Written By: Bob Colling
World Championship Wrestling presents Slamboree
Date: 5/18/1997
From: Charlotte, North Carolina
A video promoting what is scheduled to take place on the show is aired.
Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes and Bobby Heenan welcome everyone to the pay per view and hype up the main event which will see the Horsemen taking on the New World Order in a six man tag match. This show marks the return of Ric Flair as he was injured for several months with a shoulder issue.
Opening Contest: Steven Regal defeated WCW Television Champion Ultimo Dragon to win the title: Slow start as they trade wrist locks and other mat wrestling moves. Regal controls Dragon with a surfboard while choking Dragon with his own hands it appears. Dragon counters the move but Regal quickly gets out of the hold and connects with a gut wrench slam for a two count. Dragon gets a two count after a quick shoulder block and keeps control with a side headlock. Dragon dropkicks Regal but runs into a big boot and uppercut from Regal. Dragon drop toe holds Regal and begins to kick Regal several times much to the delight to some of the fans. Dragon has a half Boston Crab locked in but Regal is able to reach the bottom rope pretty quickly. Dragon plants Regal with a swinging neck breaker but doesn’t go for a cover but instead has a head scissors on Regal for a few moments. Regal rolls out of it and kicks Dragon several times across the back. Regal hooks Dragon up to drive Dragon down to the mat with a vertical suplex but only gets a two count. Regal has a full nelson on Dragon but that doesn’t last long. Dragon counters with one of his but Regal gets out of it. Dragon attempts a sunset flip and gets a two count. Regal quickly recovers by trying to get the Regal Stretch locked in but fails. Dragon slaps Regal several times following a takedown. Dragon manages to get a cross arm breaker cinched in but Regal rolls over and tries to get the Regal Stretch locked in again. Dragon prevents that from happening so Regal gets the bow and arrow submission locked in instead. Dragon bites Regal’s arm and knocks Regal off his feet with a kick and continues to kick Regal while he is on the mat. Indian death lock by Dragon in the middle of the ring as the fans are heavily behind Regal. Dragon lets go to switch to a camel clutch but Regal elbows out of that. Dragon dropkicks Regal to the floor after getting out of a backdrop. On the floor, Sonny Ono kicks Regal in the chest. Dragon isn’t happy with Ono’s interference, though. Handspring back elbow in the corner by Dragon who connects with a middle rope hurricanrana but only gets a near fall! Dragon misses a top rope moonsault and Regal goes for the Regal Stretch! Dragon quickly reaches the bottom rope, however. Dragon counters a double under hook power bomb with a hurricanrana for another near fall. Regal rolls Dragon up but only gets a two count. Dragon avoids a uppercut with a spinning heel kick and rolls Regal up but they are too close to the ropes. Springboard middle rope moonsault by Dragon is successful but goes for the tiger suplex instead of a cover. Dragon tosses Regal to the floor where Dragon misses a slingshot cross body to the floor. Dragon tosses Regal into the guard railing back first and springboards off the middle rope to knock Regal out with a moonsault! Ono goes back to kicking Regal on the floor but Dragon pushes Ono away. Ono kicks Dragon in the back and Regal kicks Dragon in the head! Regal hits Dragon with a dragon sleeper suplex of sorts. Regal locks in the Regal Stretch and Regal gets the win! **1/2
After the match, Regal stomps away on Dragon a couple of times before grabbing the championship.
Second Contest: Madusa defeated Luna Vachon: Long story short, Madusa wins the match following a German suplex. NR
Mean Gene is standing at the top of the aisle way until Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth come out and grab the microphone. Savage tells Gene to head to the backstage area, which Gene is more than happy to do. Savage and Elizabeth eventually get to the ring cut a promo. Savage talks about the New World Order being the center of the universe and names several guys in the group. Savage believes that DDP doesn’t want anything to do with him anymore. DDP makes his way down to the ring through the crowd with a crutch. DDP enters the ring but Savage sees him and bails to the floor. Eric Bischoff runs down and has the New World Order guys bring Savage to the back. DDP wants to know what the deal is with Savage. DDP knew that Savage didn’t want to feel the madness. DDP doubts Savage had a previous arraignment with Kimberly or Elizabeth but rather that Savage has to go to Hogan’s house to wash his car and kiss his ass! The New World Order steps aside and let Savage walk to the ring. Savage gets in the ring and DDP whacks Savage with the crutch several times. Bagwell and Vincent are whacked as well. Bischoff gets nailed with the crutch but Scott Norton comes in and works on Page’s ribs. Savage and the rest of the New World Order attack DDP until the Giant runs down to the ring and saves DDP from a further beat down. The fans exploded for Giant.
Third Contest: Rey Mistero Jr. defeated Yuji Yasuraoka: Yuji kicks Rey’s leg several times to start off the contest. Yuji continues to control the contest with a sleeper hold but Rey gets out of that quickly. Rey stomps away on Yuji and delivers a leg drop to Yuji’s right leg. Rey briefly has Yuji in a front face lock until Yuji connects with a suplex followed by a scoop slam and a kick to Rey’s back. Another scoop slam by Yuji. Yuji clotheslines Rey after Rey flips out of a wristlock. Yuji nails Rey with a spinning heel kick for a two count. Rey backdrops Yuji and delivers a few forearm shots. Rey sends Yuji to the floor with a hurricanrana. The referee prevents Rey from leaping over the top rope. Rey proceeds to leap over the referee with a somersault plancha onto Yuji on the floor! Rey drop toe holds Yuji and has a camel clutch on Yuji for a few moments. Rey shoulder blocks Yuji from the apron and leaps off the top rope but is met with a spinning heel kick to the gut from Yuji! Yuji covers but only gets a near fall. Yuji spin kicks Rey in the corner and has a arm bar on Rey in the middle of the ring for several moments. Yuji rams Rey shoulder first into the top turnbuckle and leg trips Rey before getting a cross arm breaker on Rey. Yuji leg drops Rey’s right arm and continues to work on the arm. Yuji stops Rey from coming off the ropes with a quick clothesline for a two count. Yuji goes back to a cross arm breaker. Yuji kicks Rey several times in the gut and leaps over the top rope to the floor to send Rey arm first into the top rope. Yuji leaps off the top rope and takes Rey out with a cross body on the floor! Yuji drives Rey down to the mat with a vertical suplex but only manages to a near fall, again. Rey gets a boot up in the corner a few times and drops Yuji to the mat. Rey connects with a split legged moonsault but only gets a near fall. Yuji blocks a rollup and covers Rey for a two count. Rey ducks a spinning heel kick and power bombs Yuji! Rey heads to the top rope but misses a big splash. Double arm DDT by Yuji plants Rey but only gets a near fall! Yuji goes for another DDT but Rey counters with a suplex for a two count. Yuji dropkicks Rey in the corner and now they are just being sloppy with failed Irish whips and kicks. Yuji misses a splash in the corner but still kicks Rey. Rey dropkicks Yuji in midair as Yuji leaps off the top rope. Rey connects with a springboard hurricanrana and picks up the win. **1/4
Fourth Contest: Glacier defeated Mortis by disqualification: The match lasts no longer than two minutes until Wrath comes down and attacks Glacier. Glacier is double teamed until a mystery man (Ernest Miller) runs down and cleans house with several kicks.
Fifth Contest: WCW United States Champion Dean Malenko defeated Jeff Jarrett to retain the title: Malenko backs Jarrett into a corner but doesn’t do anything with the advantage. Jarrett comes off the ropes and shoulder blocks Malenko. Malenko is shoved out a corner and met with a arm drag from Jarrett. Malenko drop toe holds Jarrett and they trade a few mat wrestling moves. Malenko has a sleeper hold on Jarrett for a brief time. Jarrett arm drags Malenko but Malenko goes back to a headlock. Jarrett gets a head scissors on Malenko but Malenko pops out of the hold and has a STF on Jarrett before switching to a headlock. Jarrett misses a elbow drop to Malenko’s leg but nothing occurs following that. Jarrett leg trips Malenko but Malenko quickly trips Jarrett and has a leg lock on Jarrett. Malenko begins to work on Jarrett’s left knee with a few knee drops. Malenko drags Jarrett to the floor and continues to work on Jarrett’s knee with a dropkick to Jarrett’s knee against the guard railing. Jarrett rolls into the ring and begins to stomp away on Malenko, while completely no selling all of Malenko’s work on his knee. Jarrett dropkicks Malenko and has an abdominal stretch on Malenko. Jarrett grabs Debra’s hand for some extra leverage. Malenko gets out of the hold by backing Jarrett into the ropes. Malenko knee lifts Jarrett a few times and they botch a abdominal stretch attempt by Malenko. Malenko stomps away on Jarrett and nails Jarrett with a double forearm shot which sends Jarrett to the floor. Jarrett gets back in the ring and controls Malenko with a wristlock. Malenko sends Jarrett chest first into the corner and drives Jarrett down with a back suplex for a two count. Malenko runs into a big boot from Jarrett. Jarrett comes out of the corner with a swinging neck breaker. Jarrett goes for the figure four but Malenko whacks Jarrett on the knee. Jarrett blocks a cloverleaf attempt and rolls Malenko up for a two count. Jarrett manages to send Malenko to the floor and tosses Malenko back first into the guard railing. Jarrett drops Malenko throat first across the railing as well. Jarrett leaps off the top with a cross body but Malenko rolls through and gets a near fall! Jarrett avoids a splash in the corner and has a sleeper on Malenko. Malenko rams Jarrett back first into the corner and gets the sleeper on Jarrett! Jarrett connects with a knee breaker and gets the figure four locked in! Malenko manages to reach the bottom rope to break the hold. They collide heads after Malenko sends Jarrett chest first into the corner. Steve McMichael makes his way down to the ringside and sends Jarrett into the ring. Malenko power bombs Jarrett and gets the Texas Cloverleaf locked in! Jarrett taps out. **1/2
Sixth Contest: Meng defeated Chris Benoit in a death match: Meng sends Benoit into a corner but misses a big boot. Benoit blocks a kick and dragon screw leg whips Meng but doesn’t follow up. Meng kicks Benoit to the floor where the referee begins to count despite this having a no count-out stipulation. Belly to belly suplex by Meng and the referee begins to count Benoit out but Benoit gets up at five. Benoit connects with a German suplex and follows up with a boot to the chest. Benoit dropkicks Meng’s left knee and goes for a figure four but Meng kicks Benoit in the face and they brawl to the floor. Meng begins to chop Benoit until Benoit sends Meng face first into the ring steps. Meng backs Benoit into the corner and chops Benoit several times. Meng delivers several elbow strikes to the side of Benoit’s head. Benoit battles back with a few chops but Meng just shoves Benoit away. Meng nails Benoit with a flurry of strikes as we see Jacqueline walking to the ring. Benoit knee strikes Meng several times and drops Meng to the mat. Meng ducks a clothesline and drops Benoit with one of his own. Meng head butts Benoit before getting a half Boston Crab on Benoit. Benoit gets to the bottom rope to cause Meng to let go of the hold. Benoit big boots Meng in the corner and they begin to trade several chops until Meng head butts Benoit. Meng plants Benoit with a pile driver and the referee begins to count Benoit out. Benoit gets up at the count of seven. Benoit ducks a clothesline and gets the cross face on Meng! Meng manages to crawl under the bottom rope to break the hold. Benoit stomps away on Meng until Meng rolls to the floor. Meng comes back into the ring and begins to club away on Benoit with several strikes. Benoit gets up and wants more strikes from Meng. Meng accepts the invitation and clubs Benoit back down to the mat. Benoit asks for more punishment and is backed into a corner by Meng who nails Benoit with a few kicks. Meng misses a big boot and Benoit goes to work with a series of German suplexs! Meng stops Benoit with a back elbow and chops Benoit until Benoit gets the cross face locked in! Meng again crawls to the bottom rope and is kicked to the floor. Benoit comes off the ropes and takes Meng out with a suicide dive! Benoit heads to the top rope but Meng crotches Benoit. Benoit is able to get behind Meng and connects with a German suplex! Benoit leaps off the top rope looking for the flying head butt, however Meng manages to get the nerve hold on Benoit! Meng keeps on the hold and the referee calls for the bell. **1/4
Seventh Contest: Steiner Brothers defeated Konnan/Hugh Morrus: Scott and Morrus start off the bout. Scott arm drags Morrus, who complains of a hair pull. Morrus yanks Scott down by the hair out of a top wristlock situation. Morrus backs Scott up against the ropes and hammers away on Scott several times. Morrus shoulder blocks Scott but Scott battles back with a side belly to belly suplex. Scott tags out to Rick Steiner. Morrus clubs away on Rick in the corner and splashes Rich in the corner! Rick avoids a second splash and connects with a over head belly to belly suplex. Rick knocks Morrus off his feet with several clotheslines and leaps off the top connecting with another clothesline! Morrus bails to the floor to recover. Rick clotheslines Konnan after avoiding a roll through and takes Konnan over with a German suplex. Scott tags in and begins to work on Konnan in the corner. Scott runs into a big boot from Konnan in the corner. Scott stops Konnan with a overhead belly to belly suplex. Morrus tags in and connects with a swinging neck breaker after Jimmy Hart trips up Scott. Morrus drops Scott throat first across the top rope and Konnan gets a few cheap shots in as the referee is distracted. Konnan enters and nails Scott with a rolling thunder lariat. Morrus tags in and has a arm breaker on Scott for a few moments. Konnan tags back into the contest and goes back to work on Scott’s arm with a arm lock. Morrus misses a clothesline and falls over the top to the floor. Scott connects with a over head suplex on Konnan. Morrus leaps off the middle rope but right onto a big boot from Scott. Rick gets the hot tag and cleans house with power slams and clotheslines. Rick backdrops Morrus and comes off the top nailing Morrus with a bulldog but only gets a two count as Konnan makes the save. All four men are brawling in the ring now. Rick and Konnan are sent into each other. Morrus nails Rick with a clothesline and leaps off the top rope missing a moonsault. Scott sends Morrus into the ropes to connect with the Frankensteiner! Rick covers Morrus and picks up the win! **1/2
After the match, Konnan isn’t happy about the outcome of this match. Morrus tries to apologize but Konnan instead turns on Morrus with a dropkick to the knee and plants Morrus with a DDT! Konnan leaves the ring as Jimmy Hart is shocked as to what just happened with his team!
Eighth Contest: Steve McMichael defeated Reggie White: White tosses Mongo into a corner after a brief lockup. Mongo shoves White chest first into the ropes out of a hammerlock position. Mongo comes off the ropes looking for a shoulder block but neither man budges. Another shoulder block spot but neither man budges, again. White comes off the ropes and knocks Mongo off his feet with a shoulder block. Mongo wants White to get in a three point stance. Mongo chop blocks White’s knee and now White wants to do another standoff. White leapfrogs over Mongo and Mongo hits his face on the middle turnbuckle. White knocks Mongo to the floor and Mongo begins to leave to the backstage area. Mongo tries to nail White’s teammate with a briefcase but Gilbert Brown carries Mongo back to the ring! White connects with a dropkick but only gets a near fall. Mongo controls White with a arm lock for a few moments. White barely hits Mongo with a clothesline but Mongo is sent to the floor anyway. White controls Mongo with a side headlock for a few moments. Mongo reaches the ropes and clips White’s right knee. Mongo begins to work on White’s right knee. Mongo side slams White but misses a leg drop. White comes off the ropes with a cross body but Mongo kicks out at two. White has the ever dangerous nerve hold on Mongo. Mongo reaches the ropes and low blows White. Mongo head butts White in the lower midsection and has a standing leg lock on White. Mongo maintains the advantage with a half Boston Crab but White reaches the bottom rope. White rams Mongo face first into the top turnbuckle but Mongo kicks White on the knee and goes for the figure four but White kicks Mongo to the floor. Mongo heads to the top rope but White gets up and power slams Mongo down to the mat! They begin to trade punches in the corner until White clotheslines Mongo several times. White atomic drops Mongo and clotheslines Mongo over the top to the floor. Mongo drags White to the floor and delivers a few more shots. White sends Mongo back first into the guard railing before they go back to the ring. Mongo works on White with several punches and stomps. White blocks a vertical suplex attempt and connects with a vertical suplex of his own. White big splashes Mongo but Debra is distracting the referee. Mongo grabs the briefcase but Gilbert Brown prevents Mongo from using it. The referee is distracted as Jarrett tosses Mongo a second briefcase and Mongo whacks White to pick up the win. *3/4
Main Event: Ric Flair/Roddy Piper/Kevin Greene defeated Kevin Nash/Scott Hall/Syxx in a no disqualification match: Flair and Syxx kick off the huge main event with Syxx shoulder blocking Flair. Syxx shoulder blocks Flair a second time and follows up with a hip toss. Syxx mocks Flair until Flair gets up and chops Syxx. Syxx ducks a chop and spin kicks Flair. Syxx chops Flair but Flair switches positions and begins to work on Syxx with several chops and right hands in the corner. Flair backdrops Syxx and taunts Syxx’s partners. Flair knocks Hall down with a chop and chops Nash on the apron. Flair wants a piece of Nash! Instead, Hall tags in and Flair avoids the toothpick toss. Flair tags out to Greene who jumps in and does a few football type drills. Hall spits at Greene and tags out to Nash. Nash shoves Greene and delivers a knee lift. Nash works on Greene in the corner with several knee lifts and side elbow smashes. Greene ducks a clothesline and shoulder tackles Nash down! Greene follows up with a leaping clothesline and scoop slams Nash! Greene clotheslines both Hall and Syxx as they tried to attack Greene from behind! Hall enters the ring and wants a piece of Piper. Piper tags in and Hall mocks Piper. Piper slaps Hall after Hall slaps Piper’s hip. Hall misses a right hand in the corner and Piper delivers several shots to Hall’s midsection and face. Hall attempts a backdrop but is met with a knee lift from Piper. Hall backs Piper into a corner and works on Piper with several shots. Piper fights out of the corner nailing all the heels with right hands and drops Hall with a neck breaker. Syxx nails Piper from behind with a kick to Piper’s injured hip. Syxx legally tags in and continues to work on the hip. Hall enters and goes for the figure four but is kicked into the corner face first by Piper. Piper lunges to the corner and tags in Flair. Flair storms into the ring and cleans house with right hands and chops! Hall stops Flair with a poke to the eyes and sends Flair flipping into the corner. Flair leaps off the top rope but is caught by Hall who connects with a fall away slam! Hall follows up by sending Flair over the top rope with a clothesline. Greene runs over and saves Flair from being attacked by Syxx. Hall covers Flair using the ropes for leverage but only gets a near fall. Nash tags in and drops Flair face first across the top turnbuckle. Nash chokes Flair in the corner briefly. Nash jumps onto Flair’s back as Flair is on the middle rope chest first. Nash drives Flair down with a big side slam and tags out to Hall. Hall clotheslines Flair in the corner and tags out to Syxx. Syxx connects with the Bronco Buster in the corner and taunts the fans. Flair fights back with several chops but Syxx sends Flair into the corner where Hall punches Flair and Syxx gets a near fall. Syxx comes off the ropes and collides with Flair but gets a near fall on a cover attempt. Piper and Hall tag in and begin to trade right hands. Piper cleans house and knocks the referee out as the referee didn’t see the tag. Greene backdrops Syxx and punches Syxx in the corner followed by several shoulder rams. Greene clotheslines Syxx over the top to the floor! Flair low blows Hall and begins to deliver several shots. Nash clubs Flair over the back from the apron but Flair gets out of the Outsiders Edge and gets the figure four on Hall! Flair has the hold locked in and Piper has the sleeper on Nash! Greene grabs Syxx and connects with a running power slam! Greene covers Syxx and Nick Patrick makes the count to give Greene, Flair and Piper the win! ***1/4
After the match, the baby faces celebrate the huge win.
End of show
My Take: From the way the match was booked, it seemed as if Regal was playing the baby face role, but that doesn’t make any sense. The fans were really behind Regal throughout the contest, despite his best efforts to have them boo him. Dragon’s run as a heel ends at this event as well as he now has to deal with Ono. Anyway, the match was pretty slow and repetitive for a good portion of the contest but it wasn’t all that bad if I am honest. A fine opener that just didn’t have a lot of action to it, I thought. The match may have been better positioned later on in the show.
I have no idea who that Yuji fellow was but he wasn’t all that impressive. Rey tried to make it a good match but they just didn’t click at all. I’ll assume that Yuji is a rookie or something because he looked pretty sloppy towards the end of the contest and his offense was all that great. The fans didn’t care for this until the finish, which may have been more because the match was over.
Malenko/Jarrett was a pretty slow paced mat as well. Jarrett was getting some pretty good heel heat though. Their match was decent but it really wasn’t anything special.
Benoit/Meng was a rather repetitive and the fact that the referee didn’t understand the rules of the contest really bugged me. Rather surprised to see Meng get the clean win here but he is a badass and is a credible heel force. If WCW really wanted to push him as a top heel they could. That’s not going to happen though. Also, for it being a no disqualification match/falls count anywhere they hardly left the ring and zero weapons were used. Why have such a stipulation if you are not going to use them?
I enjoyed the tag team match between the DOD and Steiner Brothers. It seemed to be a rather quick contest but they kept the action going and there wasn’t a dull spot really throughout the contest. Konnan turning on Morrus was nothing all that interesting. I’ll assume that was a face turn considering the DOD are heels. If so, the fans weren’t cheering for Konnan after that.
White/Mongo was a rather simple match. To expect White to put on some kind of masterpiece is really ridiculous. White hit a few good spots, considering he isn’t a wrestler, but the match went on too long. Mongo should have won outright here. I found it fairly odd that Jarrett would willingly help Mongo despite Mongo having essentially screwed him over earlier in the show. Lastly, is everyone in the Horsemen faces except for Mongo? I just find that to be really odd.
I enjoyed the main event. It was clear to me from the crowd reaction that this was the match they were all waiting for. Some nice action throughout and Greene didn’t look like a fool out there. It always bugs me when the illegal man gets the pin fall but I guess since it was a “no dq” match it doesn’t really matter. Nice way to close out the show with WCW actually getting the upper hand over the New World Order even though a WCW guy didn’t get the win and instead an athlete did.
Overall, this pay per view consisted mostly of average matches. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to watch this show because nothing really stands out from it. As you will see in the next couple of pay per views this show has to be considered a “throw away” in terms of not really putting any high profile matches on it. I’ll give this even a thumbs in the middle teetering towards a thumbs down for this event.