Written by: Kevin Kildenberger
Steiner arrives, yells at some poor worker and then shoves him.
Match 1: Big Vito v. Reno
Reno hammers him from the get go and takes him down. He stomps a hole in him. Pulls him over and drops a big knee. He whips Vito into the corner but runs into a lariat. Vito thrust kicks him and works him over. He kicks him into the corner and then double-arm suplexes him. Vito drops the elbow and gets two. He pulls him up and back suplexes him. He wastes time though. He slowly goes up top but hits the headbutt. Jindrak and O’Haire come down and help Reno. Rolld of the Dice. Match.
** Nice brawl.
Reno has the mic and he has not forgotten about Crowbar and wants his belt at the PPV and hopes he will roll the dice and take a chance. That was terrible.
Flair is speaking awkwardly into the camera. He hopes we are enjoying Thunder and Sanders has to wrestle tonight. Bigelow will fight Crowbar. At the PPV will be the last time Storm and Rection meet for the US title.
Gene is with Team Canada and he has some choice words for Gunns. Storm wants Booker T tonight and he will not get out of the Maple Leaf this time. Gunns tells Gene to blame himself. She leaves and he is disgusted that he had the hots for her and calls her a bitch.
Match 2: Bam Bam Bigelow v. Crowbar (c) for WCW Hardcore Title
They have all sorts of objects to beat each other with. Tables are set up and finally the bell is rung as Crowbar belts him with a trash can but he is pulled out to the floor and Bigelow mauls him, tosses him over the railing and leans the table against the apron. He pulls Crowbar back over and runs him towards the table but Crowbar sends him into it. Back in the ring, Crowbar gets slammed on a table that has not been set up. Bigelow has a Kendo stick and bashes him with it and then slams him on top of the trash can. He leans a table into the corner. Table chants. He pushes Crowbar through table as he tried to fend off Bigelow. Bigelo dives at him but misses and breaks the table even more. Crowbar pulls him up and is dumps him to the floor and then cross-bodies into him. He has a chair and whacks him in the back with it. Crowbar goes for a suicide dive and right into the chair. Bigelow hits him again but is taken down. Crowbar goes after him but is shoved into the railing and then nailed in the head with the chair. Back in the ring Bigelow pounds him and sets up the table. Crowbar is placed under it and Awesome runs down and shoves him off and Crowbar moves and Bigelow is out. Awesome places him on top of Bigelow and it is over.
**1/2 Fun fight.
Booker is asked if Steiner has gotten to him as he hit Sting etc. Booker is fired up and Steiner better be ready for him.
Bigelow attacks Awesome and they are pulled apart but still want to brawl.
MIA bicker and they talk about breaking up. Rection tells them to shut up and sit their asses down. He is not happy with Gunns and Storm either. He gives them a pep talk and they fall into line. They will show everyone what the Misfits are about.
Match 3: Kwee-Wee v. Rey Mysterio v. Kidman v. Loco v. Cajun v. Elix Skipper
Sanders came up with a plan to defend his title and will face the winner at the PPV. Loco and Skipper go at it. The girls bicker on the floor and get tossed. Loco tosses him around and Cajun comes in and he goes off on Skipper with him. They shove the ref and get ousted but not before stomping on Skipper some more.
Commercial.
Kiwi gets two on Skipper but Kidman comes in and unloads on Wee and so does Rey. Bronco Buster. Skipper hits a missile kick and Rey is tossed to the floor. Kidman is pinned by Kiwi. Rey springs into both and everyone is flying around the ring. Rey springs into them but is caught and slammed. Kiwi pins him too! Skipper hammers Kiwi and gets two after a belly to belly suplex. Kiwi ducks a blow and then drops him with a flying tackle. Skipper begs off but lures him over and pulls him to the floor. Duggan comes down and Meng stops him and that allows Kiwi to finish off Skipper.
**1/2 A mess but it had its moments.
Gene is taunting the Boogie Knights about their ass kicking courtesy of Goldberg. Disco will pretend he did not hear that and they get a match against Konnan tonight and he gets thirty minutes to find a partner.
Sanders discusses his match at the PPV. Flair comes up to him and tells him that he has to fight tonight and not set up a match.
Tenay with an earlier interview with Buff. He talks about how far WCW has come but that he deserves a shot at the top. He is upset that he has not even had the US belt and will show them that he can do it etc. He will beat JJ at the PPV.
JJ calls Sanders and is not happy about what Buff says and Sanders promises to make his life a living hell.
Match 4: Lance Storm v. Booker T (c) for WCW Title
Tonight Lance will bring dignity back to WCW like he has to the Canadian Title. We all rise fr the Anthem.
They square off and lock up. Booker gets the upperhand and works him over. But Lance comes back and knocks him to the floor. Lance goes after him and runs him into the railing and then brings him back into the ring. After some kicks he chops him into the corner. But Booker turns the tide, hammers him and whips him into the corner. He runs into a boot and a spinkick. Booker tries to fight back but is nailed with a jawbreaker and standing dropkick. Booker is knocked to the floor. Storm is relentless and he keeps after him. Back in the ring, he springs into him getting two. Booker cannot sustain any offense and gets nailed in the knee. Booker fires back but is planted. Two count. Storm pulls him up and knees him, goes for the axe kick but Storm recovers and goes for him but is kneed again. Axe kick connects but the Harlem kick does not. Storm low kicks him and takes him down: Maple Leaf! Fans are cheering. Booker manages to get to the ropes and the hold is broken. The fight heads to the floor. Booker gets the upperhand and knocks him around. He rolls him into the ring and goes for a missile kick. Storm has a chair but it is kicked into him. Booker almost gets the win! But Storm counters with a DDT into the chair. Two count. Storm is up top but Booker is up and he staggers into the ropes crotching Storm. He goes up after him but is knocked off and Storm leaps and is caught and Book Ended! Over.
***1/2 Save this for a PPV. But good.
Gunns slaps Booker and here comes Team Canada. Skipper and Duggan are wiped out. Book End on Gunns!
Boogie Knights are walking in the back. Wright is worried that Konnann may find a partner. Disco asks for money and has an idea.
Match 5: Mike Sanders (c) v. Kevin Nash
Flair is in the back and has security around him, and he tells them to not let him down. His music hits and here he comes! He has some good news for Sanders and some bad news. The good news is that the title is not on the line the bad news is that the man missed the weight limit by a hundred pounds. Here comes Nash!
Nash is destroying him. Security is holding off the Thrillers. Nash is going for the powerbomb and apparently the Thrillers got through security and they end up swarming Nash whow will not go down. He finally does.
* At least give Sanders some offense. Crowd enjoyed it though.
Nash is getting checked out by the trainer.
Match 6: Boogie Knights v. Konnan and
He asks where his dogs at and speaks on this. Konnan does. There was a long line of people who wanted to kick their asses and here comes the Cat!
They charge down and Disco is dumped to the floor and Wright is knocked down. Konnan is hammering Wright. He low kicks him and then mounts and pound him in the corner. But Wright shoves him off and dropkicks him. Konnan is worked over by Wright and Disco. Cat is in and he and Disco go back and forth. Cat comes back after getting pounded with some kicks and kicks him back into Wright who gets the tag. He runs in and both clothesline each other and they are down. Konnan gets the tag as does Disco. Disco is nailed with his own finisher but Wright makes the save. DDT and Wright again makes the save. Cat kicks Wright in the head and down goes the ref too. Wright is kicked to the floor and cue Kronik! Konnan and Cat get obliterated and Boogie’s win.
** Is it me or do the Boogie Knights get long ass matches?
Luger is reading Goldberg’s book and mocking it in front of Gene. He is tearing up the pictures of Goldberg hanging out with his hotshot friends. He discovered Goldberg at his gym and he will take him back out.
Match 7: Buff Bagwell v. Goldberg
Goldberg press slams him and is taken down but Buff dances and is speared. Jackhammer and match.
* They do an interview with Buff about his lack of opportunity and they job the shit out of him. At least make it worthwhile. A five minute brawl. Silly.
Goldberg helps him up and holds his arm up.
Booker is leaving the arena but he is not happy. He is not allowed to touch Steiner tonight.
Match 8: Scott Steiner v. Sting
Winner faces the champ after Mayhem.
It will only get worse for Booker at the PPV especially as it is a cage match. He yells at some fans and he is going to do Sting what he is going to do Booker and that is punk his ass.
Sting comes down and they brawl in the ring and out on the floor. They fling each other into the railing but Sting gets the initiative with some chair shots and he runs him around on the floor into the table and railing. He rolls him back into the ring and goes after him. He whips him into the corner and bulldogs him off the rebound. But Steiner comes back and slams him and knocks him around. He does some push ups, yells at the crowd and gives him a backbreaker. Two count. He is not happy with the ref but kicks Sting and does it again. He dumps him down again. Drops the elbow and gets two. He yells at the ref and then pulls back on the arms of Sting. Sting is up and kicks free. He chops the neck but is caught and dumped back on his head in a nice looking suplex. Two count. Steiner shoves the ref in anger. He hangs Sting upside down in the corner, heads to the floor and pulls back on his neck. He goes after him but out of nowhere Sting Deathdrops him and gets the win!
** This was about four minutes or so and was decent but Jesus WCW, make it ten minutes. Let them fight. Steiner should not lose that quickly. He will probably get his revenge after the PPV but make this worthwhile.
Midajah blocks Sting from leaving and Steiner blindsides him with a pipe and ties him up in a strait jacket. Steiner destroys him with the pipe. Recliner! We fade….
***1/2 Some really great stuff such as the title match and some other solid matches. Good build towards the PPV. At the same time, the Goldberg match was too short as was the main event. Make them brawls. Add in fifteen minutes for those and another five to seven for the title match and dump some more of the filler and cut the Boogie Knights match in half. Save the Sanders match for Nitro etc. Also, save a Storm/Booker match for down the road at a PPV. Still it was a fun show and the crowd was decent sized and really into it. There is more wrestling than usual but no doubt that there could always be more.