It’s night full of unsanctioned and unpredictable action as WCW presents UnCensored. Tonight, we’ve got hardcore three way action, dog collar, street fight and a barbed wire steel cage match! There’s going to be some violence tonight on PPV!
Superbrawl IX was a PPV success with 485,000 buys. However, that would be the highest buyrate that WCW would ever produce for the remainder of their existence. UnCensored didn’t have the best build, but drew 325,00 buys, which is even lower than arguably a weaker Souled Out show in January. It looks like all the stipulations attached to the various matches couldn’t muster a lot of fan interest coming off of Superbrawl.
Lets get right into UnCensored.
MARCH 14TH — LOUISVILLE, KY — FREEDOM HALL
MATCH #1: WCW CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION BILLY KIDMAN VS. MIKEY WHIPWRECK
NOTE: This is Mikey Whipwreck’s WCW debut. Mikey has never appeared on WCW television prior to this appearance.
FINISH: Kidman hits the Shooting Star Press to pin Whipwreck and retains the title.
Bob’s Take: Mikey is an interesting choice to bring into the promotion. I don’t think it’s a bad addition to the Cruiserweight division as Mikey can bring a hardcore feel to the division to combat the highflying nature. WCW seems to be embracing the hardcore style quite a bit more. The action was solid and Mikey clearly impressed the fans with some of his bumps especially on the outside. A good start to the PPV. 1 for 1
MATCH #2: STEVIE RAY VS. VINCENT — HARLEM STREET FIGHT
FINISH: Late in the match, Horace slides a slapjack into the ring and tells the camera he’s the leader. Ray spikes Vincent with the Slapjack (pedigree) to win the match.
Bob’s Take: Part of me is happy for Vincent to get a PPV shot since they got a lot of TV time in recent weeks. Aside from the brawling in the crowd, but crowd was mostly dead for this one. Stevie is probably the best option to be the leader of the NWO, but for comedy sake I’d prefer Vincent to be in that role. I saw this as a cool down match after a strong opener. 1 for 2
CHRIS JERICHO WITH THE INTERNET
CONTEXT: Jericho says he’s never been in a dog collar match, but he’s the swami of the match and he’s going to knock sense into Saturn and help him realize he looks foolish in a dress.
Bob’s Take: Simple promo for Jericho who is annoyed that Saturn has embraced the dress. 2 for 3
MATCH #3: REY MYSTERIO JR. VS. KEVIN NASH
FINISH: Late in the match, Lex Luger tripped Mysterio from the floor allowing Nash to deliver a big boot and the Jackknife Powerbomb to win the match.
Bob’s Take: There was a noticeable buzz to the match as if the crowd was a bit hopeful for another Mysterio upset over Nash. It’s a bit odd to think about Nash being the guy who ended Goldberg’s undefeated streak and three months later he’s working Mysterio of all guys. I think it’s wishful thinking for Mysterio to prevail on PPV, but it would have been a wild sight to witness. I’m not sure where they go with Mysterio here. The easy route would be to have him go back to the Cruiserweight division, but I can safely say that Mysterio has outgrown that division at this point. I feel that even a full-time tag team with Konnan would be more beneficial than continuing to be strictly in the Cruiserweight division. The Cruiserweight division is stacked enough that Mysterio isn’t needed while the upper portion of the card would benefit with Mysterio inserted into the mix. 3 for 4
MATCH #4: ERNEST MILLER & SONNY ONO VS. JERRY FLYNN — HANDICAP MATCH
FINISH: Flynn sent Miller into the corner causing Ono to flip into the ring and Flynn pinned Ono to win the match.
Bob’s Take: I actually forgot about this match and this is a true definition of a cool down match despite they do have a purpose in fighting each other. Miller and Ono are an entertaining heel duo for what it’s worth. Flynn’s mullet has been shaved off and Flynn looks more up with the times. The finish was bizarre and didn’t do anything for Flynn. The match in general was lackluster and not needed to be on the show. 3 for 5
MATCH #5: RAVEN VS. HAK VS. BAM-BAM BIGELOW — FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE
FINISH: Late in the match, Bigelow tries for a top rope moonsault, but Chasity sprays Bigelow with a fire extinguisher. She then turned on Raven by using the extinguisher on Raven and delivered a low blow allowing Hak to pin Raven.
Bob’s Take: When I first saw this match as a ten year old wrestling fan I thought it was incredible. As time goes by the match doesn’t holdup nearly as good as it was when it first aired. These kinds of matches come across as violent serious battles in ECW for the most part, but in WCW the action is presented in a much more comedic manner and isn’t taken seriously. That’s how commentary approaches the action, at least. The match is entertaining, but I wish there was a more serious tone to how it was presented. Hak is probably the last guy I expected to win this match. I’m not sure how far Hak can go in WCW push wise outside of hardcore themed matches or division. 4 for 6
MATCH #6: WCW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS CURT HENNIG & BARRY WINDHAM VS. CHRIS BENOIT & DEAN MALENKO — LUMBERJACK MATCH
NOTE: Early into the match, Arn Anderson came out to replace Chris Adams as one of the lumberjacks with straps.
FINISH: Late in the match, Anderson decks Hennig over the back with a tire iron after Hennig hit Anderson with a belt around his fist. Benoit ends up hitting a diving headbutt nearly all the way across the ring and pins Hennig to win the titles.
Bob’s Take: The action was a bit boring, but the finish was decent. It’s a good moment for the Horsemen to win the gold and Benoit finally getting some gold on television. The crowd seemed invested in the action, but they appeared to get burnt out the longer the match went. I wasn’t overly entertained by the match. 4 for 7
MATCH #7: CHRIS JERICHO VS. PERRY SATURN — DOG COLLAR MATCH
NOTE: Saturn has fully embraced the dress look and wore a dress full of chains for the match. Saturn also came out to darker music and the lights turned down. It’s as if Saturn is leaning into the Marylin Manson look.
FINISH: Saturn spikes Jericho with a Death Valley Driver to win the match.
Bob’s Take: These two are capable of having a great match, but the dog collar is obviously going to limit what they’re able to pull off. Considering the limitations that the dog collar puts on these two, it could have been a lot worse. I much rather a 12-15 minute match between these with a clean finish and ending of the feud. The stipulation wasn’t needed. I kind of like Saturn’s new look. 5 for 8
MIKEY WHIPWRECK INTERNET INTERVIEW
CONTEXT: Whipwreck talks about being at home for the past three months and watching Billy Kidman as the champion. Despite the loss, Whipwreck feels good.
Bob’s Take: There was no depth or real reason for this interview to be shown on the PPV. 5 for 9
MATCH #8: WCW TELEVISION CHAMPION SCOTT STEINER VS. BOOKER T
FINISH: Late in the match, Buff Bagwell attempted to hit Booker T with a chair, but missed and instead hit Steiner. That allowed Booker to pin Steiner to win the title.
Bob’s Take: It became a little obvious that the once enthusiastic crowd had died down significantly. The finish is a bit disappointing, but the action throughout the match wasn’t too bad. Booker has been the mainstay in the WCW TV Title picture for just over a year. Booker tends to have good TV Title matches, so I don’t mind this direction. I do wish he’d get some advancement up the card, though. 6 for 10
RIC FLAIR GIVES THE REFEREE ORDERS
CONTEXT: Prior to the main event, Flair gets on the microphone and tells Charles Robinson to not stop the match because they have a scratch on the elbow and a bloody mouth. Flair wants Robinson to make end the match on his own accord.
MAIN EVENT: WCW WORLD CHAMPION HOLLYWOOD HOGAN VS. RIC FLAIR — BARBED WIRE STEEL CAGE, FIRST BLOOD MATCH — IF FLAIR WINS, HE REMAINS IN POWER, IF HOGAN WINS FLAIR MUST RETIRE
NOTE: Flair is busted open early into the match, but Robinson refuses to end the match. The match can not end with pin fall, and is simply a first blood finish per the announcers.
FINISH: Late in the match, Arn Anderson attacks David Flair at ringside and passes a tire iron to Flair. Flair decks Hogan with the tire iron and locked in the figure four leading to Hogan being pinned.
Bob’s Take: Early into the match, Flair is busted open and it’s absolutely not a small cut. It’s obvious that there’s a double turn here and it would appear that power has gotten to Flair’s head and ego. In that regard a double turn could make sense, but the timing isn’t the best time to do it. As I’ve said before just a couple of months ago Hogan was involved in screwing over the top face on January 4th and now he’s a babyface himself? There was never a conclusion to that angle and if Hogan and Goldberg are both babyfaces I’m not sure when such a conclusion could happen. Flair is arguably a far better heel and by all accounts the fans wanted to boo him. It’s probably a lot easier to boo Flair since he wasn’t able to beat Hogan at Superbrawl IX and playing into the power trip makes it easier to get the heel turn over. The barbed wire hardly played a role in the match and it’s essentially just a cage match. There wasn’t anything in the match that was overly entertaining or thrilling. 6 for 11
A solid PPV for WCW with a hot crowd in Louisville. Kidman/Whipwreck was the match of the night and a good debut for Whipwreck. Now, it’s a matter of following up on the strong outing and making Whipwreck a viable contender in the division. Booker T, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko coming out of the show as new champions is a good sign and refreshing. WCW needs to go the younger route and put on compelling matches to combat WWF.
Ric Flair is now in full power for an indefinite amount of time and the WCW World Champion. The double turn worked and the crowd responded how they wanted them to. Hogan reverting back to a babyface for the first time since 1996 could have short-term benefits. As a whole I suppose the NWO Wolfpac will be presented as a babyface group now. The NWO has always been presented as the stable looking to end WCW, but now that they’re good guys what is their true purpose? I’m a bit curious to see how Flair’s obsession with power will translate on television in a heel capacity.
I’m assuming that WCW’s main program will be Flair’s delusion of power, but I can’t envision that they’d be doing Hogan vs. Flair at Spring Stampede. I’m not entirely sure who could challenge Flair for the title. Hopefully that gets answered quickly on television and they can promote the title match for Spring Stampede strongly.
Thanks for reading.