Written by: Bob Colling
World Championship Wrestling presents Slamboree 2000
Date: 5/7/2000
From: Kansas City, Missouri
Opening Contest: WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Candido defeated The Artist to retain the title: Artist shoulder blocks Candido to open up the title match but Candido comes back with a roll up for a two count. Artist takes Candido over with a nice German suplex for a near fall of his own. Artist controls Candido in the corner with several right hands and backdrops Candido over the top to the floor. Candido is able to turn the tables by sending Artist into the guard railing. Candido leaps off the top and dives onto Artist on the floor! Candido keeps control of the match by ramming Artist head first into the ramp way but his offense doesn’t last long because Artist backdrops Candido and gets a two count back in the ring! Artist takes Candido over with a standing hurricanrana for a two count. They trade right hands and chops in the corner until Candido tosses Artist to the floor. Artist is able to suplex Candido from the ring over the top to the floor while standing on the apron. Artist goes for the cover back in the ring but isn’t able to get the three count. Candido low blows Artist but Artist is able to drive Candido down with a power bomb! Candido crotches Artist on the top rope and misses a top rope hurricanrana attempt. Artist leaps off the rope with a sunset flip, which was botched, but only gets a two count. Artist backdrops the champ and delivers a clothesline. Candido scoop slams Artist and goes to the top rope but is stopped by Artist. Artist leaps off the middle rope with a Samoan Drop! Tammy gets on the apron to distract the referee and ends up brawling with Paisley on the ramp way. Tammy ends up whacking Artist over the head with a chair after Paisley ducks under. Candido covers and gets a three… wait… no they messed up. Candido pile drives Artist and leaps off the top with a flying head butt to get the win for real this time. *1/2
Second Contest: WCW Hardcore Champion Terry Funk defeated Norman Smiley and Ralphus to retain the title: I’ll just sum this up as being your typical hardcore match that tried to incorporate some humor. Depending on your sense of humor, it was funny. Anyway, Funk manages to pin Smiley with a small package after ten minutes of brawling. NR
Third Contest: Shawn Stasiak defeated Curt Hennig: Guess what? I’ll just sum this one up as well. An incredibly boring contest between the new guy (Stasiak) and the old guy (Hennig) goes on for about eight minutes. The match consisted of several head locks, sleepers and other rest holds that are simply not entertaining. Stasiak ends up pinning Hennig with the Perfect Plex.
Fourth Contest: WCW United States Champion Scott Steiner defeated General Rection to retain the title: Steiner works on Rection in the corner with several right hands until Rection fights back with a few chops and clotheslines Steiner. Steiner bails to the floor to prevent any further offense from the challenger. Steiner returns to the ring and stomps away on Rection. Rection gets out of a slam and atomic drops Steiner followed by a spinning heel kick for a two count. Rection drives Steiner down to the mat with a side slam before heading to the top rope and connects with an elbow drop. Rection goes for the moonsault but Steiner’s freaks trip him and Rection ends up in the tree of woe. Steiner chokes Rection for a few moments before yelling at the Misfits in Action, who are sitting in the front row. Steiner drops Rection with a clothesline but only gets a near fall on the cover. Steiner takes Rection over with an exploder suplex and taunts the fans by doing several push-ups. Steiner connects with a side belly to belly suplex but again isn’t able to get the three count. Steiner locks in a bear hug for a few moments. Steiner decides to instead connect with an overhead belly to belly suplex! Steiner goes to the floor and yells at a few fans. Steiner runs into a big boot from Rection who delivers several right hands as well. Rection charges towards a corner and splashes the champ, twice! Steiner avoids a third splash by hitting Rection with a clothesline. Steiner connects with a double under hook power bomb! Rection counters a tombstone by hitting Steiner with one of his own (landing like Owen did at SummerSlam 97, ouch!). Rection misses the top rope moonsault, but his feet hit Steiner as he rolled out of the way. Steiner pops up and locks in the Steiner Recliner to retain the title. **
After the match, the Misfits try to make the save as Steiner keeps the hold on Rection but security prevents them from doing so. However, Booker T storms the ring hits Steiner with a leaping side kick! A big pop for Booker T!
Fifth Contest: Mike Awesome fought Chris Kanyon to a no contest: Kanyon with a flurry of right hands before trying a shoulder block but Awesome stands still. Kanyon knocks Awesome off his feet with a clothesline and delivers a few shoulder rams in the corner. Kanyon runs into a back elbow in the corner and rolls to the floor. Awesome leaps over the top rope to take Kanyon out with a dive! Awesome sends Kanyon back first into the guard railing to keep control. Awesome also sends Kanyon shoulder first into the ring steps. Kanyon sends Awesome shoulder first into the ring post after avoiding a power slam on the floor. Kanyon baseball slides Awesome gut first into the ring post! Kanyon leaps off the apron with a somersault dive onto Awesome! Awesome drops Kanyon throat first across the top rope from the apron. Awesome enters the ring and delivers a scoop slam before heading to the top rope. Awesome leaps off and nails Kanyon with a clothesline for a two count. Awesome tosses Kanyon over the top to the floor and grabs a chair. Awesome rams the chair into Kanyon’s midsection several times and whacks Kanyon over the back. Awesome smashes Kanyon over the head with a water bottle and hits Kanyon with steel chair in the face, sending Kanyon into the crowd. Awesome scoop slams Kanyon in the front row! Awesome chokes Kanyon with the television cable cord. Awesome connects with a slingshot splash back into the ring but Kanyon kicks out at two. Awesome clotheslines Kanyon as he comes off the ropes. Kanyon sunset flips Awesome for a two count but is met with a quick clothesline as soon as he gets to his feet. Awesome sends Kanyon to the floor once again. Awesome hits Kanyon with a steel chair several times. Kanyon is able to crotch Awesome on the top rope and connects with an elevated reverse neck breaker in the ring! Kanyon covers but isn’t able to get the win! Kanyon connects with swinging neck breaker but Awesome kicks out again. Kanyon leaps off the top with a cross body but Awesome rolls through and gets a two count. Kanyon plants Awesome with a modified F5 for a two count. Awesome blocks a power bomb attempt by hitting Kanyon with a vicious double leg slam followed by a clothesline. Awesome connects with a insanely dangerous looking power bomb before going to the floor to pull the padding up and expose the concrete. Kanyon punches Awesome on the apron but is met with a slingshot shoulder block from Awesome. Awesome signals for a power bomb over the top onto the concrete but Kanyon slips out only to be tossed across the ring with a release German suplex. Awesome pulls more padding up to expose the concrete floor. Kevin Nash makes his way down to the ring and hammers away on Awesome. Nash enters the ring and fights off the New Blood as the bell sounds. ***
After the match, the numbers game catches up to Nash but Ric Flair and Sting run down to clean house. Kanyon has recovered as well to clean house. Security runs down as well but they are beaten up.
Sixth Contest: Lex Luger defeated Buff Bagwell: For what has to be the 10th time on pay per view alone, Luger and Bagwell take part in one hell of a match… if you are trying to find something that would help you sleep. You can honestly just watch one of their matches from 1997, when it was slightly better, and get a understanding of how this match went. After the typical brawling that lasts far too long, Luger makes Bagwell submit to the Torture Rack.
After the match, Luger and Elizabeth reunite but the celebration is cut short. No, it’s not a production mess up. Rather, Chuck Palumbo (a power plant guy) comes down dressed very similar to Luger and attacks Luger. Bagwell recovers and helps Palumbo put Luger in the Rack. Bagwell also reclaims Elizabeth as property.
Seventh Contest: Shane Douglas defeated Ric Flair: Douglas shoulder blocks Flair to open the match and taunts Flair. Douglas backs Flair into a corner but cleanly breaks away. Flair has a hammerlock on Douglas but that doesn’t last as Douglas delivers a back elbow followed by a back drop. Douglas works on Flair in the corner with several right hands. Flair stops a charging Douglas in the corner with a back elbow and begins to chop the Franchise. They begin to exchange some chops until Flair snap mares Douglas but is slammed off the top rope by Douglas. Douglas quickly puts the figure four leg lock on Flair! After a couple of moments, Flair reaches out and grabs the bottom rope to break the hold. Douglas head butts Flair in the groin but Flair delivers a few chops before dropping to the mat. Flair gets out of a figure four attempt by poking Douglas in the eyes and delivers a low blow which sends Douglas to the floor. On the floor, Flair delivers several chops and right hands. Flair sends Douglas back first into the guard railing. Flair rams Douglas into the ring post head first before going back to the ring. Douglas slams Flair before going into his knee pad to get a chain. Douglas hits Flair with a fist wrapped in the chain. Douglas follows up with several snap suplexs with the last suplex being a delayed vertical suplex. Douglas covers Flair but isn’t able to keep Flair down for three seconds. Douglas delivers a few rights but Flair comes back with chops. Flair drops Douglas with a right hand. They trade blows again with Flair again dropping Douglas with a right hand. Flair low blows Douglas and delivers a chop block. Flair with a knee breaker and goes to put the figure four on but a masked man whacks Flair with a baseball bat from the apron. Douglas rolls Flair up and wins the match. ½*
After the match, Bagwell, Douglas and David Flair (masked man) attack Flair and leave the ring. Lex Luger comes back to the ring and sends the masked man into the ring. Russo runs down to the ring, and attacks Luger. The masked man smashes a statue over Ric’s head. At this time, the masked man is revealed as being David Flair. It was way too easy to figure out who that was. They beat down Ric until Kevin Nash decides to come down once again. Nash goes to power bomb Russo but Daffney comes in and low blows Nash. Russo hits Nash with the bat and they celebrate what they have accomplished.
Eighth Contest: Sting defeated Vampiro: Sting clotheslines Vampiro on the ramp way followed by a snap suplex. Sting delivers an atomic drop as Vampiro heads towards the ring. Sting punches Vampiro over the top to the floor and Sting leaps off the top to missile dropkick Vampiro, who rolls to the floor again. Sting leaps off the top rope and dives onto Vampiro on the floor! Sting rams Vampiro head first into the announcers table and plants Vampiro with a DDT on the floor. Back in the ring, Vampiro low blows Sting and delivers a chop to knock Sting off his feet. Vampiro leaps off the top with a clothesline before going to the floor and grabbing a lead pipe. Vampiro hits Sting in the chest and over the back with the pipe. Vampiro continues with a head butt and drives his knee into Sting’s groin. Vampiro continues to beat down Sting with the pipe. Sting rolls to the ramp way to get away from the beating. Vampiro drives Sting face first into the ramp way and nails Sting with a spin kick to Sting’s ribs. Vampiro sends Sting back into the ring and hits him with another pipe shot. Vampiro clotheslines Sting in the corner and puts Sting on the top rope but is low blowed by Sting. Sting power bombs Vampiro off the middle rope! Sting uses the lead pipe and hits Vampiro several times with it. Sting connects with two Sting Splashes and hits the Scorpion Death Drop two times to win the match. *
After the match, Sting hits Vampiro in the head with the pipe.
Ninth Contest: Hulk Hogan defeated Billy Kidman: Eric Bischoff is the special referee for the match. Kidman stomps away on Hogan to start off the match after being chased around ringside briefly. Kidman blocks a scoop slam with a inside cradle for a two count. Kidman tries for a sunset flip but Hogan grabs Kidman and crotches him on the top rope. Hogan clotheslines Kidman off the ropes and to the floor. Hogan brings a chair into the ring and drops Kidman rib first onto the chair! Hogan runs into a big boot in the corner and Kidman connects with a hurricanrana followed a dropkick which sends Hogan to the floor. Hogan sends Kidman into the guard railing a couple times and the ring post as well. Kidman sucker punches Hogan after using Torrie Wilson as a shield. Hogan works on Kidman back in the ring with punches and a clothesline. Hogan removes his weight belt and begins to whip Kidman several times until Bischoff grabs the belt. Hogan grabs Bischoff but is attacked by Kidman from behind. Kidman begins to whip Hogan with the weight belt. Hogan hip tosses Kidman over the top to the floor. Hogan sends Kidman into the railing before they enter the ring again. Hogan covers but Bischoff doesn’t make the count. Hogan drops Kidman with a back suplex but Bischoff doesn’t make the count. Hogan misses several elbow drop attempts and Kidman puts the boots to Hogan. They head to the floor again where Hogan manages to send Kidman over the announcers table. Kidman drops Hogan throat first across the top rope from the apron. Hogan big boots Kidman after a few right hands and signals for the leg drop. Hogan is cut off by Bischoff but is punched by Hogan! Hogan connects with the leg drop and mounts Kidman while delivering several right hands. Hogan blocks a chair shot from Bischoff and hits both Kidman and Bischoff with the chair! Hogan slides two tables into the ring but ends up breaking one of them. Kidman saves Bischoff by hitting Hogan with a steel chair. Kidman covers Hogan but Hogan kicks out at two! Bischoff holds a bloody Hogan but Hogan kicks a chair into Kidman’s face and power bombs Bischoff through a table! Hogan has gotten a third table but is low blowed by Kidman. Kidman hits Hogan with another chair shot and sets the table up. Kidman heads up top as Hogan is on the table and leaps off only to miss Hogan and crashes through the table. Hogan covers Kidman and Horace has came back down to force a passed out Bischoff to make the three count for Hogan. **1/4
Main Event: Jeff Jarrett defeated Diamond Dallas Page and WCW World Heavyweight Champion David Arquette in a triple cage match to win the title: Jarrett chases after Arquette until DDP grabs Jarrett and tosses him into the cage. Jarrett stomps away on Page in the ring and plants DDP with a DDT. Jarrett goes back to chasing Arquette but DDP cuts Jarrett off in the ring with a clothesline. DDP misses a couple of clotheslines before eventually hitting one. DDP connects with a Rock Bottom and Arquette leaps off the top but misses a splash. DDP sends Jarrett into the side of the cage a couple of times. DDP has a ladder but Jarrett baseball slides the ladder into DDP’s midsection. DDP sends Jarrett into Arquette up into the cage. DDP sends Jarrett back into the ring and delivers several right hands. Jarrett uses his legs to ram DDP head first into the ring post. Jarrett misses a punch on DDP and instead hits Arquette. DDP lifts Jarrett up and rams him groin first into the ring post. DDP knocks Jarrett off the apron and into the cage, which busts Jarrett wide open. Jarrett stops DDP on the ladder with a back suplex off the ladder. DDP stops Jarrett with a power bomb off the ladder! DDP sends Jarrett back first into the ladder in the corner a couple of times. Jarrett reverses and sends DDP into the ladder as well. Jarrett drops the ladder on DDP’s midsection. Jarrett drops another ladder on top of DDP who was holding the other ladder. DDP tips over the ladder to drop Jarrett throat first across the top rope. They both climb up the ladder trading right hands. DDP knocks the ladder over and Jarrett lands on the ramp way. DDP reaches the second level and cuts the chain on the door but Jarrett meets him and rams DDP into a trash can head first. Jarrett hits DDP with a chair shot and begins to climb to the third level. DDP stops Jarrett but is punched back into the hardcore hell cage. They crash through a side of the cage. DDP has been busted open as well at this point. DDP continues to hit Jarrett with a trash can and sets a table up. DDP power slams Jarrett through the table. They brawl around the cage on the second level for a few moments. Arquette has climbed to the second level and makes his way to the third level. Mike Awesome has ran down to the ring and attacks DDP. Arquette is standing right below the championship. DDP hits Awesome with the Diamond Cutter! Jarrett and DDP are in the third level and DDP hands Arquette a guitar. DDP slams the door on Jarrett’s head but both men are laid out. Both men climb to the final level but Arquette hits DDP over the head with the guitar and Jarrett hits DDP with a guitar as well. Jarrett reaches the championship and wins the match. **1/2
After the match, Awesome is attacked by Kanyon after trying to attack DDP. Awesome ends up tossing Kanyon off the cage and Kanyon crashes through the ramp way. New Blood celebrates as the show comes to an end.
My Take: Aside from the botched ending Candido/Artist wasn’t all that bad. They did their best to get the crowd into the show/match but the fact is that the fans simply do not like the Artist. They made that very clear and seemed more interested in chanting various things instead of cheering for the match. Not a horrible match, but not a good way to kick off the show.
As you can see, matches 2, 3 and 6 were matches that simply didn’t warrant any kind of review. They were lackluster matches that didn’t interest me and didn’t have a big impact on what was happening in WCW at the time anyways.
Steiner/Rection was a decent title match. I love heel Scott Steiner as he really gets the crowd riled up. The pop Booker T got for attacking Steiner was one of the biggest pops of the night as well. I thought it was a nice little segment to showcase Steiner, Rection and eventually Booker.
Despite there not being a finish, Awesome/Kanyon was a good match. It was the match of the night. If you ever had doubt that Kanyon shouldn’t be working with main event guys or upper mid carders, watch the match and witness Kanyon put on a show with a bigger Mike Awesome.
Douglas/Flair was boring and the aftermath with Russo and company getting the upper hand on Nash and Flair was just annoying to me. Anytime a WRITER gets the advantage on WRESTLERS, it doesn’t sit well with me. Hell, a writer shouldn’t be on television. But, we have several more months of that. Actually, if you count TNA, we have a couple of years of Russo on television. Also, I didn’t like Flair wearing street clothes. He had plenty of time to put on ring gear, so why have him not wear it?
It’s nice to see that despite being hit with a pipe ten times, Sting can still beat Vampiro. I thought it was a ridiculous match and was thankful it only lasted seven minutes.
Hogan/Kidman was an example of WCW trying to be a lighter version of ECW. I don’t think I have ever watched a Hogan match that had so many chairs and tables involved in it. I like Hardcore Hogan and thought that the weapons made it a more enjoyable match then it would be without it. Lastly, Eric Bischoff did a good job at playing the heel referee as the fans popped big when he got punched and power bombed through a table.
The main event was decent and could have been a lot worst if Arquette played a bigger role in the match. It was a mildly entertaining brawl with not that many major spots, at least not during the match. The Kanyon spot shouldn’t have happened considering the arena was where Owen Hart passed away after a cord broke while making his entrance. It seemed tasteless that WCW would do that spot. Back to Arquette, I didn’t think it was the “biggest swerve ever” like Schiavone stated. Once DDP gave Arquette the guitar, I thought it could happen so there wasn’t any kind of surprise for when it happened.
Overall, aside from Kanyon/Awesome and I guess the main event, Slamboree 2000 doesn’t have anything worth checking out. Don’t go out of your way to get this as you can watch both of those matches on YouTube. That being said, Slamboree gets a thumbs down from me.
Thanks for reading.