. Barbarian and St Clair work surprisingly well as a team, and I dug St Clair’s apron work in trying to quiet the crowd down. Barb is played up at the strongest link of the team, and as things break down, it’s St Clair who gets pinned following an enzuigiri

The Barbarian vs Antonio Inoki

These two know each other pretty well by now, so it’s cool to see Barbarian add a few new tweaks to the match. I loved him grabbing Inoki by the bicep out of the ref’s view to prevent a clean corner break and allowing him to attack a prone Inoki. Dug Inoki chopping down the tree again with kicks to the leg, which gave him the leverage to lock in a big armbar. Barbarian does a good job of selling his frustration of being stuck in the armbar, with a nice close escape attempt. Barb does a little bit of bodypart focus himself, hitting a piledriver then a headscissors to work over the neck of Inoki. Barbarian is in control, but his second Buzz Sawyer tries to clotheline Inoki with the chain, but only hits Barbarian. One enzuigiri later, and Inoki wins. Nice bout to end the comp on.

IWA Japan 14/09/2004

Really curious line up for this show, which is what inspired me to buy it. There is a one-night tournament for the IWA Japan heavyweight title, with lopsided brackets and an interesting list of participants (The Barbarian, Jim Duggan, Big Bossman, George Hines, Freddy Kreuger and Bruiser Kong), as well as a few non-tournament matches.

The Barbarian vs George Hines
Despite his advanced years, Barbarian is still a big guy here, and Hines' attempts to knock him down are pretty ineffective. Hines then decides a chop exchange with Barbarian might work for him - it doesn't. Hines eventually knocks him over with a sloppy looking crossbody, which gets two. Hines gets two following a nice pump kick , then starts getting a bit overconfident when a Shining Wizard gets another two. This confidence is his downfall, as Barbarian nails a chokeslam for two, then a powerbomb for the win. Fun enough opener.

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs Bruiser Kong
Imagine James Storm in 10 years time cosplaying Bruiser Brody, and you've got Kong. This is really not very good, with Kong controlling almost the whole match, with Duggan only getting a few big blows in now and again. Kong's offence is generic heel stuff, all rope chokes and face gouging, but nothing looks particularly good. He gives Duggan a really weak lovetap with the 2x4, which is just embarrassing. Kong misses a big boot and Duggan nails the Three-Point Stance to win. Needed more Duggan offence, believe it or not.

Big Bossman vs Freddy Krueger
I love the fact I live in a world where this match can happen. Unlike the cinematic Freddy, this one looks a bit clumsy and can easily be hurt, as Bossman dominates the whole match. It's not a great match, but it's hard not to love the concept of the Bossman choking out Freddy fucking Krueger with his boot. The Bossman Slam gains the win pretty swiftly.

Great Takeru, Katsuya Kishi, Etsuko Mita, Omawari~san & Ultra Seven vs Dorobo, YUJI KITO, Hidehiro Nishiyama, Crusher Takahashi & Kaori Yoneyama
I don't know who is who in the match, but I managed to work a few out. Some sites have Omawari~san labelled as "Officer", so I guess he was the guy who looked and acted like a camp policeman. "Dorobo" is likewise listed as "The Thief", so that explains why, during a fun joshi bit between Mita and Yoneyama, Omawari~san is chasing Dorobo through the crowd. It's a bit of a mixed bag this match, with a ridiculous 11 person suplex spot including the ref. You get the impression some people here are just waiting around to dish out/receive spots. In the end, Ultra Seven makes Dorobo tap out to an octopus stretch. Forgettable.

Jaguar Yokota & Nozomi Takesago vs Command Bolshoi & Kyoko Kimura
JIP with Bolshoi hitting a ropewalk on Yokota, before diving outside onto all three ladies. Yokota is a bit older than the others, and comes across as suitably surly - Kimura is soon bleeding from the mouth. Bolshoi has some nice offence, getting close falls on Yokota with a swank looking rana and a Tiger suplex. Things break down, with both Bolshoi and Takesago hitting their own partners by accident, before Yokota nails Kimura with a fisherman's buster for the win. Decent enough.

Kensuke Sasaki vs Leatherface
This is a pretty brief affair. Leatherface gets a few moves in, but Sasaki clearly isn't down with getting hung on a butcher's hook, so chops and clotheslines the shit out of Leatherface in the corner. A brainbuster gets three.

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs the Barbarian
Let's be honest, expectations have to be lowered for this match. Two guys arguably 10-15 years after their prime, with one booked to wrestle three times in a night, aren't going to be putting on a classic here. That said, this was fun enough for the four minutes it was on. Barbarian took a nice bump as Duggan clotheslined him over the top rope, and I loved the comedy spot of Duggan knocking himself out whilst trying to headbutt his way out of a bearhug. Obviously forgot Barbarian's infamously hard head. The end sees Barb miss a top rope headbutt and Duggan pick up the win with the three point stance.

Satoshi Kojima vs Chocoball Mukai
The opening really sets the tone here, with Mukai trying power moves and failing, only for Kojima to try similar moves with more joy. Kojima seems happy to take his time and looks like he's enjoying beating away on Mukai, nailing a nasty senton before mocking Mukai's hip-wiggling taunt. Mukai does gets some offence in after catching the nonchalent Kojima in a standing Guillotine choke, but his offence doesn't look very painful and, after Kojima pretty much rolls through a low-elevation German suplex, Mukai resorts to roll-ups and cradles to try for a quick win. It doesn't work and Kojima nails a Koji Cutter for two, before a lariat gives him the win. An extended squash, but a fun one.

The Big Bossman vs "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
Sadly, this is likely Bossman's last match, as he passed away three weeks later. This is the tournament final for the IWA title. This match is less than four minutes, with maybe a third spent in a chinlock, so it's no classic, but it's not awful either. There is plenty of fun "old men clubbing each other" offence and I love the ref leapfrogging over Bossman as he heads out of the ring for his sliding punch. The end sees a ref bump and Bossman's eyes lighting up as he realises he can grab Duggan's 2x4 to steal the win. However, Duggan's wife stops him using it, and he turns round into a flying clothesline from the 3 point stance for the Duggan win. As an aside, gotta love how proud Duggan looks to win the title belt.

Toshiaki Kawada vs Keizo Matsuda
This match is all about Matsuda trying his best to conquer a seemingly unbeatable foe. His gameplan fails right at the start, as Kawada boots him in the face as he tries to run the ropes. The new plan involves slapping Kawada in the face on a strike exchange, which goes badly as Kawada starts beating the piss out of him, inside and outside the ring. Indeed, twice Kawada boots him in the face from the apron onto a ringside table. In the ring, he's still not able to get an advantage, and I love the way Matsuda shows his building frustration at not being able to get any real offence on Kawada. Eventually, he manages to reverse a suplex to a big reaction from the crowd, and twice downing Kawada with clotheslines gets a similar reaction. However, you get the feeling he's put everything into this spell of offence and a Kawada boot to the head is the begining of the end. A clothesline may only get two, but Kawada nails him with a powerbomb for the win. Really nicely worked match.

WWF Mega Matches

Back in the early 2000's, before YouTube and discovering the indies, it was always a massive treat to discover wrestling on sale for cheap, no matter what it was, and those rare days where some wrestling would turn up in Cash Generator were an absolute joy. I still fondly remember finding 3 ECW PPV's on tape at £3 each, and snapping them up even though I wasn't a huge ECW fan. This tape I bought and watched it in full once, before it went into the small hamper I have of wrestling tapes and sat there until this week. Let's give it another watch

Tito Santana vs Earthquake
Tito goes into this match with the dirt-worst game plan possible, which is to totally underestimate the power of Quake. He tries go-behinds that see him rammed into the corner, tries shoulderblocks that he clearly is never going to win and gets caught by the big man when he tries a crossbody. He does try to work a body part but, despite having used a figure-four as a past finisher and knowing that working a leg would make it hard for Quake to support his weight, he instead decides to work the arm. This, of course, leave the other arm free, so Quake clubs him down and starts to go to work on Tito. Quake seems to be in "methodical house show" mode here, so his attack is pretty unexciting. I did like Tito managing to escape a bearhug by climbing the turnbuckle, whilst still in Quake's arms, to get better elevation. Flying forearm only gets two, so you know Quake is getting pushed here. A missed Tito dropkick sets up the usual finishing sequence for Earthquake, but Tugboat comes in before the seated splash to attack and give Quake the win by DQ. Dino Bravo and Rhythm & Blues enter the ring (to save the heel from an unprompted 2-on-1 assault mind you; Quake hadn't broken a single rule all match) before Hacksaw Duggan makes the save for Tito and Tugger with the 2x4. Lord Alfred Hayes describes this as a moral win for Tito. What the fucking fuck? Match was pretty dull.

Bobby Heenan vs Big Boss Man
You know this isn't going to be much of a match, but you also know this should be fun. Heenan is gold on the mic to start, begging Boss Man's forgiveness for all his mother jokes, saying he'd sent roses to Boss Man's mother and saying she was on the phone in the back to ask Boss Man not to fight the Brain. This is clearly gearing up to an ambush in the back (not picked up on by the announcers), and Boss Man thinks about leaving the ring, before quickly decimating the Brain in 30 seconds, pinning him with a foot. Mr Perfect tries to save his manager (so you know there was a backstage assault plan), but fails and Bobby gets a ball-and-chain dropped on his chest. Fun deal.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs Sgt. Slaughter
Not much to this one. Slaughter takes a few nice bumps off Duggan's big goofy punches, before a flag to the back from General Adnam gives him the advantage. Slaughter looks to be maintaining focus on the back by hitting a backbreaker, but Duggan soon recovers and makes an abrupt comeback. Three point stance is interrupted by Adnam grabbing his leg, and Hacksaw chases him away to lose by DQ. Pointless.

Bret Hart vs the Barbarian
I like both guys, so this should be decent. Bret oddly goes against his usual logical instincts and decides to try and hiptoss the Barbarian, which fails, and this allows Barbarian to dominate with some power moves. Bret uses his speed advantage to avoid a 2nd rope elbow, and the Hart Attack clothesline is counted as a three in a botch by the slow, doddery old ref. He's terrible all match. Barbarian hits a lovely powerslam for the comeback, but when he drops down to counter a sunset flip, Bret in turn reverses that into a winning pinfall. Another match that's way too short on this tape.

Rhythm & Blues vs the Bushwhackers
By way of contrast, I'd prefer this match to be kept short. I've no idea why poor old Rhythm & Blues were forever paired with Luke and Butch. Valentine nails a lovely clothesline on Luke to take over, and the match is bearable when Valentine and Honky are in control. Butch comes in to break up a fair pinfall, then gets annoyed when Honky comes in to send him out to the floor. This seemingly makes it fair for Butch to level HTM with a guitar for the DQ. I fucking hate the Bushwhackers.

Hulk Hogan vs Dino Bravo
Earthquake is in Bravo's corner, so the Big Bossman is announced for Hogan's corner. This leads to a hilarious over-reaction by one girl in the crowd, who repeatedly shrieks with excitement. Scary. The match isn't much to speak about, though Hogan does his best to make it interesting. I did love him levelling Bravo with a single chop. Some Earthquake interference gives Bravo the advantage, and he keeps interfering throughout the match, with Bossman's only attempts to stop him being to slowly wander over, by which point the damage is done. Even Sean Mooney points out how useless the Bossman is here. Bravo's offence is really dull, all chokes and punches, and the only thing stopping a bearhug being tedious is how well Hogan sells it. Hogan has the smarts to nearly break it, before letting Bravo sinch it in again, to keep the crowd into the match. Bravo hits his finishing side suplex, but Hogan kicks out on two, Hulks up and swiftly hits the big boot and legdrop to win. Poor match.

Haku vs the British Bulldog
This must be early in the Bulldog's comeback, as he's only billed as "Davey Boy Smith" here. We come in joined in progress with Bulldog holding a sleeper. We've got two big lads who can move here, highlighted by a nice crossbody and a crucifix by Smith. He also takes a huge bump from a back bodydrop. Haku is pretty methodical here, and holds Smith in two consecutive restholds for a little bit too long. Bulldog gets little comebacks, but Haku is pretty good at cutting them off. Bulldog at one point breaks a sleeper, but ends up being hurled upside down to the corner. There is a midring collision, where Davey Boy somehow recovers quicker, despite being beaten up for the past 5-7 minutes. Davey locks in a sharpshooter, but Bobby Heenan pushes to rope to Haku to force a break. Bulldog sends Haku flying with a back bodydrop of his own, and the running powerslam gets three. Nice to get a decent length match here.

Randy Savage vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan
There are a lot of smoke and mirrors in this match, but I don't really think they needed the help. Both guys put in a really good effort in the match. I loved Duggan's big punches early on, which Savage sells big time. Sensational Sherri attacks Duggan to give Savage an opening, and I love Duggan's selling here. Not only is he not afraid to sell for a lady, he also does a great job of making Savage look good. There is a great bit where Duggan slowly gets to his feet, getting fired up, only to turn into a top rope ax handle by Savage, and this leads up to Savage trying again a few minutes later, only for Duggan to be ready with a clothesline to the gut. Savage takes two big bumps, one from the ring to the floor then one from the floor over the guardrail. Hacksaw levels him with a chair, which doesn't draw a DQ somehow. The big knee only gets two after Sherri distracts the ref, but Duggan is smart enough not to take his eye off Savage as he yells at her, and avoids a sneak attack. Savage misses the top rope elbow, but the three point stance from Duggan sends the Macho King to the outside. The ref gets bumped, giving Duggan a visual fall, before Savage levels him with a weapon. A slow count from the ref means this only gets two as the drama gets cranked up, before Savage pins him with his feet on the rope to win. Really good match, with great effort from both men.

Randy Savage vs the Ultimate Warrior
This is a cage match, though they battle outside the cage at first, following a misguided attempt at a sneak attack by Savage. Warrior wipes the floor with him. I would be remiss in not mentioning how fucking unbearable Brother Love is on commentary. The opening stages are so slow, as Savage hurls Warrior into the cage with a handful of trunks, then both guys get VERY slowly to their feet. A double clothesline spot puts both down, and they act like they've worked an iron man match when we're only 5 mins in. Savage wears Warrior down with chokes and eye rakes, before the top rope elbow only gets two. Warrior fires back with the usual, but the splash hits knees. Suddenly, the match is nearly over as Savage climbs almost all the way out, only for Warrior to grab him by the hair. Sherri comes in to interfere and bang, Savage falls to the floor a victor. Terrible match, with no real drama or pacing. After, Warrior beats up Savage and looks to be about to beat Sherri before a sudden cut.

All Star Wrestling 14/03/2001

This is a show I bought from IVP Videos, which is being sold there under the title "Best of the UK V.55". It's handheld footage from an All Star show in Plymouth from 13 years ago, and had an interesting enough line up to convince me to check it out. It also comes with bonus matches at the end, which is nice

Legend of Doom vs Mustafa the Turk
LoD is Johnny South in his Road Warrior tribute/rip-off gimmick. Mustafa, bless him, is a generic "evil foreigner" heel. Mustafa dominates to start, before LoD sends him from the ring with a series of clotheslines. South grabs Mustafa's leg out from under him, toppling the big man like a tree, which gets a nice pop, and some brawling in the crowd also gets a good reaction. They work a rest hold into the match, and already South is selling more than the real LoD normally would. A missed avalanche in the corner sees Mustafa take a big spill to the floor, and back inside LoD nails a second-rope clothesline to pick up the win. Perfectly decent wrestling.

American Avalanche vs David Sierra
It's PN News vs the Cuban Assassin in a battle of former WCW stars. Sierra is accompanied by his manager Fantasy, and the camcorder zooms RIGHT IN on her breasts as they approach the ring. Sigh. Sierra attacks from behind, but makes the mistake of attacking the vast stomach of Avalanche. Avalanche keeps it simple, whilst working in crowdpleasing spots like holding onto a headlock when Sierra tries to fire him into the ropes. The headlock is held a tad too long though, and they bizarrely do the arm dropping spot on Sierra, who managed to get his arm up on two, despite being heel. Big bump is taken over top as Avalanche missed his namesake move in the corner. A 2nd rope cannonball senton misses, but AA gets fired up by the "belly" chants. An Avalanche DDT puts both men down, they then do a double clothesline spot to keep them down longer. Sierra tries using his Cuban flag on Avalanche, which the ref prevents, and the distraction lets AA hit a standing avalanche for the win. Not one to remember.

Marty Jannetty vs Totoru
Man, we certainly didn't get Marty Jannetty when I went to an All Star show 2 years after this. Totoru is a masked chap, allegedly from Thailand, in Super Dragon-esque pyjamas who trips as he comes into the ring. After Totoru spends ages stalling, he suckers Jannetty into posing on the turnbuckle, then attacks him. After Jannetty gets the upper hand, Totoru exits the ring and stalls for even longer. Jannetty dominates, throwing Totoru from the ring with a sunset flip, where he gets bullied by kids. For some reason, Totoru's trousers fall down, just fucking awful "comedy". Totoru gets back in the ring, and in the process of pulling himself to his feet, he pulls ref trousers down. Oh, hilarious. At this point, the ring announcer announces that 10 minutes have gone by, 10 minutes where we've seen barely any fucking wrestling. Jannetty misses a corner charge, giving Totoru his only offensive flurry, where he repeatedly whips Marty to the corner. Marty even cracks out the 360 degree clothesline spell, which is wasted on a load like Totoru. This lasts barely a minute, before Jannetty reverses a backdrop into a facebuster for three. A steaming sack of shit.

Chad Malenko vs Jonny Storm
You may know Malenko better as Chad Collyer, so this has the chance of being decent. Hilariously, he still has the initials "CC" on his trunks. Malenko tries to get a "USA" chant going for some easy heat. Nice little mat sequence gets us warmed up. I love the simple touches, where Storm asks the crowd if he should wrench Malenko's arm again, while Malenko shakes his head. They work a nice sequence of counters and reversals, which ends with Storm on top, which must seem like manna from the Gods for this crowd after some of the earlier toss on this show. Malenko takes control and slows things down with a chinlock. He sends Storm high into the air with a massive flapjack. This is being worked very simply, like a good TV match, with Storm getting a few hope spots on his comebacks before Malenko cuts him off. Makes sense, as this isn't a crowd that wants long indy-style matches (which these guys could certainly do). Top rope rana and a moonsault press by Storm gets a good reaction from the crowd. The end comes as Malenko blocks a second top rope rana and hits a tornado DDT for the win. Really enjoyed this.

James Mason & the Legend of Doom vs Hollywood Blonde & Bad Brad the Nasty Boy
Poor James Mason must feel left out at not getting an early 90's tag gimmick to work here. Couldn't he have been "the Natural Disaster" James Mason or something? This is a tables match. No idea who are portraying the heels, but Blonde looks like Brian Pillman playing at being Curt Hennig. The match starts and Bad Brad can hardly bump on an armdrag. Bodes well. Blonde at least looks competent, but Brad is working lighter than a feather. A brief heat spell sees a hot tag to Mason, and he looks top drawer here, hitting a sweet flipping senton. He gets caught by a Blonde DDT though to become face-in-peril. Blonde works in some nice heel spots on the apron, while his useless partner distracts the ref. Mason gets his comeback from out of nowhere, almost as if he just decided that Brad was too shit to keep selling for. The faces clean house, as the crowd start getting excited about seeing a table spot. It soon comes, as Mason blocks a top rope superplex attempt by the Blonde to put him through a table. The fact that this was still fun despite Bad Brad being utter shit is a testament to the work of the other three.

The crowd disperses as the MC offers photo opportunites with the Cuban Assassin and the camera zooms in on his manager's backside. So classy.

The two bonus matches at the end comes from an All Star show in Bristol from 22/2/01.

Jonny Storm vs Chad Malenko
This was filmed 3 weeks prior to the other match, so it'll be interesting if they just had a stock touring match. Seemingly not, as Malenko stomps the shit out of Storm in the corner to start. No mat work, just the more muscular Malenko hammering away on Storm. Storm sends him packing with some dropkicks, playing up his speed advantage. There is a mat section after this, but it's nice to see they mixed it up a little bit. They're definately working some different bits into this match, with Malenko doing a nice little showboat by running round whilst holding a delayed vertical suplex. Malenko keeps control on Jonny, with a nice single leg crab and an STF. Jonny's comeback here includes a nice rana in the middle of the ring, but Malenko catches him leaping off the top for another rana and plants him with a powerbomb for three. Another good bout between these two.

The Barbarian vs American Avalanche
This is joined in progress. I'd have fucking loved to have seen the Barbarian in action when I went to All Star. Barbarian is busy nailing AA with a chair as we come in. He misses a diving headbutt and a DDT puts him down, totally going against all wrestling has taught me about him having a hard head. Avalanche splashes a chair onto Barbarian for two. A chairshot to the head gets the win for Avalanche. Short and sweet.

WCW Slamboree 1996

WCW was my favourite wrestling company of all-time. The first wrestling I ever got to see was 1992 WCW on ITV every Saturday, and I loved that stuff. Therefore, I thought it time to revisit my favourite company in the days just before the NWO showed up.

Hawk & Lex Luger vs Animal & Booker T
I'm going to count off examples of the booking making a mockery of the "random draw" claim. Here is number one, as the Road Warriors end up on opposite teams. However, at least the fans will finally get to see the Roadies square off, right? Luger and Animal start off by working a reasonable power match, where at least Luger seems motivated. Booker continues the work on Luger, including a swank spot where he turns a missed elbow into a spinneroonie into a roundhouse kick for two. It breaks down into a melee when Luger stupidly shoves Hawk for saving him from being pinned and all four brawl outside and get counted out. The LOD never exchanged one blow to the disappointment off all. Stupid booking.

The Public Enemy vs Kevin Sullivan & Chris Benoit
Mockeries two and three see a regular tagteam facing two guys who don't like each other. This actually turns out pretty good, the opening exchange between Benoit and Rock is fun, as Rock clearly doesn't mind Benoit getting stiff with him on a huge powerbomb. The fight goes to the floor and Dusty gets very happy when the plundah! is brought out. Sullivan LEATHERS Rock with a hard plastic chair, but TPE get the win when both members plummet through Chris Benoit who is prostate on a table. Brief but fun

Sgt Craig Pittman & Scott Steiner vs the Booty Man & Rick Steiner
Here is mockery four. Pittman guides Booty Man through a passable mat sequence before planting him with a huge belly-to-back suplex. The crowd really want to see the Steiners fight and, despite Scott's hesitation, they get their wish. The Steiners go through a fun exhibition in the ring, until Scott lures Rick in by feigning injury and rolls him up for two. They then exchange a series of suplexes before both tagging out. Pittman locks the Code Red on Booty Man, but Leslie manages to tag in Rick who hits a German Suplex for 3. The three decent workers didn't let Booty Man stink this one up too much, so it was pretty fun, especially the Steiners sequence.

The Bluebloods vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan & VK Wallstreet
Herein lies mockery five. They at least try to explain this, by pointing out that Regal was scheduled to team with Finlay until the Bloods took him out, but considering that Regal was feuding with Finlay, it still ranks on the mockery list. This match is far too short to be any good, but Regal still manages to bring some goods- backed into a corner by Duggan, he hooks Hacksaw's ankle with his foot, thus preventing a clean break and allowing him to paste Duggan when the ref tries to intervene. Duggan and Wallstreet don't coexist at all, making it even worse when Duggan uses an illegally taped fist to pin Taylor and make the Bloods look like idiots.

Dick Slater & The Earl Of Eaton vs Alex Wright & Disco Inferno
This is pre-Boogie Knights, so doesn't qualify as a mockery. Again, too brief to really comment on, though Wright has some nice spunky babyface offence. Slater nails a dancing Disco with his boot while the ref is distracted to get the win

DDP & the Barbarian vs Meng & Hugh Morrus
The Faces Of Fear on opposing teams in this match makes this mockery six. Morrus misses a plancha right off the bat, hitting the floor with a satisfying thud. The Meng/Barbarian segments are the ones you'd anticipate most and are every bit as awesome as you'd hope, and the rest of the match is pretty fun as well. Barbarian throws Morrus across the ring from the top rope, while Morrus hits the best moonsault I ever saw from him. The ending is a bit poor, as we get a double-pin with only Barbarian's counting due to DDP making the ropes, but the match as a whole is fine

Big Bubba & Stevie Ray vs Fire & Ice
Mockery seven. Very, very short, but it's a a perfectly serviceable powermatch while it's on. Train and Stevie Ray aren't good workers, but getting four big guys in the ring to hit power spots for 3 minutes with no resting is a fine way to kill time. Fire & Ice advance

Eddie Guerrero & Arn Anderson vs. Ric Flair & Randy Savage
As a straight tag match, this would be unholy good. Sadly, it’s mockery number eight that sees Flair teaming up with hated rival Savage, while Flair’s best friend is half of the other team. The end result is that this is a bit of a mess, with Flair attacking his own partner, Guerrero feeling bad for Savage, then Arn turning on Guerrero with a DDT to allow Flair the win. There are some choice moments in the match: Flair tags Macho in after assaulting him, then grabs Eddie’s hand to make him tag in Arn who decimates Savage which is fun, while Eddie gets a huge pop for giving Flair a poke to the eyes.

Dean Malenko vs. Brad Armstrong
The first time that the Cruiserweight title was defended on WCW pay-per-view. Essentially a bit of a squash here, which is a shame given the talent on display. After a fun opening exchange, Malenko offers Armstrong a test of strength, only to dropkick his knee when approaching for lock-up. Malenko then spends the bulk of the match working over BA’s leg and, though Armstrong gets a small comeback at the end, Malenko makes quick work of him with a toprope gutbuster. The match is pretty short and, much as I hate to say it, a bit dull

Dick Slater & The Earl Of Eaton vs. VK Wall street & Jim Duggan
Yep, there’s a second round of tournament matches before we can get to the battle royale. This match starts with partners Duggan and Wallstreet brawling before joining forces to defend themselves when the opposition attack. However, this leaves the face/heel dynamic out of sorts, meaning that a hot-tag to Wallstreet gets no reaction, which doesn’t enhance a match that already feels like it’s going nowhere. Some more miscommunication leads to Duggan punching his partner into an Eaton rollup for 3.

The Public Enemy vs. Ric Flair & Randy Savage
Match never gets started and is more angle advancement than anything else: Liz accompanies Flair to the ring, throwing Savage’s money into the crowd. This prompts the Macho Man to come out and attack Flair before security break them up. The crowd loved this more than any other second round match.

Diamond Dallas Page & the Barbarian vs. Booty Man & Rick Steiner
DDP flexes in front of the Booty Babe before the match starts, but takes a neato bump to the floor from a Booty Man attack. This is the best second round match, but only by default as at least the face/heel divide was clear. Steiner plays face-in-peril following a decent minute of action with the Barbarian, but the match still feels far longer than it is. Booty Man hits the High Knee on Barbarian following the hot-tag, but Page drops an elbow to the back of his head to get the win for his team.

Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Konnan
This is a US title match. Liger is accompanied by Sonny Ono and is wearing black, so you know he’s evil. They work a quick mat sequence, which ends in what we now know as the “Indy applause stance”, before exchanging holds again on the mat. The mat sequence is pretty smooth and has some nice little features, including Konnan using the old Regal trick of grinding a forearm into Liger’s face during an STF. As the mat sequence is pretty even, Liger changes his tactics, winning a striking battle with palm thrusts and a rolling Koppo kick. This leads to Liger concentrating more on high-impact offence to work over Konnan. A Fisherman Buster gets two, and is swiftly followed by a Ligerbomb for two. However, Liger makes the mistake of abandoning a successful tactic and gets catches only boot when trying a top rope move, allowing Konnan to hit Splash Mountain for the win. Best match of the show thus far, a solid 10 minute match which told a decent story and allowed a change of pace from the rest of the show.

Battlebowl Final: Scott Norton vs. Ice Train vs. Dick Slater vs. The Earl Of Eaton vs. Rocko Rock vs. Johnny Grunge vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. The Barbarian
Not the guys you would have picked from the opening list of competitors. There are a lot of big guys in there, which helps the eventual winner look pretty impressive, though it also means that, due to a lack of space, we get guys casually walking round hitting each other and little else. We end up with a final four of DDP, Train, Barbarian and Grunge after a few quickfire eliminations. DDP hits Diamond Cutters on all three and, moments after Dusty yells how he’s now got to throw them over the top rope, pins Grunge and Train to eliminate them, before Barbie kicks out. Page and Barbarian actually have a nice little finishing spot, including DDP getting to kick out of a huge powerbomb, before another Diamond Cutter gets the win. Weak match which is saved by a solid ending which gave DDP a good deal more credibility.

Sting vs. The Giant
The main event and Giant’s first title defence, and Sting had brought Lex Luger out to be chained to Jimmy Hart to prevent interference. The match had a lot of potential: Sting had proven he could be an effective underdog against a larger heel during his Vader series, while Giant was improving all the time. Indeed, the opening part is pretty good, Sting using speed to try and take down the Giant (including a crossbody attempt where he just pings off the future Big Show), but tries a body slam too early which allows the Giant to take over. Giant’s offence is still pretty basic, but Sting puts it over like death, including some frantic thrashing during a body scissors. However, the second half of the match is marred by interference from both Luger and Hart, as well as some logic issues from Sting (why would he chose to Stinger splash a precariously balanced Jimmy Hart instead of trying to finish off the massive Giant?). Luger and Hart struggle over the megaphone which results in it hitting Sting in the head, making him easy pickings for a choke slam for the Giant’s win. The match was going well until the final 5 minutes, but it’s too short to be a satisfying main event.