I’ve been wondering if I’ve been aligned with how people were reacting to WCW in realtime when it comes to entertainment quality. So, I went to DDTDigest and read the realtime review of WCW Slamboree 1999. In the introduction the reviewer, Big Mike, talks about how wrestlers are turning constantly and there’s nobody to root for. Mike hated the Flair insane angle and Piper is a drag. I was left feeling that I’m aligned with at least his few.
As we enter Slamboree 1999 the company feels borderline disorganized and is losing focus. Our main event tonight is for the WCW World Championship when champion Diamond Dallas Page defends against Kevin Nash. They’ve had minimal interaction to justify this PPV match. Sting and Goldberg are squaring off for the first time on PPV and it’s essentially thrown together to full out the card.
The match I’m most interested in seeing is between two non-wrestlers. Gorgeous George wrestling referee Charles Robinson with the stipulation that if George wins then Randy Savage is reinstated. Robinson has been truly fantastic in his Lil Naitch gimmick. They’ve been entertaining and it’s become a match I want to see. The triple threat tag title match is of interest only for the potential of it being a great match and not storyline related.
Lets get into Slamboree 1999.
MAY 9TH — ST. LOUIS, MO — TWA DOME
MATCH #1: WCW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS BILLY KIDMAN & REY MYSTERIO JR. VS. CHRIS BENOIT & DEAN MALENKO VS. RAVEN & PERRY SATURN
NOTE: Three men are in the ring at one time to represent each team in the match.
FINISH: Late in a match, someone wearing a Sting mask crotched Kidman allowing Raven to hit the Evenflow DDT. Raven covered Kidman while Malenko had the Texas Cloverleaf on Saturn, but Kidman is pinned. Saturn and Raven are the new tag champions. The masked man is revealed to be Kanyon.
Bob’s Take: I’m relieved that they had three guys in the match at a time. The match started off hot and then there was a segment of the match that cooled off the crowd a bit, but they recovered and got the crowd back into the action. Raven and Saturn winning the tag titles is something I can get behind since I like the partnership. I’m hoping this is where Mysterio and Kidman can go back to being singles wrestlers, especially Mysterio. Kanyon involvement didn’t get a huge reaction, but it appears that they’re going back to some kind of Flock stable with ideally the stable sticking to a trio. I’d consider this potentially the best PPV to this point in 1999. 1 for 1
MATCH #2: KONNAN VS. STEVIE RAY
FINISH: Late in the match, Rey Mysterio Jr. comes out and takes out the B-Team on the floor. Mysterio leaps off the top to take Ray down and Konnan pins Ray.
Bob’s Take: At this point in 1999, I find myself enjoying Stevie Ray when I completely expected to dread his segments and/or matches. However, Ray has seemingly thrived in the role as the leader of the B-Team. He’s had some decent TV matches in recent weeks, but I think that’s largely because of the level of talent he’s competing against. Konnan is not the same wrestler he was just a few years ago and seems to be more of striker and generally his matches have felt bland. Konnan’s popularity feels as if it’s declining, as well. There’s been two matches with interference to lead to finishes. There’s no reason to protect Ray. I didn’t enjoy this one. 1 for 2
RICK STEINER INTERVIEW WITH WCW WEBSITE
CONTEXT: Steiner is asked if he feels as if he has anything to prove with this title shot since his return from injury. Steiner thinks he has a lot to prove and believes Booker knows that Stevie Ray got involved. However, the interviewer disagrees. Rick dismisses the notion that they’ve been estranged as the segment ends.
Bob’s Take: There’s a level of irony here that Rick wouldn’t believe that brothers wouldn’t be associated since he’s not associated with his own brother. This feels like Rick may be up to no good. 2 for 3
DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE MEETS WITH BAM-BAM BIGELOW BACKSTAGE
CONTEXT: Bigelow is walking towards the ring when WCW World Champion Diamond Dallas Page gets his attention and they have a conversation. The context of the conversation isn’t heard, but DDP pats Bigelow on the back. Commentary notes that they are both from the Jersey Shore area.
Bob’s Take: This screams to me that we’re going to be getting a run-in during the main event. If they were to align with each other that wouldn’t bother me. WCW needs some more tag teams to work with. I don’t like feeling before the main event even happens that there’s going to be interference. 2 for 4
MATCH #3: BAM-BAM BIGELOW VS. BRIAN KNOBBS — HARDCORE MATCH/FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE
FINISH: Bigelow suplexs Knobbs through a table near the entrance to win the match.
Bob’s Take: It’s your ECW-lite match of the evening with two guys using weapons for no other reason than hitting each other with no substance to the match. The crowd seemed to be a bit burnt out with the weapon shots. These kinds of matches in the WCW universe are best in a short burst because when it goes ten plus minutes the impact of the hardcore spots are less and less. ECW didn’t tend to overuse weapons despite popular belief. WCW is using the weapons far too much to make them mean anything in these matches. 2 for 5
MATCH #4: WCW TELEVISION CHAMPION BOOKER T VS. RICK STEINER
FINISH: Late in the match, Scott Steiner comes out and gets decked by Booker. Rick is sent into Scott and nearly beaten by a heel kick. Scott trips Booker from the floor and Rick hits the top rope bulldog to win the match and title.
Bob’s Take: A slow and plodding match with a lifeless crowd. Steiner is basically gaslighting Booker, and that is annoying as a viewer. Steiner looked horrible throughout the match. The crowd didn’t care for anything until Scott came out and Rick got a pop for the bulldog. However, this was incredibly boring. I can’t wait for Rick to say he didn’t know Scott helped him. 2 for 6
RICK STEINER LOOKING FOR SCOTT STEINER
CONTEXT: Rick is looking for Scott Steiner when Buff Bagwell walks by. Rick tells Buff he’s looking for Scott because Scott got involved in his match. Rick wishes Bagwell luck and continues to look for Scott.
Bob’s Take: Okay, so Rick does know that Scott got involved? He’s literally guilty then because he took advantage of the interference and he’s not going to handover the title. This has to be a heel turn coming, right? 2 for 7
RIC FLAIR ADDRESSES THE CROWD
CONTEXT: Flair says he’s always wanted Madusa to ride Space Mountain and invites Mona, as well. Flair is going to leave Gorgeous George to Lil Naitch tonight. Robinson says he’s going to make her tap out and then bring her back to his hotel for a ride on Space Mountain, as well. Randy Savage chimes in and says George is going to kick Robinson’s ass tonight.
Bob’s Take: I’m enjoying this whole feud and angle. It’s a rare bright spot right now on television. It’s good entertainment. 3 for 8
MATCH #5: CHARLES ROBINSON VS. GORGEOUS GEORGE
FINISH: Late in the match, Savage gets involved and slammed Robinson allowing George to hit a middle rope leg drop for the win. As a result, Savage is reinstated to WCW.
Bob’s Take: As expected the match is not very good. However, it is entertaining. They are not going to do a lot outside of basic training moves because they are not fully trained wrestlers. Robinson did a great job despite this and George did what she needed to do. So, while it’s not a classic in-ring encounter, it’s an enjoyable spectacle. 4 for 9
MATCH #6: WCW UNITED STATES CHAMPION SCOTT STEINER VS. BUFF BAGWELL
FINISH: Late in the match, Rick Steiner comes out and tells Bagwell to go to the top rope. Rick proceeds to hit Bagwell with the chair over the back. Scott locks in the Steiner Recliner and wins the match to retain the title.
Bob’s Take: The Steiner Brothers are reunited as a heel duo, which probably brings the most value out of the duo. Bagwell didn’t get much accomplished here and it felt like it was Steiner just beating up Bagwell for a few minutes. Once again, we can’t get a clean finish. 4 for 10
MATCH #7: RODDY PIPER VS. RIC FLAIR — FOR CONTROL OF WCW
NOTE: Before the match starts, Charles Robinson replaces the original referee, Johnny Boone because Flair fires Boone. Piper does nothing to help Boone.
FINISH: Late in the match, Flair clearly submits, but Robinson doesn’t call for the bell. Flair decks Piper with brass knuckles and wins the match to remain the President of WCW. After the match, Eric Bischoff walks out to the ring and has stopped dying his hair. Bischoff tells Flair to shut up. Bischoff notes that he’s screwed a lot of stuff up and he’s not screwing this up. Bischoff raises Piper’s hand because he won the match and tells Flair to bite him. Bischoff and Flair embrace.
Bob’s Take: It’s a match full of smoke and mirrors for the most part. It’s a bit sad to watch these guys be nowhere near what they could do just a few years ago. They rely on other acts to get crowd heat and fill time in an extended match. Watching these two tired acts simply trade chops doing their nostaglic acts worked as late as 1997, but in 1999 it’s not going to get the response you’d like. Watching this compared to what is aired on the other programming makes it obvious as to why WCW continues to plummet in the ratings. WCW needs to freshen up their main event picture and they have plenty of options to replace the overexposed and over pushed older acts. I would have never believed that Bischoff would be presented as a babyface and Flair be a heel if anyone had told me that would happen six months ago. 4 for 11
MATCH #8: STING VS. GOLDBERG
NOTE: Goldberg has a large brace on his left knee.
FINISH: Bret Hart came out with a chair and whacked Goldberg over the head and delivered several chair shots to the injured knee to cause the match to be thrown out. After the match, Scott Steiner and Rick Steiner run into the ring and attack Sting.
Bob’s Take: These two felt as if they were a half second off with their timing and it made several moments in the match feel sloppy or clunky. The crowd was absolutely interested in the showdown between two of WCW’s biggest superstars, but it was far more tame and simplified compared to their Nitro match back in September 1998. It’s a disappointing match and it clearly was used for setup different angles for both Goldberg and Sting. These are the things that drive your audience away. 4 for 12
MAIN EVENT: WCW WORLD CHAMPION DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE VS. KEVIN NASH
FINISH: Late in the match, Randy Savage came out after Nash hit a Jackknife on DDP to attack Nash to cause a disqualification. Savage decked Nash with the WCW World Championship. Eric Bischoff makes his way out to the ring a second time on the show. Bischoff forces the match to be restarted until there is a winner. Moments later, Nash pins DDP following the Jackknife Powerbomb to win the championship.
Bob’s Take: DDP’s title reign has to be considered a failure. To have lost the title twice in less than a month doesn’t present DDP as a strong champion or main event caliber wrestler. Eric Bischoff getting involved completely negates the kayfabe story they have going on. Bischoff has obviously been in charge in real life and they acknowledged that twice on this show. That renders Flair useless in an authority role since Flair is acting in Bischoff’s role in kayfabe. The crowd energy is noticeably less than what it was at the beginning of the show, as well. The action was okay, I guess, but not a memorable main event. Nash winning the title a second time and should hopefully have a meaningful title run unlike his previous reign. 4 for 13
Well, that was not a good show. Every single match aside from the hardcore match had some level of interference involved. That level of stupidity for finishes may work on television since it’s free programming, but on a pay per view is inexcusable. Why is it difficult for WCW to produce clean finishes? A wrestler losing a match is not going to derail their careers. Nash literally lost to Goldberg at Spring Stampede last month and is now the WCW World Champion. Do the job, guys.
Bret Hart returning likely means his feud with Goldberg will be a focus in the summer, or Goldberg is taking time off for his knee that was heavily braced. Hart’s angle with Goldberg back in March is one of the last memorable moments on WCW television and they weren’t able to take advantage of it with the ‘retirement’ angle.
Eric Bischoff’s return to television as a babyface will take some time to get use to. Bischoff was one of the top heel characters and made life a living hell for a lot of guys in WCW. Now seeing him get cheered doesn’t feel right. He’s a far better heel than he is a babyface based on his earlier WCW work.
Judging by his involvement in the main event, I’d assume Randy Savage will be challenging Kevin Nash for the WCW World Championship heading into Great American Bash. I’m not especially excited about that because Savage doesn’t look to be in his best in-ring shape. However, as a Savage mark I’d like to see him win the belt one more time, if he were to be capable of producing in the ring.
There aren’t episodes of Nitro and Thunder for the week following this event due to the NBA Playoffs airing on Turner stations. Thus, Nitro returns on May 17th.
WCW Slamboree 1999 Buy-rate: 195,000 = 0.45
Thanks for reading.