Ring Crew Reviews: Tape Digging Volume 9 – WCW, January 1996

• I’ve done a few of these and always find it interesting to take a dive into old comp tapes and and the WWE Network. In case you do too, here are the previous versions

• Tape Digging Volume 1

• Tape Digging Volume 2

• Tape Digging Volume 3

• Tape Digging Volume 4

• Tape Digging Volume 5

• Tape Digging Volume 6

• Tape Digging Volume 7

• Tape Digging Volume 8

• Also, of interest, a lot of the storylines and such are coming out of WCW World War III 1995

• WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair (c). WCW Nitro 01/01/96. After losing out on the belt and the fans’ allegiance to Macho at WW3, Hogan basically took the rest of the year off, not even competing at Starrcade, a show featuring the WCW/NJPW talent swap. Though Hogan did make sure to maintain a presence including saving world champ Macho from a beatdown from Giant while Macho looked like a crippled old man and working double duty in Charlotte with Sting to take down Arn and Flair in Flair’s hometown. Meanwhile, Flair would take the strap from Macho at Starrcade with the help of Arn and some brass knucks, thus setting up a clash for the ages… again against Hogan on the first Nitro of 1996.

• Flair out first and he quickly hightails it out of the ring to avoid “the man who rules professional wrestling”, according to Bischoff, Hulk Hogan. Oddly enough for some reason, Flair and Hogan are wearing matching yellow boots and red kneepads. They lockup and Hogan quickly overpowers as always. Flair tries a head of steam and again bumps his ass off. Another lockup and Flair grabs the headlock. He gets sent off for the usual and Hogan steamrolls him again. A pretty sizeable HOGANHOGANHOGAN chant gets going surprisingly as he takes Flair down to a knee with the knuckle lock up. Flair gets him into the corner for the chops and rights. They go through an odd sequence where Flair Flops on his own whip because Hogan was supposed to block. They repeat the spot and get it right in the adjacent corner. Hogan goes to the no-selling. Mongo: “YOU CAN’T FAZE A MAN WHEN HE GETS IN THAT ZONE!” Flair begs off and Hogan takes over by going to the eyes and the rights. Bischoff fellates him a bit more only for Hogan to eat elbow from Flair in the corner. Flair heads up top and gets slammed off. Hogan goes to the Hogan-lines and he dumps Flair out. Flair cuts him off with a thumb to the eye as they take turns no selling whips into the guard rail. Hogan fires up for an AMERICAN-MADE CLOTHESLINE ON THE FLOOR! Back in, Mongo detours into discussing snot bubble while again Flair begs off. Hogan sends Flair across for the Flip and the apron clothesline. Flair with another thumb to the eye and Hogan sells that one. He clips the knee and NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL, JOE GOMEZ’S ROOMMATE STYLE! Flair drops a knee on the knee and Hogan writhes in pain. Flair struts and drags Hogan over to the ropes for more punishment. FIGURE FOUR TIME, TONY!….. errr… BISCHOFF! Brain: “HULKAMANIA’S DEAD!” Bischoff: “NOT ON YOUR LIFE!” Hogan rolls it over. BUT WAIT! IT’S THE MAGGOT OF THE SOUTH, JIMMY HART! See, Jimmy turned on Hogan back at HH to help Giant “win” the belt with the DOD and Yeti’s help, a giant mummy, not a snow man, so now he’s a heel. ANYWAY, Hogan sees Jimmy and he sees red and goes right after him. Flair clips the knee again and goes to the hanging vertical suplex. Hogan contorts like he’s having an epileptic seizure and I wish I had a gif of this “selling.” It’s like Flair shot him with an elephant gun of rabies. Flair covers for 1, 2, POWER KICKOUT! HULK UP! He no sells and sends off Flair for the FOOT TO THE FACE! Atomc leg drop. BUT WAIT! JIMMY HART DISTRACTS! ARN ANDERSON HAS COME OUT! HE LAYS OUT HOGAN WITH THE BRASS KNUCKS THAT TOOK OUT MACHO AT STARRCADE! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Hogan no sells because HOGAN! He pastes Arn and then dips into his trunks to pull out the knucks. The ref calls for the bell and Hogan wins via DQ at 8:00.

• The rest of the Horsemen file in and Hogan takes them out with the knucks-assisted rights. Crowd is going apeshit at this point. BUT WAIT! IT’S THE GIANT! Hogan cost him the title against Macho two weeks ago. Giant’s got a fuckin’ barstool and goes for the waffle but THE MADNESS HAS COME OUT! Macho holds him off long enough for Hogan to help clear the ring. Electric close to the show and the match.

• I know it’s common wisdom that’s even being pushed today that WCW was garbage from Hogan’s arrival until the n.W.o and they only beat WWFE in the ratings for a couple years because Doink the Clown or something. The bottom line is that, in lots of ways, they were putting out a better product with better booking and better matchups even before the n.W.o came around. Just look at RAW from the same night. While WCW pushes a major rematch for the title, WWFE has Trips and Godwinn in the Hog Pin match and Diesel/Mabel. Put another way, WCW started the trend of important free TV wrestling at the beginning of the year. The next year it was WCW’s nWo going against Sting and Giant while WWF had Vader/Bret and Sid attacking HBK and Jose Lothario. In the coming years, you would have Mankind/Rock in 99, Fingerpoke of Doom in 99 (not great execution but it was “important”), and Triple H/Show in 2000.

• This is the usual Flair/Hogan match seen a 1000x by this point, but it’s still a lot of fun even if it kind of skips through second gear going through the whole formula in 8 minutes. ***

• Macho Man Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan vs. Arn Anderson & Ric Flair. WCW Nitro 01/08/96. This is obviously playing off last week. Important note to consider. A lot of this isn’t necessarily “going” anywhere, at least not on its surface and not in modern wrestling terms of monthly PPV. After Starrcade, it wasn’t until February there would be another PPV, Superbrawl VI, though there would be a Clash in a few weeks.

• ANYWAY, it’s Mach and Arn to start. Flair struts and says he wants Hogan. Hogan and Macho oblige and Flair immediately bumps off a shoulder block and retreats to a corner. Flair counters to the go-behind and Hogan does the same. Flair with the drop toe hold into top position and Hogan counters to the HAMMERLOCK! HOGAN IS OUT-MATWRESTLING FLAIR! Hogan pretends to know what an omoplata is, so Flair tries to steal a page out of his book and wants the test of strength. Hogan overpowers easily, so Flair goes to the chops. No sell so Flair goes to the eyes. Hogan sends him off for the FOOT TO THE TORSO and a few Hogan-lines. Arn in to eat the same as Hogan cleans house and clears the ring by himself. Arn wants a TO as he and Flair regroup. Arn tags in and immediately gets his arm twisted by that renowned hooker and shooter, Hogan. Macho is in to come flying off the top with a BONESAW HAMMER. Macho works the arm for a spell before Arn gets him to the corner for a rope break. Arn takes over with a knee to the gut and tries a suplex to the floor but no go. Instead, he gets greeted by Hogan’s big boot and that sends him reeling to the floor. Macho follows off the top with a MADNESS KING HAMMER to the floor as well. Back in, a third consecutive sledge from Macho and Flair breaks up the cover. Hogan and Flair play a little game of duck, duck, goose that ends with Flair showing ass to the crowd as Hogan pulls down his trunks. The ref restores order and it’s Flair/Macho with Flair getting the advantage. He heads up top and gets slammed off by Savage. Macho applies a F4 of his own while Brain claims he might be coaching the Miami Dolphins by next week. Arn dives in to make the save and lands in a F4 from Hogan. Mongo: “THEY’RE GOING TO GIVE UP AT THE SAME TIME!” Brain: “NO, THEY’RE NOT!” The ref breaks up the shenanigans again and Arn sneaks Macho with a BEAST DDT! Flair drapes the arm but Hogan breaks it up. Flair shitcans Macho out to the heel side of the ring so Arn can toss him into the guardrail. We take a break and are back to Arn working an ab stretch with Flair’s leverage from the corner as well. Crowd wants a hot tag but instead they get Flair pounding down Macho with GnP. Flair gets up Macho for a back suplex for another cover broken up by Hogan which Mongo labels “good tagteammanship.” Arn in and Macho comes back with a Sleeper but gets pounded down before he can rally. Arn chokes Macho and Macho is DONE. He rolls to the floor and he’s toast. Flair sends him into the rail and Macho can’t get to his feet. Back in, Flair wants a hiptoss but Macho counters to a back slide for 1, 2, no. Flair takes back over with the KNEEBREAKER! F4! NO! Macho counters with a few small packages but only 2 counts. Arn back in to cut off a Macho tag attempt. Arn with an elbow on Macho and he wants a DDT but Arn blocks. Mongo tries to talk strategery but shows his ineptitude as he says that is only Hogan and Macho first or second time tagging, thus negating all of the MegaPowers run. Flair in but Macho tags in Hogan. Hogan blows through a chop for a backdrop and some Hogan-lines. Flair tackles him from behind and of course, Hogan no sells to clothesline both out. Arn lays down Hogan with the spinebuster but now in back-to-back weeks, Hogan shits on Arn’s brass knucks and now his spinebuster. Hogan hits the FOOT TO THE FACE and the leg drop for 1, 2, 3 to take it at 12:16.

• Post-match, a completely random brawl breaks out before the DOD and the Horsemen – Zodiac and Taskmaster going after Pillman and Benoit. Giant comes in and coconuts Hogan and Macho and lays out Hogan AND Macho with STEREO CHOKESLAMS!

• Another nostalgia trip if not nearly as much fun as last week or the Sting/Hogan vs Arn/Flair tag match from back in December 95. Also, the ending isn’t nearly as hot as last week, though at least Hogan took some heat and Giant got to look pretty strong in the post-match. Hogan’s entire no selling of Arn is pretty damned annoying, too. More greatest hits though with Flair breaking out the moon spot. **1/2

• Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Lex Luger. WCW Nitro. 01/15/96. Last week saw the DOD and Giant leave Hogan and Macho lying, so tonight Hogan gets his hands on Meng from the Dungeon while Macho gets Luger as prep for his title shot against Flair next week. Luger is heel, here, periodically tagging with Sting who’s a face in one of the great odd couple tag teams of all-time. Luger is heel but is buddies with Sting and wants to appear face just to Sting so they can get along and he won’t disappoint his friend. ANYWAY, TO THE MATCH!

• Luger is stalling to start as he wants to keep his distance from the wily Macho Man who is sporting taped up ribs and a taped up bicep. Luger gets a chair and tosses it in the ring to pretend to be crazy just so Macho, a real crazy man, will grab it and Luger can tackle him and shitcan him out. Mongo plays up how Luger is 3-0 against Macho as of late including a win over the injured Macho at WW3 before Macho took the strap in the battle royal. Luger posts Macho and sends him into the stairs. Luger’s all LOOK AT ME, I’M THE TOTAL PACKAGE, I WILL RIP HIM APART! And the crowd hates him. Luger boots him to the floor again and Macho can barely get to this feet. Macho cuts him off and pulls Luger to the floor and Macho goes to work much to the crowd’s delight. Back in, a SAVAGE HAMMER gets 1, 2, kickout. Macho cuts off Luger with a back elbow and Luger begs off to a corner. Mongo: “FANS, THROW YOUR REMOTE CONTROL OUT THE WINDOW!” Thanks for that. Macho chokes for a bit and elbows Luger across the chest. Mongo: “THAT’LL HAVE HIM CROAKING LIKE A BULLFROG, TOMORROW!” Macho covers for another few nearfalls. Luger takes over with an eye gouge. Luger: “OOOOOAAAAAAAAAAFFFFFFFFFF!” I swear if you listen you can literally him hear saying OAF as he oafs. Luger drops a few elbows for 1, 2, no. Macho hotshots Luger and heads up top for the MACHO ELBOW! Luger moves and Macho whiffs. Torture Rack follows from Lex. Macho gives up or the referee stops the match at 5:10.

• That makes Luger 4-0 against Macho and he did it clean…. as a heel…. by submission… a week before Macho gets a title shot against Flair. That’s just some crazy booking, not bad, but unexpected. Match was the usual boring, half-speed, TV affair. *1/2

• WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Sting vs. Ric Flair (c). WCW Nitro. 01/15/96. Since Clash I, Flair and Sting have had a running rivalry ever, but once Flair left for WWF in 1992, they didn’t meet in a match again until 1994. The rivalry would cool considerably not really picking up again until a hot Nitro match between the two in November 95 that saw Sting come out victorious. They would meet for the LAST TIME EVER, WE SWEAR at WW3 with Sting making Flair give up again. But WCW was all WE HAD OUR FINGERS CROSSED IN CASE IT WAS FOR TITLE SHOTS, so Flair would meet Sting and Luger in a triple threat at Starrcade in 95 and win and then beat Macho for the belt later in the night. Seeing as Flair was now champ, that whole LAST TIME EVER gambit was clearly out the window, thus netting us Flair-Sting part IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII or a bunch if you’re not into roman numerals.

• Just to get another sense of WCW at this time, Sting vs. Flair for the belt is on the undercard on Nitro, while Hogan vs. Meng is the main event. Anyway, they lock up with Flair quickly bumping off some collar and elbow tie ups. Flair tries to pull Sting down by the hair but Sting hangs on and keeps kipping up. Sting’s fired up and so are the little Stingers. Flair shitcans him out but Sting comes right back in and mounts in the corner for the 10. He gets to 8 and then biels Flair over for the Bluechipper dropkick. Press slam and we’re 45 minutes into a broadway at only 90 seconds. Flair gets sent across for the Flip and the apron clothesline. Sting chokes for a bit as Jimmy Hart tries to get Flair up. Sting suplexes Flair back in and Flair begs off immediately. Sting gloats so Flair goes to his eyes and chops him down. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. More chops and rights and closed fists from the Nature Boy. Flair tries a suplex but Sting blocks and puts him up top for a top rope superplex. Flair sells it like a plane crash and Sting goes for the splash but Flair gets the knees up. We take a break and are back to Sting flipping out of a suplex and trying a Stinger Splash but eating top rope. Flair drops a knee and tries a cover with his feet on the ropes. Like a pro, Sting helps Flair milk the spot by only getting his shoulders up and not kicking out exactly. Therefore, the referee is forced to notice that Sting can’t move as opposed to Sting moving himself. It’s a minor difference but when you’re paying attention, it’s beautiful. ANYWAY, Nick Patrick catches Flair’s feet on the ropes and chastises him. Heenan tries putting over Flair and his numerous and current world championship reign. Bischoff pleads ignorance and says the only man with the gold he recognizes is Hogan because he was cheated out of the belt by Jimmy Hart and Giant. That’s fine and everything but that was THREE MONTHS AGO. Macho won belt at WW3 fair and square and Flair beat him for it and… you get the picture. ANYWAY, Flair shitcans Sting out to get worked over by Jimmy Hart. Back in, a chop takes down Sting who powers out of a kickout. Sting fires up for a clothesline and then both collapse to sell for the double KO. Sting locks in the Sleeper but Flair counters to the back suplex. Flair goes back to the chops but Sting overpowers with the rights. He tries a dropkick but Flair hooks the ropes to avoid. F4 gets countered into the small package for 1, 2, no. Backslide spot for 1, 2, 2 1/2. Flair shitcans him out but Sting is right back in for a sunset flip. Moon spot and Flair tries countering but Sting avoids and Flair begs off. Sting tells Flair to get a load of his junk and press slams him again. Flair gets the elbow up and heads up top only to get slammed off. Flair begs off and Sting surfers up like it’s 1990. Another press slam and Flair is done. BUT WAIT! LEX LUGER HAS COME OUT! He wants a word with Jimmy Hart. He tosses Hart and steals the megaphone and “accidentally” waffles Sting with it in the course of a Stinger Splash. F4 and Sting’s down for 1, 2, 3 at 11:08.

• Good stuff all around as it’s the standard issue Flair-Sting match with the mix of mandatory spots with occasional spots sprinkled in and the overbooked finish to keep the belt on Flair. Just two pros who effortlessly could have this match another 1000x any day of the week. ***1/4

• Post-match, Macho and Hogan chase off Flair and Luger. Scheme Gene wants a word with the man of the hour, Hulk Hogan. Hogan wants Sting to finally trust him and realize that Luger is against him. Macho gets in his face and tells him to WAKE UP. Sting says he must investigate and goes to the back. Meanwhile, Hogan then turns on Macho as well because he wants the title shot that Macho’s getting next week. Man, Hogan comes off like such an asshole. Macho tells him to BACK THE FUCK UP, I EARNED IT, BROTHER! And Hogan still won’t back downs, so Macho just has to walk out on his crap and Hogan is AGHAST.

• WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair (c). WCW Nitro. 01/22/96. In an odd bit, at the beginning of the show, despite not being on WCW in years, fresh re-signee Konnan crashes the announce table while they are hyping the title match and announces he’ll be facing Psicosis for the Mexican Heavyweight Championship at the Clash the next night. ANYWAY, Macho comes out behind a train of seven women to steal a page from Flair’s book, one of whom is Woman. Hogan stops him from behind and wishes him luck in only the way that face Hogan post-1990 can and then demands the first title shot.

• Flair sees Woman and tries to get her to ride Space Mountain but she smacks him on his ass and Savage jumps him from behind to get us started. Macho ghosts him on a post so Flair counters and sends him into the rail. Back in, Macho with a clothesline for 1, 2, no. Flair tries to escape and Macho grabs a front facelock. Macho grinds the eye and sends off Flair but Flair gets the elbow up. Flair with a chop and shitcans Macho out to buy some time. Jimmy Hart boots Macho down on the floor, while Flair distracts the ref, and it just isn’t clicking right now. The commentary is too busy talking about Woman’s history with Flair, the Clash tomorrow night, and whether Mean Joe Greene is Kevin Greene’s brother to be selling this much. And the crowd isn’t dialed in yet. It’s just flat. Flair with another chop and he sends Macho into the rail for a Bret Hart bump into the front row. They slug it out with rights and chops and Macho ends the rally with a backdrop on the floor. He heads up top for a sledge but Flair sidesteps and Macho EATS RAIL FOR THE THIRD TIME! We take a break and are back to Flair working over Macho in the ring. Macho no sells to fire up and mount in the corner for the 10. He sends Flair across and Flair doesn’t have enough momentum for the Flip and barely makes it over before falling to the floor. Not exactly Flair-Steamboat in 89 or even Flair-Sting in 96. On the floor, Flair goes to the hurt ribs and Macho ignores to counter and trash him into the rail again. Back in, Flair begs off but Macho ain’t buying, so Flair goes to the breadbasket again. While Macho sells, Flair argues with the ref and then Flops to NOTHING. Crickets. Macho covers for only 1. They can’t get shit going, so it’s time for the backslide spot. 1, 2, kickout. Kneebreaker to more crickets, but at least they perk up for the Figure Four. Flair uses the ropes but the ref catches him. Flair shoves him but he gets shoved back in another staple. Flair drops a knee, heads up top, but gets slammed off. Macho heads up for a BONESAW HAMMERS. He hits 2 but Jimmy Hart distracts the ref. BUT WAIT! ARN ANDERSON HAS COME OUT! He’s got the knuck but Macho ducks and Arn lays out Flair. MY GOODNESS, IT’S HOGAN! Hogan pounds down Arn as the bell rings. Macho lands the Macho elbow and covers for 1, 2, bell rings AGAIN at the wrong time, 3 to take it to crown a new champ at 8:27.

• That was a pretty bland affair for a title match much less a title change. Flair-Hogan and Flair-Sting had much more energy and chemistry than this matchup did. Macho had been nursing a legit arm injury since at least WW3, so that’s a factor, but even the crowd sensed this was pedestrian. Also, Woman’s presence was completely superfluous and didn’t play into the story at all. Plus, the bell ringing wrong twice killed the finish a bit. Still, first world title change in the history of Nitro and in the history of the Monday Night Wars as WWE wouldn’t have a world title change on RAW until Sid beat Bret for it in Feb 97. *3/4

• Post-match, Hogan revels in glory knowing he’s got a guaranteed shot now, and when Macho cuts the party short, Hogan doesn’t understand. Macho tries to make it crystal clear: “WE BEEN TO HELL AND BACK TWELVE TIMES! THIRTEEN IS EITHER OUR LUCKY NUMBER OR OUR UNLUCKY NUMBER, BROTHER! UNDERSTOOD?!” Hogan says he’s not into numerology and he’s got a date with One Man Gang later tonight anyway. Macho says he wants to give him a shot at the belt right back here in Vegas at Caesar’s Palace. Kind of awesomely given all of his dickishness, Hogan would turn heel and he and Macho would continue to feud on and off through the rest of the year culminating in a title match in Vegas in October at HH.

• WCW World Tag Team Championship: Lex Luger & Sting vs. Harlem Heat (c). WCW Nitro. 01/22/96. Last week’s powwow after Sting’s loss to Flair must have went well considering here they are still a tag team and challenging for the belts. Luger and Stevie to start. Luger goes to the eyes and pounds away in the corner. He sends him across but runs into a boot and some CLUBBINGBLOWS. Hilariously, Mongo fumbles and completely botches Sting’s finisher as the “SCARP—SCORPION DEATH!” Stevie sends Luger off only to eat the Bionic, Steel Plate forearm for 1, 2, no. Luger then sprints for the ropes like he’s back in the combine so Book can boot him in the back. Luger no sells to knock him off the apron only to spin around into a FOOT TO THE FACE. Book tags in but Luger ducks a combo for the double clothesline. Sting in for the Stinger Splashes on Book and Stevie. He wants to roll Stevie into the SCARP DEATH but Book breaks it up with the Ax kick to the back of his head. Stevie hits a clothesline for 1, 2, 2 1/2. Book in for a leg lariat. He taunts and gets Luger all riled up. Book slows things down with a shoulder lock. Sting tries a rally but Book gets the boot up and hits a Bulldog off the top. He covers for 1, 2, broken up by Luger. HH work over Sting for a bit. He fires up and even no sells an eye poke until Stevie does it again and Book Stun Guns him across the top. Stevie hooks in a nerve hold as a crowd that was dead for most of Flair/Macho is shaking the damn camera chanting for STING. Sting sells it like death so the ref raises the arm a few times. Nicely on commentary, Bischoff keeps the narrative tight by focusing on Luger and whether or not, Sting can trust him, whether or not, he’s costing Sting more damage with his exuberance, etc. Brain: “Sting reminds me of you, Mongo, on game day: Face down on the floor.” Stevie releases to slam him down and tag in Book. Book drops a knee and then gloats: “HE’S FINISHED AFTER THAT, YOU SUCKAS!” Book covers for 1, 2, shoulder up. HH cues up the double gordbuster and hits it. Book goes for the Harlem Hangover but Sting moves and Book eats canvas. Sting reaches for the hot tag but Nick Patrick is too busy holding off Stevie Ray to see it. Luger’s a house of fiery forearms and elbows but he has to get back on the apron. HH shitcan Sting out for more damage. BUT WAIT! IT’S JIMMY HART! He slips a roll of quarters to Luger. Back in, Sting and Book both go for crossbodies for the double KO. Mild tag to Luger and he waffles Book down like a parking meter and covers for 1, 2, 3 for new tag champs at 9:35.

• Post-match, Luger’s giddy: “I TOLD YOU WE COULD DO IT!” Sting, of course, missed the whole thing selling on the floor, so he’s just happy to be a tag champ.

• When HH is on, almost no tag team in the mid 90s gets heat like them (no pun intended). Here, they were mostly on getting a tepid crowd into the match and rolling, but they delayed a bit too long for the hot tag and finish. The blind tag probably was the time for the actual tag, but it’s still a solid match with a good story. **3/4

• In the main event that night, Hogan would go over OMG for the usual.

• WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Blue Bloods vs. Sting & Lex Luger (c). WCW Clash of the Champions XXXII. This is the next night after the Macho and Sting/Luger title wins and we’re still in Vegas at Caesar’s Palace. This particular iteration of the bloods is Regal and Eaton, not Dave Taylor. Taylor wouldn’t join the group until May of 96.

• Regal shows off the bicep to start by pushing it up with his finger and Stinger pulls out the hand binoculars to get a look. Funny stuff. Regal saunters around and pauses in disgust at that rapscallion, Luger. Regal is sporting taped up ribs for what it’s worth. Sting pauses to curtsy and then presumably tells Regal to get take a ride on his Scorpion Deathlock because the camera pushes in on Regal but the fans pop for Stinger’s off-screen antics. We cut back out to Sting pounding the turnbuckle. Regal goes to the arm to start and twists the wrist. Sting counters to a wristlock of his own, so Regal rolls through back to the wrist. Sting cuts the nonsense to grab a headlock and then plows over Regal with a shoulderblock. Regal sells the hell out of it. Regal sends him off and tries to trip him up to avoid the shoulderblock and preps a Euro uppercut the other way. Sting hooks the ropes and lands the Bluechipper dropkick to stay a step ahead. That was beautiful all around. Regal flops and sells right into Luger who waffles him and then Sting so he can box his ears. REGAL REGALREGALREGAL! Regal has HAD IT and puts up his dukes like he’s Jim Jeffords and Sting WOOOOs him away. Regal stumbles and tags in Eaton, THE EARL! Luger steps in and immediately gets shitcanned out. Eaton chases him down and Flexy Lexy backdrops him and then clubs him down. Lex totes him back to the ring and flexes because Luger. Eaton no sells the posedown and tags in Regal. Regal pounds the mat because IT’S ON, MOTHERFUCKER, BLACKPOOL STYLE! Luger responds in kind and they use that intensity for a casual lockup and Regal can’t handle it and wants a break. Regal: “AHHHH! UNHAND ME! UNHAND ME!” That’s incredible. Regal is just one of the best ever. Deal with it. ANYWAY, Nick Patrick tries to force a break, so Regal seizes the moment to land a closed fist on Luger. Luger: “OOOOWWWWWHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA!” Regal with a few Euro uppercuts to follow up while Luger, just based on audio evidence, appears to go into labor with contractions only a few seconds apart. Regal busts out the MUAY THAI! Tony: “REGAL SHOWING OFF THE AGILITY!” Seriously, just put this man in every Hall of Fame that exists right now. Eaton takes over and immediately eats shit from Luger who tries to fire up. Regal quiets the rally with the BLATANTTHUMBTOTHEEYE and Eaton follows up with a swinging neckbreaker. Regal with an elbow drop as the fans chant for Luger while he finishes giving birth and heaves and hoes against the ropes. Regal drops a knee for another nearfall. Regal then palm thrusts him to death and Nick Patrick is no fan of that PERFECTLY LEGAL decimation of the total package. Eaton back in to head up top for a TOP ROPE KNEE DROP! BLUEBLOODSBLUEBLOODSBLUEBLOODS! REGAL STRETCH! Sting breaks it up though. Eaton heads up again but Luger cuts him off, catching him, but then botches it collapsing and then tries to cover up the whole thing by “selling.” You can tell he isn’t *really* selling though because no grunting. Eaton recovers to send him off and they collide on a coconut. Tag to Sting and he cleans house. Luger pitches in but Regal dumps him out. Sting clubs Regal back and he and a diving Eaton collide off the top. Sting senses the end is near and hooks in the SCARP DEATH! Eaton gives up at 7:46.

• Just gimme Regal and Eaton putting heat on the entire roster for 3 hours every Monday Night and I’m a happy man. Seriously a good time with Regal being the master technician of cheap heat and nefarious tag wrestling. Eaton’s a good hand and holds up his end. Sting has one of the hottest hot tags around and Luger got to get beat up for pretty much the whole thing. What more could you ask for? ***1/2

• Hulk Hogan & Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & The Giant. WCW Clash of the Champions XXXII. Tony says that pre-match Flair was trashing Kevin Greene who is accompanying The MegaPowers. Flair struts and calls him out again so Greene gets in the ring in the 3-point stance. Not being the football-type, Flair gets the mic and says he’s no fool and won’t injure Greene which would prevent him from playing this Sunday. That’s the best legal strategy and advice Flair has had in years. Back in, Flair locks up with Macho and goes to the chops in the corner. Macho with a backdrop and a few clotheslines. Macho sends him across for the Flip which takes out a camera man. Hogan big boots him off the apron and Flair Flops to the floor. If the self-parody was just starting in 94 or so, by 96 it’s in full gear. Back in, Macho smacks Flair more to chastise him than anything else. Flair with a chop and Giant gives Macho a shot behind the ref’s back. Macho blocks a hiptoss and gets a back slide for 2. Macho goes to the jabs and allows Hogan a cheap shot. Flair begs off and tags in Giant. Macho calls for People Power and then tags in Hogan. Giant shoves him into the corner and Hogan looks around in disbelief for his 100,000 screaming Hulkamaniacs pulling for him against Andre but that was about a decade earlier and a different Giant so the fans give him crickets. Plus, Hogan had already neutered Giant back at HH 95 so the suspense is gone. Giant sends him off and Hogan folds like a house of cards for a VERY ginger shoulderblock. Hogan with an eye gouge and wants the bodyslam but Giant won’t go up and instead slams Hogan. Giant with a back elbow and a boot and Hogan just lays there. Giant decides to low blow headbutt him and go to the backbreaker submission. Giant goes for the People’s Elbow but Hogan rolls out of the way and raises the roof before bodyslamming Giant and then tearing every muscle in his back. OH THE HUMANITY! Flair tags in with the hanging vertical suplex. Hogan no sells and Hulks up. Tony: “Fans, if you are tuning in to see Child’s Play, the movie will start immediately following this program.” Thanks for that. Hogan with some clotheslines on Flair and saunters over to tae a shot at Giant for no reason. Hogan AGAIN tries to jump Giant for no reason so Giant pulls him to the floor and they engage in some of the worst brawling ever to grace human history. After a botched bearhug, Giant slides him back in so Hogan can Hulk up again. Flair with a back elbow and Hogan sells THAT of all things. Flair heads up top but Hogan slams him off and tags in Macho. Macho heads up for the BONESAW HAMMER! Macho with a slam and hits the Macho Elbow. Hogan and Giant continue their epic miniseries of brawling as Macho wants to give Jimmy Hart some punishment. Flair pulls out the loaded knucks and waffles Macho and covers for 3 to win it at 9:53. Not even Flair and Macho could drag this into watchable despite getting a decent chunk of the ringtime. Giant was useless for practically the first two years of his career and this match is no different and Hogan’s Hogan. *1/4

• Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan. WCW Nitro. 01/29/96. Amidst everything else that has happened the last few weeks with the title changes and title matches, the Road Warriors re-debuted at the Clash last week as well. During his entrance, Flair struts BACKWARDS down the aisle awesomely which draws Mongo’s ire. Mongo: “THE FUR’S GONNA FLY TONIGHT RIGHT OFF THAT CAPE HE’S WEARING!” Brain: “That’s feathers, not fur.” And it’s ROBE, not a cape, but I digress. In one of those continued “Let’s shit on Flair’s gimmick” moments, Hogan is the one now with the women including Woman and Liz who first appeared in WCW also last week at the Clash.

• Pre-match, Flair mouths off with the humanoids. Mongo: “I’M SO TIRED OF THIS GUY I COULD SPIT!” Settle down, Beavis. Flair bumps off a lockup and again for more of the same. Flair shoves him only to get shoved down. Crowd chants for Hogan as Flair tries some chops to no avail. Hogan Suburban Commandoes up and punches Flair across the ring and backdrops him. Time for a few Hogan-lines and Flair’s out to the floor. Hogan gives chase and Flair goes to the eyes and sends him into the rail. Hogan sells for 3/4 of a second only to recover and Hogan-line Flair down and Flair begs off. Back in, Flair drops to a knee and pleads with the ref. Hogan goes to the closed fists and Nick Patrick almost gets laid out trying for a break. Flair takes advantage to clip the knee. The bastard still won’t go down though. Flair clips it AGAIN and Hogan continues limping without getting on his back. We take a break and are back to Hogan finally getting down on the mat for a brief spell. He Mr. America’s up though to slam Flair off the top. Hogan continues laying him out with the haymakers but Flair retaliates with a timid back elbow and Hogan takes his first bump possibly of the calendar year. Flair chokes a bit and pulls over Nick Patrick for a meeting of the minds. Of course, Hogan shakes off Jimmy Hart’s cheating and kicks him into the rail. Flair drops a knee and struts and Hogan has no sold it all to mount in the corner for the 10 and some biting. He sends Flair across for the Flip and the apron clothesline. On the floor, Hogan rakes the eye and the back and Flair’s HAD IT WITH THE SHITTING ON HIS GIMMICK and pokes him in the eye and Hogan finally sells that. Flair shitcans him back out for some choking from Jimmy. Brain: “HOGAN KICK JIMMY IN THE FACE A FEW MINUTES AGO! FAIR’S FAIR!” The man has a point. Back in, Flair clips the knee again and goes to the kneebreaker and Hogan finally goes down from some knee damage. F4! Hogan rolls it over after a few and Flair gets the ropes. Hogan sells but still blocks a suplex for one of his own. Hogan Thunderlips up but Flair elbows him back down. YEAHHHHHH! Back suplex and Hogan again busts out the patented taser sell job. Flair covers for 1, 2, Hulk up. No sell, big boot and Atomic leg drop puts down Flair. BUT WAIT! JIMMY HART IS ON THE APRON! ARN ANDERSON HAS COME OUT WITH THE KNUCKS! Hogan blocks the waffle and trashes Arn to the floor. Arn is tired of also coming up short again the franchise, so he steals Liz’s shoe and slips it to Flair. Flair blasts Hogan RIGHT IN THE EYE! Flair covers for 1, 2, 3 to give Hogan his first pinfall loss ever in WCW at 11:22.

• Not as good as the match a few weeks before this because of timing and circumstances, but a better ending that actually advances the story some and inflicts some damage on Hogan for once. It’s almost like because Hogan knew he was laying down, he was gonna Hulk up 5 times just to show that Flair and Arn really had nothing on him. Still coming out of it all, Flair has a pinfall win over Hogan which is nothing to shake a fist at. Arn would net one as well a few weeks later. **1/4

• WCW World Heavyweight Championship: The Giant vs. Macho Man Randy Savage (c ). WCW Nitro. 01/29/96. Amazingly, despite the world title changing hands twice in the last month, this is an exact rematch from 12/18/95 with the same challenger and same champion. Bischoff: “For all we know, HULK HOGAN MAY BE OUT OF WRESTLING! AN EYE INJURY IS NOTHING TO TAKE LIGHTLY!” Thanks for that. Macho’s train of women, as well, comes out first as we await Savage. BUT WAIT! IT’S MACHO! HE JUMPS GIANT FROM BEHIND IN THE RING WITH THE BELT! The referee calls for the bell as he gets the belt away from Macho. Macho mounts with the Sleeper and the ref throws out the match at :00. RIC FLAIR HAS COME OUT! He trashes Macho into the post and the rail. He starts laying into him. Giant suplexes him and they put the boots to the knee. Slam Dunk ChokeSlam and Macho’s left lying. BUT WAIT! IT’S THE RED AND YELLOW MUMMY! THE ONE-EYED HOGAN! He gets a chair and goes to town on Macho, Giant, and the rest of the DOD as they file in.

• All of this somehow led to Flair/Hogan and Hogan/Giant in the double cage main event at WCW Superbrawl VI

• It’s odd how little of this amounted to obvious blowoffs. No blowoff to face Hogan/face Macho. No blowoff to face Hogan/heel Flair. No blowoff to face Sting/tweener Luger. No blowoff to face Macho/tweener Luger. Essentially, all of it took a backseat to the biggest angle/feud in the promotion: Hogan vs. everyone. Whether it was going against Flair or Macho or the Giant or the rest of Horsemen or the entire DOD, the dominant storyline in WCW from Hogan’s arrival in 1994 through all of this was Hogan against everyone else in the company. That’s why a few months later Hogan and Macho beat pretty much EVERY HEEL ON THE ROSTER in the main event of Uncensored and then Hogan did the only thing that made sense, the only thing that could continue the Hogan vs. everyone feud: he turned heel by joining the n.W.o thus turning everyone else in the promotion face by default.

The 411: A very interesting dive into a chapter of the Monday Night Wars that doesn't get much coverage. WCW, more or less, started the trend of trying to make Monday Nights at the beginning of the year important free TV wrestling. Wrestling is par for the course at the time, but still better than some of the n.W.o main events through the rest of 96 and later in 97.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]