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From the Bowery: OMG! Volume 2: The Top 50 Incidents in WCW History (BluRay Disc 1)
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Loading...From The Bowery: OMG! Volume 2: The Top 50 Incidents in WCW History (BluRay Disc 1)
-For the last few years I have been covering a lot of content from the WWE Network and kind of put some of the WWE Home DVD/BluRay releases on the back shelf. So, I figured now was as good as a time as any to start working my way through some of them.
-Countdown shows are always fun and generally offer up some good debate. The title of this one leaves me wondering what they will be showing as “Top Incidents” obviously isn’t “Greatest Moments” so this could be WWE’s way of giving some credit to WCW and a chance to mock them as well. Because even with it being dead and buried for over 15 years, I guess the WWE has to make sure everyone knows who lost the war.
-Brief intro as they skim through WCW’s history and any blood is black and white. That didn’t happen with the matches included as extras though which is appreciated.
50. Junkyard Battle Royal
-This took place at Bash at the Beach 99 and was WCW’s way of starting their own Hardcore Division to compete with the WWE. It was certainly something different as guys fought in an actual junkyard. Dusty Rhodes says he was there all day with a camera crew, and Cody thought it was great. Regal and Finlay said it was strange, and that they realized it was going to be dark when they shot this. Regal tells a funny story as he hid in a car until he could see the light shining down and then he would run out and punch some people. Then when things started to explode he got out of there. Finlay wins the thing and Regal calls it the most ridiculous thing he has done. This coming from a man who dressed in drag and kissed Vince McMahon’s ass.
49. Duggan’s Heel Turn
-Duggan goes to the dark side as he joins Team Canada and as you would guess Duggan wasn’t all that thrilled with the idea. Arn asks who is mad at Canada? Duggan says it is the largest unguarded border in the World. Taylor says it went from heat that made people mad to heat that made people disgusted. Duggan says he knew fans would see right through it. He did enjoy being able to cut his hair and shave his beard. Terry Taylor: “sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
48. Warrior’s WCW Debut
-Hogan brags about beating everyone on Nitro and that brings out the returning/debuting Warrior. Demott says it was awesome and Hogan says he went to Bischoff to bring Warrior into the company. Ambrose says it sounded great on paper, but it was a mess. Tony Schiavone (hell yeah) brings up Hogan losing to Warrior at WrestleMania VI. Warrior says they had a platform to use their history and went the opposite direction. That match was a train wreck of epic proportions and Hogan takes all the blame for it. Warrior says he got a ton of money for Hogan to go over him, so whatever. Schiavone mentions that the match was horrible, but thinks the build was good.
47. San Francisco 49er Match
-Oh boy! This is from 2000 and from the mind of Vince Russo as we have 4 crates hanging on poles from each corner of the ring. Inside one is the WCW Title and in the other 3 a weapon. Booker T shows up first and makes sure to immediately mention this match was Vince Russo’s idea. He went into the match with the same mindset as any other match until it started and that is when the “magic” happened. Okerlund says it had to be confusing for the fans and even Jarrett and Booker T working the match. One box ended up having a blow up doll (yep), and another had a framed photo of Scott Hall (which got a pop). Booker says it was the last thing he expected to see and his reaction was genuine. The other box had a coal miner’s glove, and then when Booker got the box with the WCW Title it fell through the bottom onto the floor. Of course it did! Booker always tried to give the fans what they wanted no matter the situation. For those wondering Booker did win the match.
46. King of the Road Match
-From Uncensored 96 as Dustin Rhodes and The Blacktop Bully fought in the back of a moving 18 wheeler. Screw all of you that didn’t enjoy this spectacle. Regal says the concept was good, but the execution was hard to pull off and film. The winner was whoever could get to the front of the bed and sound a horn. Cody jokes that his own family was in the match and he still couldn’t follow what was happening. Again, A for effort from me with this one.
45. WCW Reboot: 2000 Edition
-Nitro opens with all the boys in the ring and Jarrett introduces Vince Russo (who shows up on WCW camera for the first time) and he promises a new day for WCW. He asks all champions to hand over their titles as it really was a restart. Russo says he owed it to everyone on the roster to make a fresh go at it, and Kidman pops up to say the direction of the company didn’t feel right.
44. Child’s Play
-Holy balls! Rick Steiner gets a promo on Nitro interrupted by Chuckie from Child’s Play. Cody talks about how cross promotion is very common, but usually with a real person. Sorry, you can’t make fun of this as much now considering what the WWE has had as guest general managers on RAW. Demott says Chuckie got heat because he got a better spot than a lot of the guys in WCW. Awesome! Even Dusty buries the angle and says it comes back and haunts you.
43. Goldberg Heel Turn
-Bischoff and Russo had teased a surprise so shocking that Vince McMahon wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. All the talking heads put over the greatness of Goldberg’s run and Regal says he was the best superhero and why would you want to boo him. That didn’t stop Russo as they had Goldberg turn on Kevin Nash. They were looking for a Hogan turn moment, and it just didn’t happen. Gene actually does compare it to Hogan turning and apparently Gene is out of his mind. Goldberg says he never felt at one with it as it was totally against the Goldberg character.
42. DDP as La Parka
-Finally something that really was a fantastic moment. DDP and Savage were having a great feud in 97 that put DDP on the map and rejuvenated Savage. Terry Taylor saw guys playing backstage with La Parka’s mask and that is where he got the idea. So Savage has a match with La Parka that everyone assumes will be your normal nWo squash. Then out of nowhere La Parka hits Savage with a Diamond Cutter for the win and when he unmasked as DDP the place exploded. Cody says it was great TV. Damn right!
41. Horsemen Break Dusty’s Leg
-We go old school as they are kind of pushing things here as this is technically an NWA moment. Which would normally be ok, but in the intro they made sure to mention WCW came around in the early 90s from the NWA. No matter as it is a great moment as the Horsemen lock themselves in a cage with Dusty Rhodes and break his leg. The fans nearly riot and start scaling the cage. Fun stuff!
40. Goldberg/Jericho Feud
-Jericho was running through WCW as a comedy heel as nobody cared about him so he just did whatever he wanted. One of the things was beating a midget Goldberg and starting a feud with the real Goldberg. He ran into Goldberg after Fall Brawl and he told Jericho “I hope it was worth it.” Jericho didn’t know Goldberg took it so personally, and it was to lead to a SQUASH of epicness, but sadly we never got it. Which is probably one of the many reasons that Jericho bolted for the WWE.
39. Russo Shoots on Hogan
-Man, Russo is all over this countdown so far! Hogan says he has creative control in his contract (which he never exercised) and he vetoed losing to Jarrett at Bash at the Beach. Hogan says it turned into a 10 hour fight and Russo says that he has never seen Jarrett so pissed. Russo told Jarrett to just lay down and Hogan says he told Jarrett not to do it. After Hogan got the pin he left the building and Russo took the opportunity to shoot. Hogan says he let his lawyers handle things and Russo laughs about it. Hogan then drops the mic with this line: “I didn’t have to do the job in the courtroom.” HELL YEAH! That’s why that man is the greatest. Gawker should have been paying attention I guess.
38. Sting’s Helicopter Entrance
-This was just so cool as WCW was having Nitro outside on a beach for Spring Break and it gave them the chance to do something great with Sting. He had been dropping in from the rafters, but on this occasion with no rafters it was a helicopter. The stunt coordinator gets some screen time as a talking head and talks about how safe it was and that he had to show OSHA. Bischoff was tremendous here selling the wind from the copter as he could barely stand on his feet.
37. Judy Bagwell on a Pole
-More Russo as Buff Bagwell’s mom gets put on a forklift for a match. Cody calls Judy a legend, but for all the wrong reasons. He calls her a nagging wife, but sadly, was Buff’s mother. The match was between Bagwell and Kanyon and it was insanely embarrassing. Even worse was they brought David Arquette out for the match. Cody says he wasn’t expecting it to be Shawn vs. Bret and going in you just wanted something entertaining. Commentary carries us out as Schiavone says it is a relief for the Bagwel family, and Mark Madden gets in a nice burn with “and for the forklift.” Pittsburgh radio legend!
36. Luger’s Nitro Return
-Oh boy, if I really knew what criteria we were using, this should probably be a lot higher. This was the first shot fired in the Monday Night War as Lex Luger shows up on the first episode of Nitro just days after being in the WWE. Bill Apter says his mouth just dropped open, and he wasn’t the only one. Lex says he wrestled the night before against Shawn and Razor. Everyone puts over the significance of the moment including CM Punk (which shows how long I have had this release before watching it).
35. Sid’s Car
-The talking heads talk about how terrifying Sid was though Teddy Long says he was dumb. Hayes talks about how bad Sid was on the mic and we see some of his famous flubs. Jericho says he is one guy who should never talk, and Gene says that you get what you get from Sid. So on an episode of Nitro Sid heads out of the building and goes crazy because his car has been compacted into a rectangle. Schiavone says Goldberg and Sid should have just been 2 guys to beat the piss out of each other and not have the other crap. Sid goes crazy as he keeps screaming why me, and Schiavone was worried that if they kept destroying cars they wouldn’t be able to pay the wrestlers. Ha!
34. Chamber of Horrors
-Another case of WCW taking a chance when others wouldn’t. At Halloween Havoc we get a big ass, multiple man tag match inside the Chamber of Horrors with Abdullah The Butcher getting put in an electric chair at the end. JR calls it terrible, and that watching the match is at your own risk.
33. Beach Bomb
-Cody talks about how his dad liked to treat wrestling as sports entertainment. Dusty says he wrote, directed, and edited all the videos like Spin The Wheel, and White Castle of Fear. He loved doing those two, and Vader says he loved doing the video. Schiavone says that at times you have to try something different and Regal isn’t sure if it was good different. That all leads to Sting and Bulldog on a beach where a midget puts a bomb on Sting’s boat. Luckily Davey Boy figures things out and saves Sting’s life. Dusty says it was kind of hokey, but they were trying things.
32. ROBOCOP
-I was pumped for this as a kid for some reason. Sting promised to bring Robocop as backup against the Horsemen. Arn says they were told to cross promote the movie and it didn’t work. JR says he has been told he is a bad actor, but he says that’s not the case as he had to act like he really cared about Robocop. Cody says he thought it was fun as a fan of the movie. Arn doesn’t know if he was more embarrassed that he had to run from Robocop or that he had to run from a fake Robocop. Schiavone was so happy that JR got stuck calling that one.
31. Kanyon Flies
-Slamboree 2000 as WCW uses the Triple Cage from Ready to Rumble in the Main Event. The biggest bump in the match was taken by Kanyon (who wasn’t in the match) as he gets tossed off the cage and onto the gimmicked (thankfully) ramp. Everyone says it was an attempt to match Foley, but came off as second rate, but still props to Kanyon.
30. Human Torch Match
-Vampiro got a rather huge push in 2000 WCW and was put into a feud with Sting. It seemed like a natural rivalry, but boy did they go by this in the wrong way. It was another way for them to try to outdo WWE. It was horrible though as instead of just fire surrounding the ring they had to fight up the WCW Tron to a torch and then have someone get set on fire. “Sting” (a stunt man dressed as Sting) was set ablaze and fell off the Tron into a crash pad to mercifully end this match. Schiavone craps all over it as he laments how one is to sell a man betting set of fire and falling to what should have been his death.
29. Horsmen Break Dusty’s Arm
-More fun from the 80s Horsemen as they video tape themselves following Dusty’s car and then attacking him in the parking lot. They tie him to a truck and take a ball bat to break his arm. Naturally they don’t show the actual swing and hit, but Dusty’s “make it good” line was kind of fun.
28. Russo WCW Champion
-More Russo goodness as he actually puts the WCW Title on himself in front of his hometown crowd. Yeah, this was pretty horrendous and Schiavone says that sometimes you have to throw stuff at a wall to see what sticks. Russo says that you have to write a show each week and at times you have to toss in a monkey wrench or else it is the same show. Russo wins the match because he is the first out of the cage thanks to Goldberg spearing him. Russo relinquishes the title 3 days later, and Cody says it wasn’t the end of the world. DDP says it worked as shock value, but had a short shelf life.
27. Bret Hart: Spear Killer
-Another great moment and quite possibly the best moment of Bret’s WCW career. Bret shows up on Nitro in Toronto to an insane reaction as one would expect. Bret had the crowd in a frenzy as he tears off a jersey to show he is wearing a Leafs jersey. He challenges Goldberg and he drops Bret with a spear. Bret gets to his feet first as Goldberg is out cold and Bret takes off the jersey to reveal a steel plate around his ribs. Awesome!
26. Nash Powerbombs Bischoff
-HELL YEAH! One of the greatest moments ever as Hall and Nash show up at the Great American Bash. Bischoff lets them know that WCW accepts their challenge, but won’t reveal WCW’s team so Hall punches him in the gut and Nash drops him off the stage, through a table with a powerbomb. Just tremendous moment and Regal calls it the true spark of the nWo angle. Credit to Bischoff for taking the bump.
25. Finger Poke of Doom
-Man, we are just burning through a lot of things I thought would rank higher. You should all know the story as Nash and Hogan face off on Jan 4 for the WCW Title (opposite of Foley winning the WWE Title) and it ends with Hogan dropping Nash with a poke to the chest. Arn and Jericho hated it and Jericho wants to know what Nash thought about it. Well Chris, Nash is here and says they were putting the nWo back together to give Goldberg a heel machine to run through and build in 8-9 months to another Hogan/Goldberg match. Jimmy Hart says that them having a 20 minute match and then joining sides would not have made sense, so this was the way to get the band back together. Nash says it was his idea and he will take the heat. He says he got a call from Vince that night who told him “nicely booked.” Tremendous!
24. Halloween Havoc: Eddie vs. Rey
-Punk knows the date of the match as it was his birthday and he calls it the match of the year. Arn says it was the most athletic display he has ever seen or could even imagine. The match is easily one of my favorites of all time, and is the greatest WCW Cruiserweight Match ever. They pulled off stuff in that match that they never did again, and I don’t know if they ever could do it again. Just an insanely awesome match that has appeared countless times on various DVDs.
23. DDP Turns Down the nWo
-The nWo had been courting DDP for months and it seemed like it was inevitable. After DDP squashes some jobber, Hall and Nash come out to induct him and give him his colors. He puts on the shirt, shakes Hall’s hand, and then drops him with the Diamond Cutter. The arena went insane as DDP ran through the crowd and ripped off the nWo shirt. Great moment!
22. Lost in Cleveland
-Take a deep breath for this one boys and girls. In April of 93 Cactus Jack and Vader were killing each other in a brutal feud. Then on an episode of Saturday Night, Vader murders Jack with a powerbomb on the exposed concrete (they thankfully include). What follows was rather horrible as Jack seemingly has amnesia. Dusty says he wrote a mini movie that was to play over 11 weeks. Foley says he thought it was insane until they told him he would be off the road for 4 months with pay, and then he thought it was genius. The reporter goes to Jack’s house to interview his wife (an actress because Mick’s real wife was deemed too attractive). Dusty says it was going to make Jack into an unbelievable character, and Mick says the approach was right, but the execution was wrong. Mick asks how do you make a guy who already looks homeless into a homeless bum in Cleveland that thinks he is a sailor. Yep!
21. Mental Home Flair.
-Flair was named Preside of WCW and he just ran with the idea as he started stripping to his boxers and dropping elbows on his clothes. Piper got Flair removed from office and admitted to a nuthouse. Again, horrible, but horribly awesome! Arn says that Flair is certifiably nuts and that there are people who are locked away that aren’t near as crazy. Harmless, entertaining crap!
20. Pinata on a Pole
-More Russo, which means more objects on a pole. Russo sets back US/Mexican relations with this one as he puts the Luchadores in a match with a $10,000 check in a pinata on a pole. Each is given sticks to beat each other and try to open the pinata. The match also has Oklahoma on commentary who screams “pinata” a thousand times. Schiavone thinks it was the wrong thing to do because of JR’s medical condition. Gene says it was just ridiculous.
19. Cruiserweight Battle Royal
-Fantastic stuff here as Dean loses 3 straight PPV matches and tells Gene he is heading home. Jericho takes credit for sending Malenko packing, and then WCW has a battle royal with the winner facing Jericho immediately after. Slamboree rolls around and Jericho steals the show with his introductions of each participant. The match comes down to Ciclope and Juventud and Juvie eliminates himself and the crowd erupts as some have an idea what is coming. Ciclope unmasks as Malenko and it is one of the loudest reactions you will ever hear. Goosebumps still with this one!
18. n.W.o Assault
-More awesomeness as Hall and Nash attack various WCW guys in the backstage area of MGM at Disney. The greatest thing being Nash catching Rey Mysterio and tossing him into the side of a trailer. Sickening bump and everything just looks so real. Cody is embarrassed to admit he called his dad to see if everyone was ok.
17. Madusa Trashes the WWE Woman’s Title
-Again, something I would have assumed would be higher on this list. More awesomeness from Eric in the early days of Nitro to screw with the WWE as he signs Madusa and has her dump the WWE Woman’s Title in a garbage can on live TV. Hayes talks about how Vince brought back the Woman’s division and built it around Alundra Blayze. Beth Phoenx says she was hurt by what Madusa did as she looked up to her. AJ LEE (WOOO) says it was a moment she didn’t respect and is a reflection of the time as it was cutthroat between the two companies. Phoenix calls it a crucial moment in the Monday Night Wars as it was WCW declaring war. Vince calls it a tawdry thing to do and a kick in the groin. Heyman says she tarnished the Women’s Championship and it is why Vince wouldn’t consider a division for 3 years. At least Heyman didn’t blast her for it considering what he had Shane do with the NWA Title.
16. The Streak is Over
-Starrcade 1998 as Kevin Nash pins Goldberg to end his undefeated streak. Regal says WCW had over 120 people under contract so they had plenty of people for Goldberg to run through. Terry Taylor mentions that Nash was part of the booking committee that made the decision to end Goldberg’s streak. Taylor says he told them he thought it would hurt business, but Eric, Kevin, and the committee felt it was time. They two actually had a rather solid match and after a stun gun shot from Hall and a powerbomb the streak is toast (to a massive pop). Heyman says it was a complete rip-off and that it pulled back the curtain and you could see who was Oz (genius if Paul was tying things back to Nash’s old gimmick). In Dibiase’s opinion the booker doesn’t wrestle. To be fair, Nash wasn’t the first and won’t be the last to hurt a company by booking himself in a top spot.
15. WCW Champion: Ron Simmons
-Arn Anderson calls Ron a man’s man, and everyone talks about his legit background as an athlete. We get Vader (put that man in the Hall of Fame) and he says they both understood the historical significance of the night. JR says nobody saw the change coming. Simmons drops Vader with a powerslam and becomes the 1st African American to win the World Title. The crowd reaction is tremendous as you had people jumping up and down in joy. Vader says it wasn’t just another night or match….it was special. Ron says he can’t put into words how special that night was and when he started in wrestling he never even thought about being the first African American World Champion. Great moment!
14. Sting’s Decision
-Sting was the face of WCW, and the talking heads discuss how he was the backbone of the company. The nWo had been recruiting him and Sting’s loyalties had been questioned. That leads to him heading to the rafters after declaring himself a free agent. We finally get an answer of which side he is on at Uncensored 96 when he dropped in from the rafters and destroyed everyone in the nWo. The arena went crazy for all of this and to think Hogan/Sting would wait 10 more months.
13. Piledriver Through a Table
-Terry Funk challenges Flair after he wins the World Title, and after Flair turns him down Funk drops him. This was tremendous as it turned Flair face and made Funk the hottest heel in the company. After the sucker punch he puts Flair through a table with a piledriver in a jaw dropping moment that we just didn’t see back then. Anderson jokes that Funk hurt himself as much as he hurt Flair. That set off a tremendous blood feud and they even include a Flair promo where he promises to kill Terry Funk. Yeah!
12. Dennis Rodman
-NBA superstar Dennis Rodman becomes friends with Hulk Hogan and Dennis tells Hogan he is interested in the business. Rodman shows up as a member of the nWo at Uncensored 96 and it did lead to a lot of press for WCW. Hogan says Rodman was gold in the role and Hornswoggle says he started to pay more attention to WCW when Rodman showed up, Shocked they didn’t cover when he actually wrestled.
11. Horsemen Parody: My Spot
-The n.W.o parody of the Horsemen that DX copied numerous times over the years. Arn Anderson was forced to retire and he did so live on Nitro with the Horsemen by his side in one of the most emotional things you will see. Arn says it was very real, and that it only lasted a week because the next Nitro it was dumped all over by the nWo. Larry Z says he loved it and Schiavone says he knows there were some in the back that were heated over it. Finlay didn’t like it as it showed disrespect, and Regal says it offended a lot of people, but that was the point. “Not a spot, like your dog, Spot, but my spot!” Arn didn’t think it was needed to get heat on the nWo because they were already boiling hot. My opinion is that it was fantastic, though I can see how Arn may have be blindsided if he wasn’t told. Either way the wrestling business uses anything and everything to get heat, so this was no different.
10. SHOCKMASTER
-This has been covered to death, but still awesome! Regal laughs as he says he was there for Shockmaster’s debut. On an episode of Flair for the Gold, Sting and The Bulldog introduce their new partner: The Shockmaster. Poor Fred falls through the wall, and his helmet goes flying off. Ole Anderson is still doing the voice off stage while not realizing Fred has fallen on the ground. Dusty calls it the funniest thing ever and that after Fred came to him and said, “I think I fucked up.” Dusty loses it here as he says “Holy shit,” and I have to pause things from laughing so hard. Regal talks about how Sid and The Harlem Heat had to sell it, but Dusty mentions that Davey Boy couldn’t do it as he laughed the entire time. Dusty calls it the greatest live event in the history of television.
09. David Arquette
-Back to Russo with this one. David is actually one of the talking heads, and he says he never went through a training period. He had to learn on the fly in front of millions of people. So Arquette pins Bischoff in a tag match to win the WCW World Title. Simmons calls him a punk kid, and Cena says it wasn’t cool. Booker T says he has nothing against David though a lot of guys probably do. Russo says he still has no issues as the important thing was getting publicity and 15 years later it is still talked about.
08. Monster Truck Battle
-The Giant debuts in WCW and immediately is booked as a threat to Hulk Hogan. In the buildup Monster Trucks get involved and they have a Monster Truck Sumo battle on the roof of the arena in Detroit. That’s all well and good, but things went insane when they started fighting after they got out of the trucks. It ends with The Giant falling off the roof of the building, and Hogan even rolls his eyes as he knows it wouldn’t be believable when The Giant showed up a few minutes later for the match. Dusty says that he fell off the roof into a lake and they should have had him show up soaking wet. Take a deep breath because we aren’t done yet. Hogan loses the match due to Jimmy Hart turning and we get the debut of The Yeti (Ron Reiss dressed like a mummy). Regal’s description of the whole ordeal is worth the price of this release as he talks about how Giant and Yeti looked like they were dry humping Hogan. He calls it even better than the Shockmaster, and Hogan says he looks back with remorse on the moment. Schiavone is just speechless and Hogan can’t believe that he actually went along with it. Schiavone says the Atlanta Braves had won the World Series earlier in the day so a lot of of people in the company really didn’t give a damn!
07. Rick Rude: 2 Places at Once
-After the fall out of the Montreal Screwjob, Rick Rude left the WWF in support of Bret Hart. Well the issue was that RAW was already taped and it included a DX segment with Rude. Nitro was live and Rude just showed up with a fresh shave to end up being on both shows on the same night. WWE overdubbed commentary as they joked that Rude gets around a lot. Rude is the only man to be in DX and the nWo at the same time. Cody though it was unique and another shot at RAW still being taped at the time. Speaking of Rude, get that man in the Hall of Fame as well.
06. Cornette’s Fall
-Old school again as we get to relive one man’s personal suffering. Jim Cornette was manager of the Midnight Express and they had a scaffold match with The Road Warriors. The buildup was great as the Warriors were throwing pumpkins off scaffolds as they basically promised someone was going to go flying. This was years before ECW and the Attitude Era so fans weren’t used to things like this. Arn says nobody on the heel side wanted to be on the scaffold and it ended up being higher than anticipated. It also wasn’t the safest thing and the finish was for Cornette to take the plunge. Cornette says his leg bent a way which God never intended and he still has issues with it to this day. Big Bubba was supposed to catch Jim and he totally whiffed. Jim says he was paid $10,000 for fall but he had to miss 2 weeks and lost out on $7000 and had to pay $1500 for his medical bill, so he nearly lost money being part of the Starrcarde Main Event.
05. Goldberg Conquers Hogan
-WCW has Nitro in the Georgia Dome in front of a massive crowd and has Hogan defend the title against Goldberg. 40,000 people were behind the hometown Goldberg and they were jacked for the match. Heyman says that passion was palpable and even he wanted to be there. Hogan says it was his decision as he told Eric they needed to put the title on Goldberg (a story confirmed by Bischoff). Some of the talking heads said they couldn’t believe Hogan was going to lose. Heyman calls it the greatest television moment in the history of WCW and nothing has ever touched it. Good call!
04. Blanchard/Magnum: I QUIT
-Awesome blood feud of epic proportions here! Magnum and Tully hated each other and were building to a Steel Cage I Quit Match to show who was the manliest man. They beat the piss out of each other in a classic that holds up today. Magnum is here to discuss the match, and talks about the wooden chair getting involved. A piece was broken off and Magnum uses it to stab Tully in the eye to force him to quit. Goldust calls it one of his favorite matches to watch, and Dusty says it was the most brutal moment in a brutal age. Regal says it is everything the business should be about and Magnum calls it the most intense feud he has ever had.
03. You Want a War?
-YES! May 27, 1996 (my 15th birthday) Scott Hall walks through the crowd and into the ring on a live episode of Nitro to kickoff the nWo angle. Everything about this was perfect! Hayes says it created a buzz because it wasn’t the norm. Hall talks about how it looked real because the match stopped and the guys in the ring just left. Gene says his debut was kept under wraps and DDP says even he didn’t know Scott was in the building. Gene thinks it hit even harder in the WWE and Hayes says it was the fans chance to see WWE vs. WCW. I know as a 15 year old kid I thought we were getting WCW vs. WWE because I wasn’t into internet scene in 96. I didn’t even get internet at my house until Jan of 1997. Hall says he was sued that day by Vince. Hogan calls Hall a master chess player in the business, and Nash says all the stars aligned that night.
02. Vince buys WCW
-At least they didn’t make this #1 as I feared. The last night of the company and the last Nitro opens with Vince McMahon bragging about buying WCW. Shane then closes the show by revealing he bought WCW to continue the feud with his father. Lex says it happened so quickly and Terry Taylor says the WWE guys that came down were nice enough, but they were the conquering heroes. Booker T won the WCW Title to close the company as the World and US Champion. The package they show here is actually good as they focus on the entire show and not just Vince/Shane. There was a lot of sadness though Flair was happy to see Vince won the war. Flair and Sting go at it one more time in the perfect last match for WCW. Schiavone says he was relieved and while he had fun, WCW was a terrible place to work and he just wanted to go home.
01. The Third Man
-This is obviously the top incident and glad they put it here. Hall talks about how even during the PPV they still weren’t sure it was going to be Hogan. He wasn’t even at the arena yet and Bischoff told Hall that if Hogan doesn’t show it is going to be Sting. Hall says all respect to Sting, it wouldn’t have worked as well with him. It had to be Hogan (a WWE guy). Hogan comes down as the crowd went crazy, and as a 15 year old I knew what was going to happen and I was jumping with joy. Hogan drops the leg on Savage and we have the reveal of the greatest mystery angle in history. Dusty says “America’s most beloved character just told the people to shove it up their ass.” Hogan was so happy to see all the garbage thrown as he knew it worked. Hall says that it was a moment that as it was happening he knew would be in his scrapbook as he got to work with Hulk Hogan. It ended up being the start of WCW’s Golden Period and helped usher in the last Golden Age of Pro-Wrestling. Again, there was no other choice.
-That ends things for the countdown and this was fantastic to watch. Sure they had some fun at WCW’s expense, but they did a solid job of balancing the good with the bad, and really some of the bad is rather hilarious.
Extras
Scaffold Match: The Road Warriors vs. The Midnight Express
Starrcade: Nov 27, 1986
-I must say that the scaffolding structure does look rather terrifying. Add in that the ME had to work up there with the Road Warriors, and no crap they were nervous. The Warriors just stand and wait while the ME attempt to climb to the top of the structure. Cornette joins the commentary team to complain about his team having to compete in such a match. Condrey makes it up top and Beautiful Bobby finally joins him. The ME crawl on their stomachs to avoid having to stand, so the Warriors walk gingerly over to start the match proper. The action is rather lackluster due to neither team wanting to die so we get a lot of seeing guys crawl around while throwing punches. Condrey tosses powder into Hawk’s eye and Eaton does the same to Animal. You would think not being able to see would lead to Hawk and Animal falling to their death, but the teams pair off on the end of the scaffold where there is a little more support from the hand rails. I should point out that the loser is the team to have both members tossed off and into the ring. Bobby ends up under the scaffold and uses the rungs to save himself like he was on a monkey bar set. He gets back to the top and the teams continue to trade punches while remaining on their knees or stomach. Smart! Eaton is bleeding and soon Condrey joins him with some blood letting as well. Condrey starts crawling down the structure and eats a boot from Hawk for his trouble. He can’t get away from Hawk as they battle on the side of the structure. Animal is pounding Bobby from one end of the platform to the other and then they start fighting down the structure as well. We get more monkey bar spots from all 4 men and that leads to Condrey falling first and then Eaton follows after to end the match at 7:05. After the match Paul Ellering steals Cornette’s racket and Hawk chases him to the top of the scaffold. Jim is screwed and he takes the plunge as well and it is rather nasty to watch. His knee gets absolutely destroyed and you can hear the pain in his voice as he tells Bubba to carry him to the back. Bubba totally whiffed on catching him though the man was wearing sunglasses in a dimly lit arena.
Winners: The Road Warrios at 7:05
-Not much as a match, but made for a fun spectacle and the crowd was into it. They kept it short and gave the fans what they wanted: the heel team taking the crazy fall to the ring. Credit to all 5 men for even going through with this match. **
-Robocop makes his WCW debut at Capitol Combat 90 with Sting by his side. Poor Gordon Solie had to call this with a straight face while doing backstage work. Robocop shows up to save Sting who was locked in a shark cage. Robo rips the door off the cage and the Horsemen shit their pants before bailing.
Chamber of Horrors Match: Sting, El Gigante, and The Steiners vs. Vader, Cactus Jack, Abdullah The Butcher, and The Diamond Studd
Halloween Havoc: Oct 27, 1991
-I’ve actually never seen this match and as a 10 year kid back then I was actually pumped when this was announced. It just seemed like a cool idea to me at the time. So we have the Thunder Dome cage (which takes up part of the floor like Hell in a Cell), but has a slanted roof leading to an opening. The cage has various weapons throughout including a chainsaw. JR says the object is very simple: place one of the opponents in the chair of torture which will be lowered into the ring at some point. Adding to the fun is the debut of ref’s eye which is a helmet cam worn by Nick Patrick. Mindless brawling all over the place as this is just too crazy to follow. Sting battles Vader in the middle of the ring to pop the crowd. The Diamond Studd (Scott Hall) tries to scale the cage, but gets caught by Gigante. The Chair of Torture gets lowered into the ring, and now the match can really begin I guess. Chair of Torture apparently sounds better than calling it an electric chair. Studd continues to get his ass kicked by Gigante, and Rick Steiner ends up in the chair thanks to Vader, but his brother saves. A wooden casket gets used, and a bunch of guys in white shirts and painted faces come out with a stretcher to presumably cart off the loser. Abdullah starts to climb the cage which is rather impressive to see. Cactus gets sent into the cage by Rick to draw some blood. Vader uses a piece of a kendo stick to abuse Gigante while Cactus and Sting fight on the cage. For some reason there is a masked man in the ring who came out of a casket, but he doesn’t do much as he gets handcuffed to the cage. Just so much weird shit in one match. Jack takes a crazy bump over the top rope and face first into the cage on the floor. Poor Mick has to bump for 7 men in this thing. More aimless brawling as they show the lever that will electrocute someone which seems a tad excessive, but what do I know. A lot of people hanging on the cage instead of actually working a match. Steiner gets slammed on the floor by Vader. Sting seems to be bleeding as well now as is Abdullah, but that is par for the course for him. Seeing Scott Hall in this match is just so weird. Jack is bleeding buckets though he starts heading for the switch. Rick Steiner blasts Studd in the balls to keep Scott from being zapped. The crowd starts to die off as even they are just worn out from this mess. Studd and Abdullah put Rick in the chair, but he gets out before any harm can be done. Jack again crawls up for the switch as Abdullah has Rick in the chair, but he gets out and puts The Butcher in the chair with a belly to back suplex. Cactus doesn’t realize it though and he pulls the switch to cook Abdullah and end this disaster.
Winners: Team Sting at 12:33
-I can now say I have seen this match and it was as bad as advertised. It probably has some comedic value and the guys tried their best to make it work, but that wasn’t happening no matter who was in the ring. *
Cactus Jack vs. Big Van Vader
WCW Saturday Night, April 24, 1993
-Vader and Jack had a brutal match prior to this one on Saturday Night and Jack apparently wanted more. Vader is the World Heavyweight Champion, but the title isn’t on the line in this one. It is just a good old fashion grudge match between two tough men. They start on the floor and just unload on each other. They fight back through the entrance way where Jack finds a chair to blast Vader in the face. Jack drops an elbow on the floor and gives him a kick to the face. He removes Vader’s mask to unload more right hands, and then bites him. Vader gets to his feet but not for long as Jack drops him ribs first on the railing. He then turns his attention to Harley Race and slams him on the floor. He gives Harley the elbow off the apron, and the crowd is buying into Jack big time. We get awkward periods of silence on commentary between what Tony is saying which usually means Jesse Ventura’s commentary has been cut out to avoid paying him. We take a commercial break and come back with Vader catching Jack off the ropes and dropping him with a slam. Now Vader can take control as he slowly beats the hell out of Jack. They exchange blows in the corner as this time Jack is smart enough to cover up from Vader’s blows. He ends up eating a short right from Vader that drops him, and then charges into a boot. Vader heads up to the middle rope and mauls Jack with a clothesline. Vader headbutts Jack’s previously broken nose and drops him with a Samoan Drop. The Vader Bomb connects, but that isn’t enough. He hits a second one and that also isn’t enough apparently. Vader comes off the middle rope, but Jack rolls out of the way. They fight back to the floor and Jack shows some power by slamming Vader. He tries a somersault splash off the apron, but Vader moves. Vader then exposes the concrete and he kills Jack with a powerbomb. That was just nasty! The crowd is in shock as that is just a death move. Jack obviously can’t get back into the ring so the match ends at 9:06. After the match Jack gets put in a neck brace and gets stretchered out of the arena. That ending sequence with Jack being cared for was great stuff. It looked great and the crowd reaction was exactly what they wanted. All the faces are out in street clothes to check on Jack and the last thing we see is him wheeled to the outside and loaded into an ambulance.
Winner: Vader by count-out at 9:06
-Brutal match with two guys beating the crap out of each other. The ending was sick and sadly the follow up was all kinds of wrong. ***1/2 for the match and the post match angle.
King of the Road Match: Dustin Rhodes vs. The Blacktop Bully
Uncensored: March 19, 1995
-This is another one of those ideas that sounded fun on paper, but the execution was lacking. The idea here is that Dustin and Bully do battle in the back of an 18 wheeler rolling down the streets of Tupelo, MS. The winner is the first one to get to the front of the truck and blow the air horn. They are wrestling in what amounts to a cage without a roof with various barnyard items throughout. The action is quite hard to recap with your standard play by play as they just take turns punching each other while fighting towards the front. As you would expect it is rather hard for the two men to even stay on their feet as the truck rolls down the road. Heenan is hilarious as he buries the area they are driving and goes crazy when they drive past a trailer park. At various points they also start chucking weapons at each other like feeding troughs, bails of hay, bull ropes, and fence posts. The footage is interesting as they have cameras mounted on the truck and also have a few cars trailing to shoot things plus a helicopter to give us aerial footage. At one point the truck has to stop and Schiavone relates that is due to a church bus having to pass. Bully hangs over the side of the cage and it’s a rather cool visual as they are driving down the highway. Dustin starts pouring blood from his head and soon after Bully is able to sound the horn and end this thing at 13:15.
Winner: The Black Top Bully
-Again, not much as a match as it was kind of hard to follow, but it made for an interesting spectacle. I won’t fault them for trying something new. **
-Monster Truck Battle: We get the entire Monster Truck Sumo Match between Hogan and The Giant from Halloween Havoc 1995. So Hogan and The Giant each have their own monster truck and have a sumo match on the top of Cobo Hall. They wield the two trucks together by their front bumper, and the goal is to push the other truck (both axels) outside the sumo ring. Bischoff and Heenan are tasked with calling this and they even have a Monster Truck expert to help. He actually does a solid job of explaining things. Hogan wins the thing in about 4 minutes, and The Giant apparently can’t stand the embarrassment of losing a monster truck battle as he attacks Hogan. He chokes him near the edge of the roof and The Giant ends up falling to his doom. Hogan’s acting is on point as he starts screaming for help, and the camera pans to show that the Giant seemingly fell into a river.
WCW World Title: Hulk Hogan (c) w/ Jimmy Hart vs. The Giant w/ Kevin Sullivan
Halloween Havoc: Oct 29, 1995
-Hogan, dressed in all black months before Hollywood Hogan, heads down to the ring, and explains that what happened on the roof wasn’t supposed to happen. He didn’t want the Giant to take the plunge and he apologizes for the terrible accident. Before he can continue The Giant heads to the ring and Hogan is shocked. As Dusty noted earlier, they probably should have had him soaking wet or something to sell the fall. This is the Giant’s debut match and it crazy to see him here compared to Big Show we have 21 years later. The match starts proper and Hogan unloads with right hands that have no effect, and he tries for the slam, but no dice. Heenan is all in his glory as he wants The Giant to rip Hogan’s head off. Giant goes to work with heavy blows in the corner, and is showing a lot of fire as he has to be jacked to have his in ring debut against Hulk Hogan. He chokes away with his boot in the corner as Heenan makes veiled references to Andre the Giant. Giant wears Hogan down with a knuckle lock. They battle there for a bit as Hogan tries to fight back to his feet, and keeps getting cut off by the big man. The crowd starts to rally behind Hogan and he gets back to his feet, but gets caught with a boot to the ribs. Hogan gets picked up with ease and slammed to the mat. It’s also interesting to see Hogan get manhandled considering he is a rather big man himself. The Giant misses an elbow and Hogan is alive as he bounces the Giant from buckle to buckle. He pounds away in the corner as the crowd counts along, and then bites for good measure. More Hollywood Hogan offense as he rakes the back and then hits the running corner clothesline. He connects with a clothesline, but can’t get the Giant off his feet. Two more clotheslines and the last one sends him over the top to the floor. Sullivan seemingly wants the Giant to leave, but Hogan stops that noise and we are back in the ring. Hogan goes to the eyes as Schiavone talks about how The Giant came back from the dead after falling off the roof. The Giant no sells a clothesline, and drops Hogan with a back breaker which gets a two count. Things slow as The Giant locks in a bearhug, and again crazy to see someone rag doll a man the size of Hulk Hogan. Again, the crowd gets behind Hogan and he is able to break with a bunch of right hands, but he is toast as The Giant catches him with another slam. They go back to the bearhug as Tony brings up more veiled references to Mania III. Again the crowd rallies Hogan as they are really into this match. The Giant catches Hogan with a sweet chokeslam as this is the original version he had where he followed the guy down to the ring and didn’t just release. Hogan is out at two and we have a Hulk Up, and you knows what follows. Hogan gets the slam to a big pop, and the leg follows, but Jimmy Hart turns on Hogan as he decks the ref with the belt (which would become important later). Hogan doesn’t know what has happened so he has Jimmy pick up the ref, but once he turns his back, Jimmy decks him with the title. Hogan no sells it, but gets caught in another bearhug. Luger and Savage head down to seemingly save Hogan, but Lex turns on Savage to join Jimmy Hart. Take a deep breath as shit gets crazy with The Yeti heading into the ring. He joins the Giant in applying a bearhug and it’s the famous double dry hump of Hulk Hogan. The crowd is going crazy for this as really if you are going to do bat shit crazy, you might as well go full force. Luger puts Hogan in the rack and then gives Savage one as well. There was no bell, but Anderson raises the Giant’s hand to declare him the winner by DQ (Hart was Hogan’s manager when he decked Anderson). The Giant steals the title as Schiavone claims Hogan is still the Champ, but that’s not the case. The next night on Nitro, Hart explained he took the DQ Title clause out of the contract and thus The Giant is the New WCW World Heavyweight Champion. His reign would last all of 8 days before he was stripped of the title and it was put up for the winner of World War 3’s Three Ring Battle Royal (which Savage won).
Winner and New WCW Champion: The Giant via DQ at 14:30
-All the craziness of the ending aside, this may have been the best match between these two. The Giant was out there to make a great first impression, and Hogan was more than willing to make the big man look good. It wasn’t a technical masterpiece obviously, but it was fine for what they needed to accomplish and the crowd was with them the entire way. Now the craziness of the ending and the visual of two giant men dry humping Hulk Hogan is something else, and we will just leave it at that. **
-May 27, 1996: Scott Hall comes through the crowd on Nitro and interrupts a match between The Mauler and Steve Doll. Larry and Tony have no clue what to make of it, and everyone just leaves the ring as Hall gets a mic. He tells everyone they know who he is, but they don’t know why he’s here. He takes shots at Scheme Gene, The Nacho Man, and Billionaire Ted. He calls Eric Bischoff a weather man want to be, and a Ken doll. He makes fun of the Southern fan base of WCW and then he asks “you want a war? You wanna go to war? You’re going to get one.” He leaves peacefully as everyone in the crowd is shocked. I was losing my mind over all this, and it is still awesome to see some 20 years later.
-June 16, 1996: Great American Bash: Eric Bischoff brings out The Outsiders (still not named) to answer the challenge they threw out to WCW. He tells them that WCW has accepted the challenge and it will take place at Bash at the Beach the next month. To clear up things as far as the WWF lawsuit he asks each man if they work for the WWF and they both say no. Hall cuts a promo, including making fun of The Huckster and then wants to know WCW’s 3 guys, but Bischoff won’t say until Nitro tomorrow. That pisses off Hall so he delivers a punch to the guy and then NASH POWERBOMBS BISCHOFF OFF THE STAGE THROUGH A TABLE! The crowd goes crazy as Dusty and Tony are disgusted. That was a hell of a bump by Bisch and just something you didn’t see from announcers and Tony even mentions that Eric is WCW’s Excecutive Producer. Dusty even cuts a promo to rally WCW in this war. This all just added into the idea that this wasn’t just a normal wrestling angle, and even to this day it is still magnificent to see.
-That finally wraps up Disc 1, and so far so good with this set.
