Written By: Matt Peddycord
Spring Stampede ‘97
April 6, 1997
Tupelo, MS
Tupelo Coliseum
Your hosts are Tony, Dusty & Bobby! (As for those hard-to-call matches, Mike Tenay will be joining us!)
Schiavone starts the PPV off mentioning that even though Scott Hall has been MIA for the last three weeks, Nash will still have to defend the titles against the top contenders of Rick & Scott Steiner. AND NO SUBSTITUTIONS! Before Nash will go through with it, he has some demands he wants met first. Bobby says there’s no way one man can beat both the Steiners on any given day! We’ll find out later what those demands are, but in the mean time, let’s go to the ring!
Ultimate Dragon vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
As if you didn’t know already, this is a Tenay-added commentary match. As a side-note, Dragon is without his manager, Sonny Oono! Also, this is the PPV rubber match between these two. Rey won the first one at Hog Wild back in August, 1996, and Dragon won the second match at World War 3, back in November 1996. They’re all amazing matches, and this one doesn’t disappoint either. They start off with some neat mat stuff, with Dragon eventually just slamming Mysterio once Rey started to get the advantage. Rey sweeps the legs and applies like a camel clutch-deathlock submission hold. Rey then maneuvers over into just a camel clutch. Dragon powers out of it and Rey falls throat-first on the bottom rope. Dragon rolls up Mysterio for a near-fall and then goes to work on the arm. Rey flips out of an arm wringer and they go to a stalemate. Dragon then hits his patented kick combo he’s famous for to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Dragon tosses Rey into the ropes and hits a picture-perfect dropkick. Dragon goes back to working on the arm, including a cross armbreaker into a short arm scissors. Dragon gets tired of that, and sends Rey into the ropes. Dragon picks Rey up in a crazy-looking airplane spin and then drops down for a torture rack bomb. OUCH. Powerbomb by Dragon, but then he picks Rey back up and drops throat-first across the top rope! That was an AWESOME series of moves. Dragon hooks on a sleeper now! Rey elbows out and runs off the ropes, but then gets rocked with a back elbow. RUNNING LIGERBOMB FROM CORNER TO CORNER! Dragon executes a tombstone piledriver! Dragon covers, but pulls Rey off the mat at two! Dragon whips him into the ropes, and hook on the sleeper once more! Dragon is just so awesome here. He does a couple AWESOME high impact moves, and then slows the pace down with an appropriate submission hold. Rey elbows out once more. This time around though, he ducks Dragon’s clothesline and comes off the ropes with a spin-wheel kick! But that only fired up Dragon more, as he drops Rey with a clothesline. Dragon proceeds to kick Mysterio around the ring like a freaking soccer ball. Front suplex by Dragon, which is followed up by a Muta lock! Dragon releases the hold and slaps on the surfboard! Dragon maneuvers Rey’s shoulders down on the mat, but his shoulders were down as well so he lets go of the hold. Dragon kicks on Rey again, so Rey rolls out to the floor just to get away. Dragon goes out after him, but gets whipped into the guardrail! Rey runs back into the ring to break the count and to regroup. Dragon back in, and Rey gets caught into the sleeper once again. Rey gets out of that, and then puts Dragon into the sleeper! Dragon tosses Rey over his back. Rey lands on his feet and lands a front dropkick to Dragon’s back. Rey catches him with a spin-wheel kick that sends him out to the floor. Rey fakes a suicide dive on the ropes. Dragon walks to the other side of the ring where Rey surprises him with a tope con hilo! Now WCW interrupts us in the middle of this great contest by going to LEE MARSHALL in the back who’s trying to find out just what Nash’s demands are. NOW?! YOU CHOOSE TO DO THIS NOW, LEE?! WHY DO WE HAVE TO SEE THIS LIVE ANYWAY?! WHY CAN’T WE DO THIS AFTER THE MATCH! IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Syxx answers the door, says something incoherent and slams the door in Lee’s face. THAT WAS IT?! WE INTERRUPTED THIS MATCH FOR NOTHING?! Where’s a gun when I need it? Back to the match, we see Rey hitting a front dropkick on Dragon’s legs to send him down. Rey goes to the apron and nails a springboard legdrop for a near-fall! They both miss a move off the turnbuckle, although Rey lands on his feet and Dragon doesn’t. Rey goes up top while Dragon is staggering, but that proves UNWISE as Dragon dropkicks Rey out onto the floor! Dragon nails a pescado, and then they head back into the ring. Dragon tries to suplex Rey back in from the apron, but Rey lands on his feet. Rey tries a quebrada, but Dragon dropkicks him in mid-air! Dragon hits a 7-repitition giant swing, but he seems worse for wear. They both try a jumping kick at the same time, which hurts no one. Dragon kicks him in the gut and runs off the ropes. Rey does a jumping handspring into a hurracanrana for a near-fall! Dragon rolls him over for a near-fall! Rey reverses a whip into the ropes, but Dragon flips out of a back drop and nails an enzuigiri for a two-count! Dragon whips Rey into the corner and follows him in with a clothesline. Dragon sets Rey on the top turnbuckle and hits his TOP ROPE RANA for a two-count! Rey flips out of a powerbomb, misses a right hand, and gets caught in a tiger suplex position. Rey fears it like death and wisely gets into the ropes. They do a rollup sequence, with Rey hitting a hurracanrana out of NOWHERE for the three-count! (14:58) I had to knock the rating down a ¼-star for the moronic Lee Marshall/Syxx interruption. Otherwise, this was as fine an opener as you’ll see. I would say this is the best of the three PPV matches, but like I said, they’re all amazing. **** ¼
Now Lee Marshall tries to interview Kevin Nash for the SECOND time. Lee Marshall yells for Kevin Nash to come out like some dad trying to get his 6-year old son to clean his room. Syxx sticks his head out the door again, and Lee Marshall’s all like, “Yo, much respect playa, but I gotz to hear what dat big dudes gotz to say, ya feel me brotha?” The Steiners stop by and they’re all pissy, but security stops them. Nash finally says if he takes both Steiners, he wants Nick Patrick as the ref. Nash spits at Scott Steiner, so then Scott nails one of the security guys. Head of security, Doug Dellinger pulls out his can o’ mace and sprays Scott in the face! HA! GO DOUG! Scott gets handcuffed and he’s SO out of here. The Steiners acted all that out WAY too well.
WCW Women’s Champion Akira Hokuto (w/Sonny Oono) vs. Madusa
The Japanese women wrestlers that WCW brought in always scared me. Akira was no exception. “Idiot” Lee Marshall joins us for this contest as if anyone all of a sudden cares now. Akira drags Madusa around the ring by her hair a couple times and then misses a charge in the corner. Madusa gets in some pretty weak punches, but Akira comes back with a clothesline. Akira sets up on the top turnbuckle and chokes on Madusa. Akira continues to choke on Madusa in the middle of the ring to make me care even less. Two minutes in, and none of the commentators have mentioned anything about this match until TONY of all people tries to direct their attention to reality. Akira gets a body slam, but Madusa bridges out after a one-count. Madusa gets three hair pull takedowns, which gets a near-fall until Akira rakes her face while getting up. Madusa is not and never was hot. Even with those boobies, she’s not hot. Akira goes to the top and takes a handstand head-scissors from Madusa. Madusa goes to pick her up, and Akira bites her on the leg! Marshall mentions something that happened at Hog Wild between Madusa and Nakano, and Tony TRIES to care. Meanwhile, Akira distracts the ref and Oono chokes on Madusa. She fights back and hits a horrible looking rollup for two. Madusa hits a front dropkick from the middle rope. She hits another and then gets the GERMAN SUPLEX BRIDGE for two. Oono is on the apron with the ref. Madusa tries a powerbomb, but LUNA VACHON runs out and kicks Madusa in the leg. Akira then rolls up Madusa to retain the title. (5:13) That sucked all kinds of crap. CRAP
WCW World Television Champion Prince Iaukea vs. Lord Steven Regal
Regal draws some AWESOME heel heat by going out of the ring and badmouthing the fans for a good minute’s worth after the bell. They do finally lock up, but that ends quickly and Regal goes down to a shoulderblock. Iaukea then goes right to a headlock. Regal maneuvers out of it and goes to the arm. The commentators continue talking about mace and everything unrelated to this match. Dusty talks about himself being maced. I would LOVE to know why that went down. Because no matter what the circumstances, I would laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh. Oh yeah, the match. Prince fights back and goes back to the headlock. As Regal starts to get an advantage, Iaukea goes back to the stupid headlock. Regal is pissed, so he shoves Iaukea through the ropes off a whip and onto the floor. Iaukea shoots back onto the apron and hits a springboard crossbody for a two count. They do a test of strength with Iaukea winning it. Regal goes down with a bridge, but he kips up and goes to the eyes! Regal applies a full-nelson while the commentators go back to discussing the nWo. Iaukea escapes and tries a sunset-flip, but Regal nails him in the face. Regal works over Iaukea in the corner. Iaukea fights back and mounts a comeback, but Regal slows everything back down. They lock up at 8:04, which is very unorthodox. Regal whips him into the far-side corner. Iaukea puts on the brakes and tries a springboard crossbody, but Regal sidesteps it with ease. Regal goes back to pounding on Iaukea in the corner. Iaukea reverses a whip, and nails a back drop. The Prince hits Regal with everything Jimmy Snuka has and then reverses a rollup into a pinning combination of his own for the three-count. (9:19) Another boring suck-fest of a title match. Post-match, Regal attacks him from behind and locks on the REGAL STRETCH! Iaukea loses the TV title the next night on Nitro to the Ultimate Dragon, leading up to Dragon/Regal at Slamboree. *
Gene Okerlund brings out the then 13-time World Champion Ric Flair to a chorus of WOO’s! Flair says he’ll be ready to come back from shoulder surgery May 1. Oh yeah, and he wants to take on the nWo Wolfpac at Slamboree, May 18th, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Everything else is just Horsemen jibberish.
Public Enemy (w/Table) vs. Jeff Jarrett & Steve McMichael (w/Debra, Flowers, & a Steel Briefcase)
Mongo throws up the four fingers because that’s the only way he can get a pop from a crowd. Mongo starts off with the late Rocco Rock, as he locks on a headlock to the no-wrestling talent jock. Rocco works Mongo over in the corner. Mongo reverses a whip into the corner, but misses a charge. Jarrett backs him up and clotheslines him from the apron. That brings Grunge in and he gets a five-point stance, as does Rocco. Jarrett & Mongo go center ring and decide it would be cool to do the Flair strut, but it’s not and it wasn’t. Jarrett & Grunge are tagged in and they lock up. Jarrett gets sent into the ropes, but Grunge lowers his head and takes a face smash. Jarrett locks on an ab stretch and takes hold of Mongo’s hand for extra leverage. BECAUSE CHEATING IS COOL! The ref of course catches Jarrett doing this, and Johnny Grunge hiptosses out of it. Grunge takes down Jarrett with a shoulder block. Jarrett back up and he tries a leapfrog, but takes a right cross on the way down. Mongo comes in as Grunge and Jarrett screw up an atomic drop, sending Jarrett crashing into Mongo. Jarrett rolls out and takes a count. Now Rock is tagged in, and so is Mongo. The Horsemen connect with a double back elbow. Mongo follows up and slaps on a rear chinlock. Mongo releases the hold and whips Rock into the farside corner and catches him with a sideslam. He goes over and nails Grunge on the apron and that brings in Grunge. While the ref is busy with Grunge, Mongo tries a PIN?! That gets two. Mongo nails a tilt-a-whirl slam that gets two. Grunge made the save, and that brings in Jarrett. Jarrett and Grunge brawl out on the floor. Debra comes over and tries to break it up! Jarrett is sent into the safety rail while Rocco and Mongo go fight up the entryway. Where’s the bell for the double-DQ? Mongo and Rocco fight all over the Spring Stampede set, including knocking down some steers and getting thrown onto a covered wagon. Meanwhile, Grunge sets up the table at ringside. Debra slaps Grunge in the face, so Grunge puts her on the table! Jarrett AND WCW ain’t cool with abuse to women, so he comes up from behind and waffles him with a steel chair! Debra gets away, and Jarrett goes face-first onto the steel steps. Grunge sets Jarrett on the table, and goes to the top rope. He leaps but Jarrett moves out of the way in plenty of time to hit nothing but wood. All four men back in the ring as Jarrett hits a top-rope crossbody block for a near-fall. Jarrett rolls out to the floor, leaving Mongo with PE. As PE come off the ropes, Debra yanks Rocco’s leg and Grunge gets caught in a powerslam. PE blocks the double noggin knocker, and clothesline Mongo out to the floor. Before he takes it though, he tags Jarrett. Jarrett is a house of fire on PE. Grunge reverses a whip, kicks Jarrett in the gut and tries a powerbomb until Mongo comes in and nails Grunge with a clothesline. Rocco Rock has the briefcase. As the ref tries to get Mongo back out onto the apron, Jarrett goes for the FIGURE-FOUR until Rocco comes in and nails Jarrett in the head with the briefcase. The ref counts Jarrett’s shoulders for the three-count while he STILL has Grunge in the hold! (10:45) Wasn’t the point of this to try and build up the Horsemen here as a great team? ½*
Gene Okerlund is in the locker room alongside HARLEM HEAT and SISTER SHERRI. At the time, the four-corners match was considered the biggest match Harlem Heat had ever been in. It still is the biggest thing Stevie Ray was ever a part of, no matter how many tag titles he held. Of course Booker T went on to actually winning the WCW World Title FIVE TIMES and becoming one of the most decorated singles wrestlers in WCW and WWE as well. Anyways, this is the infamous interview where Booker spouts out, “Hulk Hogan, I’m coming for you nigga!” Nothing else in this interview could possibly top that.
WCW U.S. Champion Dean Malenko vs. Chris Benoit (w/Woman)
Both men lock up and they are all over the place with this AGGRESSIVE collar/elbow tie-up. They are both very cautious and don’t make a mistake. This is already a great start. The commentators are RUINING this by talking about Sting? Sting has NOTHING to do with this?! They trade headlock takedowns and arm drags until Benoit heaves Malenko out to the floor. Benoit follows out after him but Dean rolls back in immediately, as does Benoit. They stand face-to-face like they are going to EXPLODE on each other! Dean gets a single-leg takedown and goes to work on Benoit’s right leg. Benoit maneuvers around and grabs hold of a headlock as they rise to their feet. Malenko shoots Benoit off into the ropes and knocks Malenko down with a shoulderblock. Malenko decides to take a breather and regroup while Benoit stays in the ring. Back in, they trade wristlocks. Malenko counters a top wristlock into a slam. They now do a test of strength with Benoit bridging down onto the mat. Malenko tries with both legs to drive Benoit down to the mat, but Benoit’s back and ab strength is RIDICULOUS. Benoit fights up and goes to a wristlock. Benoit takes Malenko to the mat, and applies a modified version of the Rings of Saturn. He maneuvers Malenko around and gets a near-fall. Benoit then snapmares him and locks on a half-surfboard. Malenko gets to his feet and reverses the hold, but then decides to deliver a high-impact move in the back suplex. Malenko takes Benoit’s head to the buckle, and follows up with a small package for a two-count. Benoit fights back with a SICK pair of chops to Malenko’s chest. That fires up Malenko, as he goes to work on Benoit in the corner. Malenko gets a drop toe hold and applies a reverse chinlock, and then goes to a camel clutch. Benoit escapes and comes off the ropes, but is caught with an arm drag that goes straight into a short arm scissors. Benoit does the usual escape to the short arm scissors by lifting him up in the air WITH ONE HAND (and tons of help from Malenko) and dropping Malenko back head-first. Benoit puts Malenko down with a nice back suplex for a near-fall. Benoit follows up with a short-arm clothesline for another near-fall. Benoit goes to an ab stretch. Malenko escapes and covers for a one-count. Benoit kicks away on Malenko and chokes him on the middle rope. Benoit executes a reverse neckbreaker for a near-fall. Benoit follows that up with a release snap suplex for a pair of twos. Benoit doesn’t seem focused like he usually is as he works over Malenko in the corner. Malenko takes over and corner whips Benoit and follows him in with a clothesline. Benoit flips out of a suplex and connects with a reverse suplex! That cues in JACQUELINE. She comes down to ringside and beats the CRAP out of Woman! JIMMY HART comes down and he runs right past the catfight as Benoit flies off the top with the SWANDIVE HEADBUTT for a near-fall! Jimmy Hart is going up the entryway with the U.S. belt as EDDIE GUERRERO, arm sling and all, tells Hart to put the belt back where he found it. Meanwhile in the ring, Benoit hangs Malenko up to dry with a front suplex on the top rope. Malenko nails Benoit from the apron and then proceeds to suplex Benoit out to the floor! SICK! Jacqueline and Woman are still fighting, Eddie is still arguing with Jimmy Hart, and this match is still going on. What a mess this has become. Benoit and Malenko wail on each other at ringside until ARN ANDERSON comes down and nails Malenko from behind. He sends Malenko back in the ring with Benoit. KEVIN SULLIVAN now runs down to the ring, he says something to Arn and then nails Benoit in the back of the head with a stick! Ref Randy Anderson calls for the bell as this has gone far enough. (17:55) Jimmy Hart, Jacqueline and Kevin Sullivan all stick the U.S. belt on Eddie Guerrero? They take him up the aisle way and he looks confused as crap, as am I. I’ve heard this was supposed to kick off an angle with Benoit, Malenko and Guerrero taking on a stable of older wrestlers, but it never came about. After Dean wakes up Benoit, he says to him, “He was not supposed to be here.” Weird stuff. I’ll give this match about what everyone else does, because I feel the same way. ** ½
WCW World Tag Team Champion Kevin Nash (w/Syxx & Ted DiBiase) vs. Rick Steiner
At a time when heavyweight tag-team wrestling in WCW was dead anyway, mostly due to the most overrated tag-team in 1997, Scott Hall & Kevin Nash, the tag team titles will be defended for the first time ever in a one-on-one match-up. If Rick Steiner beats Kevin Nash, the Steiners become tag team champions. This makes no sense whatsoever, but whatever. Evil nWo-ite referee Nick Patrick is in control of this one as was Nash’s demand earlier in the night. Rick starts off trying to brawl with Nash, but he drives him down with elbows and boy does he open up his usual wide arsenal of moves! If you’re asking, that was extreme sarcasm. Nash runs into a boot of a corner whip and gets caught with a Steinerline. Rick looks sad because his bro is in jail. Again. Rick tries his hardest to get Nash over in a belly-to-belly, but it sucks big time. Rick gets a powerslam off the ropes and covers for a slow count from ref Nick Patrick. Syxx pulls the ropes down as Rick tries to come off the ropes to send him crashing to the floor. Of course, Patrick didn’t see it happen. Syxx kicks on him until Nash comes out to bring Rick back in the ring for a sidewalk slam. That gets a fair two-count. Nash chokes on Steiner in the ropes and then hits the running Bossman straddle. Nash sends Steiner into the ropes and connects with a big boot. Nash gets a JACKKNIFE POWERBOMB and covers for only a two count! The crowd is mixed between boos and barks. At least that’s how I WANT to see it. Nash works on him some more and goes for another JACKKNIFE POWERBOMB, but he receives a lowblow. Steiner goes up top and nails a TOP-ROPE BULLDOG for a near-fall. The commentators act like he didn’t get his shoulder up at two, but he clearly did. Steiner connects with three Steinerlines and then no-sells a kick from Syxx who is up on the apron. He gets nailed, but then turns around and gets decked by Nash. Syxx takes off the top turnbuckle pad off. Syxx suxx at ring-repair, so DiBiase comes over to help him! HA! How embarrassing. Nash hits the snake-eyes twice on the exposed turnbuckle. DiBiase gets up on the apron and tells him to end this. Nash ~ “You’re with us! I’ll tell you when it’s enough!” Nash hits another snake-eyes is sick of it, and he walks out to the back. Nash hits the snake-eyes AGAIN on the exposed turnbuckle, and then gets the JACKKNIFE POWERBOMB for the hesitant three-count. (10:22) Patrick is even upset by Nash’s viciousness and he leaves as well. Syxx is cool with it though. CRAP
Gene Okerlund is STILL in the locker room, but this time he is with Lex and Giant. They practically just say to each other let the best man win, which means NOT Harlem Heat.
Booker T vs. Stevie Ray vs. Lex Luger vs. The Giant – Four Corners match
The winner of this gets a title shot against Hogan. If there is anyone in America who thinks Harlem Heat stands a chance, then you should’ve tried to get on as a WCW commentator in 1997. Luger starts off against Booker in this one. Booker stalls at first by tending to the crowd and then yelling stuff into the camera. Schavonie scolds him for doing so by saying, “Yeah, you already had your interview earlier.” They lock up and run through wristlocks until Booker tries a Harlem sidekick, which Luger ducks. It’s funny how the commentators talk Hogan the whole time as if he’s actually been on this show. Luger press slams Booker and then flexes. Booker fights back and works on Luger in the corner. He wants the gold, sucka! Booker eats boot in the corner and gets nailed by a clothesline. Booker goes to the eyes and tags in Stevie Ray. Oh boy. Stevie pounds on Luger, but gets taken down with a clothesline for a near-fall. Giant gets tagged in and Stevie tries to pound on him too, but Giant takes over with a whip and a corner clothesline. Giant connects with another clothesline that sends Stevie out to the floor to regroup with Sherri. Booker comes in and gets press slammed just for fun. Booker goes over to Stevie and yells at him to get back in the ring as Sherri tries to keep them focused. Stevie goes back in and tags Luger while his back was turned to the crowd. Luger gets in and actually locks up with Giant. Giant sends Luger into the ropes and misses a clothesline. Luger tries to SLAM Giant, but he falls right on top of him for two. While Harlem Heat’s attention was all on Sherri, they tag them both in. They stall around by thinking and arguing about it. Stevie shoves Booker back, and they finally do lock up. Booker takes over with a hammerlock, but Stevie reverses into one of his own. Booker elbows out and grabs a headlock. Stevie sends him into the ropes and Booker ducks a clothesline. Stevie comes off the ropes and runs over Booker. Booker leapfrogs him and then Stevie turns around and they do a little handshake thing. HA! That’s a good way to piss off a crowd. They stall again until Booker tags in Lex. Stevie wants a test of strength, but he gets kicked in the gut. Luger fires away on Stevie until Stevie fights back and tags in Booker. Booker nails a sidewalk slam and tries a fist drop, but misses. Booker’s reaction is so great. He screams like his hand is on fire or something. Luger tags in Giant. Giant comes in with a headbutt for Booker. Tony says something like, “Whoa! That was handed down by generations!” HE’S NOT ANDRE’S SON! Giant slams him and tries a running elbow drop, but Booker moves out of the way. Stevie comes in and replaces Booker even though there was no tag. Harlem Heat double-teams Giant in the corner. Stevie tries a bicycle kick that misses completely. Booker tags in and then connects with a HIGH Harlem sidekick! Giant is staggering, so Booker takes out the knees. Stevie tags back in and tries to snapmare the Giant and doesn’t succeed, so Giant ends up just rolling over. Stevie misses a legdrop, so Giant connects with a big boot off the ropes. Luger gets tagged in and he hits a slam, then a series of elbow drops for a two count. Man, this is boring. Stevie yanks Luger face-first into the middle turnbuckle. Booker tags in again and misses a charge in the corner and takes a belly-to-back suplex. Luger calls for the TORTURE RACK, but Stevie nails him from behind. He then screws up a vertical suplex as Booker covers for a two-count. Booker hits a knee drop off the ropes and covers for two. Booker’s reactions to everything make me laugh because he’s so BLACK! Yes, I said it. Booker slaps on a rear chinlock. Luger elbows out, but gets decked with a Harlem sidekick for two. Booker tags in Stevie Ray, and they work over Luger in the corner. Stevie catches Luger with a running clothesline off the ropes for a two-count. Stevie goes back to a freakin’ rear chinlock. Lex elbows out and drops him with a back suplex. Booker tags in and NAILS Giant, and then goes after Lex. Booker hits the scissors kick, but decides to taunt the crowd as Tony thanks it’s a good idea to give Harlem Heat a lot of credit here. Booker then covers and gets two. Stevie comes in and drops Luger with a sidewalk slam. Booker tags back in, and they try a rocket launcher, but Luger moves out of the way. Booker tags in Stevie as Luger tags in Giant. Booker comes in and is just so wowed by him that he lets Giant powerslam his brother. Giant kicks Booker out to the floor. Giant calls for the CHOKESLAM, but then tags in Lex. Giant does the torture rack pose and acts like a 7-foot kid having a temper tantrum. Lex puts Stevie Ray in the TORTURE RACK for the submission win AND the WCW World Title shot against Hogan that he doesn’t receive until four months later. (18:22) Wow, that was a chore to sit through, but then to actually TYPE IT OUT was hell. They gave these four guys 20 minutes like they DESERVED it or something. ½*
We look to see RANDY SAVAGE and ELIZABETH trying to find their way out to ringside. Savage says to Liz, “I’m going to have a party and I’m going to invite about 14 to 22 women. You have any problem with that? Liz ~ “No.” Savage ~ “NOT A PROBLEM, I LIKE IT! SLIM JIMS FOR EVERYBODY!”
Gene Okerlund is alongside DDP & Kimberly and he is STILL in that same locker room! Page says he’s doing this for Kimberly and she says Page’s rage will even the odds that are so stacked against him.
Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. Diamond Dallas Page (w/Kimberly) – No-DQ Match
This is DDP’s first taste of the main event on a WCW PPV. Considering how close the buyrate for this show was up against WrestleMania two weeks prior, this solidified Page’s place as a WCW main-eventer until the demise of WCW. And who better to go up against then Randy Savage? Savage grabs Buffer’s mic and tells Page this isn’t his “big day” because it’s last day. The crowd is chanting DDP and doing the Diamond Cutter hand-sign like he’s a seasoned main eventer. Savage just stands and stalls on the apron to start this one off. Savage slips in the ring to get under Page’s skin only to slip out of the ring to stall some more. Page comes out after Savage and they brawl all over the place. HA! As Page sends him into the guardrail, Savage brings his foot up and he nails a kid in the face! HE SELLS BETTER THAN LEX! Get that kid a contract! Back in, Savage tries to escape on the other side but Page pulls him back in. Page sends Savage in the ropes, but he ducks too soon and gets caught with Savage’s boot kind of like that kid did in the front row. Page screws up an inverted atomic drop and points to the crowd. He tries a DIAMOND CUTTER, but Savage hooks the top rope. Page rolls out onto the apron and takes a hotshot, sending him down onto the floor. Savage comes out after him and decks Page, sending him over the guardrail into the sea of humanity. They brawl all out there and back out to ringside. Savage grabs Kimberly while Liz comes up behind Page and rakes him across the back. Savage tosses Kimberly at DDP, and then nails Page in the head. DDP goes headfirst into the steel guardrail a couple times. Savage goes up top and suddenly Page becomes Ricky Steamboat in the year 1986! Savage comes off the top with a double ax-handle blow that sends DDP almost melting to the floor. DDP gets sent into the steel steps, not once but twice. Back in, Savage covers Page with his feet on the ropes (not that it should get him DQ’ed anyways) for a near-fall. Savage goes out to the floor and steals Michael Buffer’s chair! He takes it into the ring and then nails him good in the back with it. Savage goes out to the floor again and then takes David Penzer’s chair, but not without SLAPPING him out of it first! Heenan ~ “Nothing wrong with that!” HAHA! Savage stomps Penzer on his way back in the ring with his chair in hand. Page takes the chair, throws it back at Savage and then slams it in his face! Umm, E-C-DUB! E-C-DUB! E-C-DUB! Page misses a clothesline and gets pounded on in the corner. He quickly turns things around and gives Savage his receipt! Savage reverses a whip and connects with a nice clothesline for a two-count. Page hits his patented discus clothesline that Mick Foley says he invented, but that’s not really relevant here. Both men are down, but up at the eight-count. Savage nails him with a right hand and follows up with a trio of scoop slams. Savage goes back out to the floor and grabs the ring bell! He goes to the top with it and Kimberly plays George “The Animal” Steele by taking it from Savage and running with it. Savage points at Kimberly and says something, and comes off the top anyway. He EATS boot! Page signals for the DIAMOND CUTTER! He tries it, but Savage counters into a low-blow for a near-fall. Crazy Randy Savage is pissed off at referee Mark Curtis’ counting, so he grabs him and slaps the sense out of him! He then PILEDRIVES Mark Curtis and takes his belt off him and whips him with it! Savage dumps him and goes up top and nails Page with the MACHO ELBOW DROP! Of course now, there’s no ref to make the count. Here comes NICK PATRICK! Savage and Patrick hug and shake hands while KEVIN NASH stands and smiles in the entryway. Savage picks up Page and tries a slam, but DDP maneuvers around and hits the DIAMOND CUTTER! Patrick looks like he isn’t going to make the count at first as Page covers Savage, but then he makes the three-count for DDP’s biggest win in his career up to that point! (15:42) Post-match, the nWo comes in while Nash drops Patrick with a JACKKNIFE POWERBOMB that ends Patrick’s evil nWo referee period. Savage gets back up and field-goal kicks DDP out to ringside, which leaves Kimberly in the ring alone with Savage. Savage grabs her and Bischoff gets in the ring and stops Savage from slapping her. As the fans chant, “WE WANT STING!” Savage looks up into the rafters. Nice little touch there, but there’s no Sting here tonight. Savage lets go of Kimberly and then shoves Bischoff down. The whole nWo (except Hogan & Hall) come in and separate the two. All of this turmoil in the nWo was of course, forgotten a week or so later. It even made Page’s win seem less important and not the main focal point here like it should’ve been. ** ½
Final Thoughts: Get this for Rey/Ultimo and after that is over, stop the tape. That’s all that needs to be said.