Uncensored
1998
Date:
March 15, 1998
Location:
Mobile Civic Center, Mobile, Alabama
Attendance:
7,475
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
This
hasn't felt like an important show throughout its build and it still
doesn't as it's about to start. It's a double main event with Sting
defending the title against Scott Hall and a far bigger match of
Hogan vs. Savage in a grudge match inside a cage. The rest of the
matches come off as little more than filler. Let's get to it.
The
opening video is just shots of the four guys in the main events.
Nothing to see here.
The
announcers talk about the main events and Tony suggests that Hall
will hand the title to Hogan if he wins it. Heenan: “No one is
stupid enough to hand the world title to Hogan.” Make your own
jokes.
TV
Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Booker T
Eddie
is challenging and has Chavo with him against Chavo's will. Guerrero
stalls to start until he finally gets backdropped down by Booker. A
side slam puts him down as well and Booker fires off some forearms.
Booker hits a clothesline to send Guerrero to the floor and Chavo
shrugs at his uncle. Back in and Booker kicks Eddie down as this is
one sided so far. Guerrero runs to the floor and tries to walk out
but gets a forearm to the jaw for his efforts.
They
head back inside and Booker gorilla presses him down but takes too
long going for the Harlem Hangover and gets crotched. Eddie hooks a
superplex but Booker comes right back with some forearms to the head.
He loads up the ax kick but Eddie dropkicks the knee out to take
over. Eddie rolls to the floor to glare at Chavo before going back
in to pull on Booker's leg.
The
hold stays on for a LONG time until Eddie gets caught with in the
ropes. Back up and Booker hops on one foot for a bit, allowing
Guerrero to reverse a whip and hit the slingshot hilo onto the bad
leg. Booker rolls to the floor and Eddie goes up top, only to fall
off but land on Booker's leg anyway. As Ventura said, sometimes it's
better to be lucky. Back in and Booker hits a quick flapjack and the
ax kick (with the good leg). A spinebuster puts Eddie down but
Booker has to bail out of a missile dropkick. The side kick misses
and Eddie loads up another superplex, only to be shoved off and
missile dropkicked to retain Booker's title.
Rating:
C+. The match was good until
Booker just stopped selling the leg at all, which was made even worse
by how leg based his offense is. Eddie was doing some great old
school heel work here with the using the ropes and stalling to rile
up the crowd. This was a good choice for an opener as Booker
continues improving week by week.
Chavo
smirks a little so Eddie jumps him from behind.
Scott
Steiner is chatting on WCW.com. Actually he's showing off his arms
to Lee Marshall and Mark Madden.
Konnan
vs. Juventud Guerrera
Juvy
lost his mask at SuperBrawl and Konnan gave him grief over it,
setting up this match. Konnan is jawing with the crowd and Juvy gets
in a kick to the back to take over. Konnan finally gets his hands on
Guerrera to stop the speed and we go outside with Konnan in control.
Juvy is sent into the steps but he blocks a second attempt to send
Konnan face first. He uses the steps as a springboard to take Konnan
out as Lodi talks trash from the front row.
Back
in and a springboard missile dropkick gets two for Guerrera. Konnan
comes right back by dropping Juvy on the top rope before putting on a
standing leg lock. I'm sure this isn't just an excuse for Konnan to
stand in one place for a minute and a half. He makes up for it with
a wicked release German suplex for two before catapulting Juvy into
the corner. Guerrera is thrown across the ring again and Konnan puts
on a Boston Crab while also lifting Juvy up by the arms and rocking
him back and forth.
The
hold looks great but Konnan drops Juvy on his head in a very scary
landing. Juventud goes to the floor to remember what planet he's on
as the match just stops. Back in and Konnan picks him up in a
fireman's carry but bends Juvy around the neck in a kind of reverse
torture rack.
Konnan
loads up a belly to back superplex but Juvy flips out and gets Konnan
in the Tree of Woe for some rapid fire kicks. Guerrera tries a
rolling cradle but gets caught in a wheelbarrow suplex for two. A
powerbomb is countered into a facejam on Konnan but the 450 hits mat.
Konnan's 187 cradle DDT gets two and a modified Samoan drop gets a
cocky cover for two, allowing Juvy to roll him up for the surprise
pin.
Rating:
C-. This was very slow at times
but given the injury to Guerrera halfway through it came out better
than expected. The ending was perfect as Juvy's motto was never
surrender and he hung in long enough to steal a pin. Konnan could go
when he wanted to and he showed off some strength here in a decent
match.
Konnan
lays out Juvy with another 187 before throwing him over the top.
JJ
Dillon makes the powerbomb legal for Nash vs. Giant but it's one
night only.
Cruiserweight
Title: Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho
Jericho
is defending and has been frustrating Dean for months on end. He
takes a long time removing the belt here and insists on being called
Mr. 1004. Malenko easily takes him to the mat with a drop toehold
but doesn't follow up. Off to a wristlock on the champion but again
Dean lets him go. Malenko takes him down with an armbar into a
hammerlock before he runs Jericho over with a shoulder.
Back
up and they run the ropes a bit until Jericho hits a quick enziguri.
He loads up a springboard cross body but Malenko ducks to send the
champion to the floor. Jericho starts walking out but eventually
comes back and catches a leapfrog into a spinebuster. The arrogant
cover gets two and a suplex gets the same before we hit the chinlock.
That goes nowhere so Jericho hits the Lionsault for two. As
frustration starts to set in, Jericho hits a backbreaker and bends
Malenko over his knee.
Dean
gets up and wakes up off a chop before firing off a series of
forearms and headbutts. A belly to back suplex gets two but Jericho
pops up and hits a senton backsplash for two. Jericho hits a running
dropkick in the corner but Dean blocks a suplex into one of his own,
only to be countered into a reverse suplex from the champion. Dean
bails to the ropes to escape the Liontamer and gets some quick
rollups for two.
Jericho
kicks him off the apron but quickly brings it back inside. A belly
to back superplex is countered into a crossbody for two for Dean and
Jericho is getting frustrated. Malenko dives to the ropes to get out
of the Liontamer again before countering a top rope hurricanrana into
the gutbuster for two. Dean tries the leg lariat but gets caught in
the Liontamer for the surprising submission.
Rating:
B. This was the good match you
would expect these two to have with fifteen minutes. Jericho won
clean here with a counter into a wrestling hold which makes him look
all the more dominant. It was a surprise to see Dean tap out but it
gave him a reason to need redemption which is the more interesting
story.
Post
match Gene comes into the ring as Malenko is clearly shaken up. He
rips Dean apart, talking about how Malenko should have won this match
and is 0-4 in his last PPV matches. “You are a bonafied loser!”
Malenko says he's going home.
Raven
says revenge will be served cold tonight.
Lex
Luger vs. Scott Steiner
Steiner
jumps Luger as he comes in and pounds away. He suplexes Luger down
and sends him to the outside to make sure this doesn't get
interesting. Luger is sent into the barricade but suplexes Steiner
off the apron to the outside. Steiner goes over the barricade before
going back inside for the standard Luger offense. A low blow breaks
up the Rack and there's the Recliner (just a chinlock as he doesn't
have the arms pulled back) but Luger is in the ropes. Steiner gets a
chair but his brother comes down the aisle. The distraction lets
Luger hit Scott in the back for the pin.
Rating:
D-. Steiner is running from his
brother, is yet another lackey in the NWO, had issues against Johnny
Grunge on Thunder and now loses his first prominent match to a
forearm to the back in less than four minutes. Is it any wonder why
it took him another year to get over? The match was junk as Luger
continues to spiral into nothing.
Scott
Norton comes out and gets beaten up by Rick, setting up the showdown
of the brothers. Scott swings the chair but Rick backdrops him out
to the floor.
US
Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Raven vs. Chris Benoit
This
is No DQ and falls count anywhere. Page is defending after invading
the Benoit vs. Raven feud. It's a triple lockup to start and now
everyone stands around. Another triple lockup brings everyone out to
the floor. Page is sent into the steps and the challengers fight in
the ring with Benoit getting two off an elbow. Benoit stomps him
down in the corner but Page comes back in to break it up. Raven and
Benoit head back to the floor so DDP can hit a big dive to take them
both out.
Back
in again with Chris taking over and hitting a top rope splash for two
on Raven. Page and Benoit slug it out to the floor but Raven dives
over the top to take them both out for two on each. Page sends
Benoit into the barricade but Raven charges into both of them again.
Raven is whipped into the barricade and it's Page vs. Benoit for a
bit. Raven goes up by the set and comes back with a garbage can but
Benoit puts it over Raven's head so the other guys can beat on it
with crutches. Benoit takes over with a crutch shot to Page's back
as they're up by the entrance.
A
trashcan to Page's bad ribs has him in trouble and a suplex on the
ramp has the ribs in even more trouble. Benoit and Raven team up for
a few seconds to send Page through an Uncensored sign. Chris pulls
out a kitchen sink of all things to hit Raven in the head but Raven
throws a table at his head. Raven comes back with a velvet rope to
choke Benoit but Chris whips Raven through the table. Page is still
down as the other guys head back to the ring.
Benoit
chokes Raven with the velvet rope but Raven hits him low to change
momentum again. Now it's chair time but it's Raven taking the drop
toehold into the metal. Page is slowly crawling back to the ring as
Benoit whips Raven into a chair in the corner to send him to the
floor. Back in and Benoit puts on a sleeper but Page comes in to put
one on Benoit at the same time.
Raven
hits a jawbreaker to put everyone down. Why Benoit's leg being on
Page isn't a cover I'm not sure. Chris gets up and rolls the Germans
on Raven but Page gets up to German suplex both guys at the same
time. The challengers both knock Page down and Lodi hands in a stop
sign to crack Page in the head. Now it's a table as Benoit stands
around. Raven puts Page on the table but Benoit cracks Raven in the
head with the sign. Benoit takes Raven to the top for a superplex
through Page through the table but Page knocks Benoit to the floor
and Diamond Cuts Raven “though” the table to retain.
Rating:
A-. This was a wild brawl
before the wild brawl became the norm in wrestling. Benoit and Raven
did most of the work here as Page laid up by the sign but that's to
be expected. The match was fun though and was exactly what it was
supposed to be: a big ECW style battle (with a bunch of ECW spots) on
a mainstream stage.
The
announcers talk for a bit.
Kevin
Nash vs. The Giant
The
powerbomb is legal for this match. Giant is finally in wrestling
gear again but still has the neck brace. They pose at each other to
start before Nash does some kung fu. Kevin actually grabs a headlock
but gets clotheslined down with ease. They fight to the floor with
Giant being sent into the post as we continue to do nothing of note.
We're three minutes into the match and Nash finally hits some elbows
to the neck to pick things up a bit.
Nash
does his foot choke in the corner and puts on a sleeper. After
wasting some time with the hold it's a running crotch attack to
Giant's back. There goes the neck brace but another crotch attack is
countered with a low blow. Giant fights up and shoves Nash down
before loading up the powerbomb....and Brian Adams comes in for the
DQ.
Rating:
F. To recap: Nash no shows
Starrcade, nearly cripples Giant at Souled Out, and STILL won't do
the job here. His upcoming reward? His own stable to fight the NWO
while becoming one of the top faces in the company. It's amazing how
ridiculous this stuff is becoming and it's only March of 1998. The
match was horrible too with neither guy moving above a snail's pace.
The
NWO C team comes in for the beatdown but Giant fights them off and
cleans house. Nash of course gets to hit Giant in the back with a
ball bat but Giant gets up. No damage to Big Kev of course.
Call
the Hotline!
Curt
Hennig vs. Bret Hart
Feeling
out process to start with neither guy doing much in the opening few
minutes. Bret grabs a headlock and takes it to the mat. After
nearly two minutes in the headlock Hennig is thrown to the floor for
a council with Rude. Back in and Bret gets a quick Sharpshooter but
Rude comes in for the unseen save. The Robinsdale Crunch starts the
leg work on Bret's knee and it immediately goes into slow gear.
Hennig cannonballs down onto the leg and wraps it around the post a
few times. Rude gets in a wrap around as well as the fans aren't
interested at all.
Somehow
we're six minutes into this and I haven't left out a single bit of
“action”. Hennig whips him across the ring by the hair and puts
on a figure four and Rude cheats a bit. Bret makes the ropes but
gets hit low to slow him down again. Back to another leg lock to
waste more time before Hennig is thrown into his crotch against the
post spot. Bret gets two off a bulldog to set up the Five Moves of
Doom but Hennig sends him chest first into the buckle. The
PerfectPlex gets two and they trade rollups for two. Hennig tries a
sunset flip but Bret rolls through into the Sharpshooter for the
submission.
Rating:
D. Take ten minutes off this
and it's a great match. The problem is it's not even fourteen
minutes long. It was clear that neither guy was interested in doing
much until the very last bit. Those two minutes or so were better
but the rest was WAY too dull to sit through. Bret didn't care at
all and it appears to be mutual from WCW.
Rude
destroys Bret post match with the Rude Awakening and some chair
shots.
WCW
World Title: Scott Hall vs. Sting
There's
no recap due to there being nothing in this story to recap. Hall won
a battle royal four months ago and Sting hasn't had a big defense
yet. Dusty is in Hall's corner to keep that idea going a little
while longer. Sting easily slugs Hall down to start and it's time
for a breather. Back in and Hall fires off the driving shoulders but
gets punched to the corner. A hiptoss is countered and Hall
chokeslams him down but stops to mock the Giant.
Sting
comes right back with some right hands and Hall is knocked to the
floor again. The champion goes out to get him but a trip from Dusty
is enough to let Hall take over with a clothesline. Back in and the
discus punch puts Sting down and the fallaway slam gets two. Sting
comes back with a right hand and the falling low blow spot.
With
both guys down, Hall distracts the referee so Dusty can hit the
Bionic Elbow. Sting starts no selling punches and hits the Stinger
Splash but a Dusty distraction leads to a ref bump. Some brass
knuckles get two for Hall but the Outsider's Edge is countered into
the Death Drop to retain Sting's title.
Rating:
D. Hall was given no chance
coming into this match and had no chance in the match. This could
have been a decent Nitro main event but it has no business as the co
main event of a pay per view. It felt like a modern World
Heavyweight Championship match as we were just waiting for the real
main event. The match was basic stuff but not very interesting.
The
cage is lowered.
Hollywood
Hogan vs. Randy Savage
Hogan
pounds away in the corner to start and chokes Savage on the mat. The
big boot gets two as the fans think Hogan sucks. Hogan chokes even
more as this is already boring me to death. Savage comes back with
left hands before choking Hogan with I think tape. Hogan whips him
with the weightlifting belt but Savage avoids the legdrop. Now it's
Savage with the belt before sending Hogan into the steel so hard that
the cage is afraid to move.
Hogan
goes into the cage again as the fans are almost silent. Savage is
backdropped into the cage and slides down in a nice visual. Back to
whipping with the belt before Hollywood gets two off a belly to back
suplex. Savage is rammed head first into the cage a few times for
two as this continues to be horrible.
Now,
for a change of pace, let's go to the floor to make the cage entirely
pointless. Also, let's make sure to keep the cage in between the
camera and the wrestlers so we can barely see anything. They head
back inside and Savage sends him into the steal before popping up.
Apparently they're both bleeding but we're on a wide shot so it's
almost impossible to see.
Savage
goes up top for a double ax from the edge of the cage for two. It's
elbow time but Disciple runs out to break in and pull Hogan away.
Savage is on top of the cage and begs Savage to jump but Savage
climbs down instead. Sting repels down and we get a ridiculously
long staredown, as Hogan and Sting look at each other for well over a
minute....and Savage turns on Sting. Hogan doesn't know what's going
on as Savage leaves to end the show. The match is a no contest
because that's how you end a pay per view.
Rating:
F. Hall and Sting are off the
hook now for their bad match. Their match was bad, but this was a
full on embarrassment. Hogan and Savage moved like 85 year olds out
there with the “violent” parts looking more like kids mimicking
wrestling moves. So after somehow looking like geriatrics and
children, the ending didn't exist and the post match (I think?) stuff
makes little to no sense. Such is life in WCW.
Overall
Rating: C. The divide on this
show really is distinct. The first half of this show (bad four
minute Luger vs. Steiner match aside) is really solid stuff with a
great three way and some other good to very good stuff in the
midcard. After the three way it's all downhill though as the wheels
come off again. The main event gets a huge amount of the blame here
as it's not only long but horrible. Hart's match was long but just
boring and the title match wasn't all that bad. The main event was
one of the worst matches I've ever seen and didn't even make sense.
The whole show isn't terrible but stop before the cage match.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up
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The double axe handle from the cage was the last crazy Macho Man spot; unfortunately, it was wasted on such a shitty match.
ReplyDeleteThe announers barely react to it either.
ReplyDeleteWas this the match where Savage blew out his knees or something like that?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so. He looked fine from beginning to end.
ReplyDeleteI think that happened a little later. But I'm sure this didn't help.
ReplyDeleteThe NWO Wolfpack vs. NWO B&W feud wouldn't have been so bad had it actually ended with the disbanding of the "original" NWO.
ReplyDeleteThat Mean Gene/Malenko thing was so weird. I get that they were setting up Malenko's eventual redemption, but having Mean Gene be the one to berate him was just confusing. It would have made more sense to just have Jericho cut a post-match promo on him causing him to breakdown and admit that he is a loser. The way they did didn't make me feel sorry for Malenko so much as it just made me think Mean Gene was a dick.
ReplyDeleteI also remember being stoked about the Booker/Eddie match and then finding it really disappointing. The Missile Dropkick was a terrible finish for Booker and it hadn't been established at that point so when Booker scored the win off of it, the collective reaction among my friends and I was a simple, "Huh?"
Hogan vs savage and hogan teaming with savage as the mega powers rules!
ReplyDeleteI always saw the Wolfpac as what was supposed to be their answer to DX as the cool, edgy, faces. Maybe Outsiders, Konnan and one or two other guys. not Savage, he was cool but not in a DX/Outsiders sort of way, sure as hell not Luger and Sting.
ReplyDeleteWolfpac would have been a great chance for Mysterio to break out.
ReplyDeleteIf they didn't get rid of Waltman, rather than nWo Wolfpac they could have just been called the Wolfpac and kept it to Hall, Nash, Waltman and someone else I can't think of off the top of my head.
ReplyDeleteIt works because Mean Gene towards the last few years of WCW just started ranting during interviews. He was never Mr. Unbiased Interviewer to begin with, but it came out more towards the end there, I think.
ReplyDeleteI know history says that the nWo were the cool heels who made the faces look bad, but outside of Sting, and eventually Goldberg, who were the top faces? DDP who became super-lame almost as soon as he got over. The Giant? Lex Luger? Rick Steiner? The WCW faces WERE lame.
ReplyDeleteYou never know how people could've come across if the nWo hadn't just killed whatever they head straight out the blocks.
ReplyDeleteI thought of Buff as well. I always thought Konnan seemed like a Road Dogg type guy to me to where as they got over but mostly for their catchphrase during their ring entrance more than anything more specific than that. None the less I always saw Konnan as a guy like that. I thought Buff had that asshole type charisma to him a lot like Billy Gun. Hall and Nash obviously replace Triple H and Shawn Michaels and then throw an X Pac replacement in there or as someone said use Waltman. For the life of me I have no idea how Waltman got fired at the PEAK of their influence in the company. Is there a bigger story behind that? Other than he was hurt because that hardly seems like a reason to can a guy like that. Especially when he could have just "managed" the outsiders until he got better.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question. Why did they let someone that connected go?
ReplyDeleteI just watched that Hogan vs Savage match, and it was definitely not an F. Savage took a couple of sick bumps, and Hogan was pulling out some suplexes and other decent work.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't the greatest cage match in the history of our business sport, but it doesn't deserve to be lumped in with the worst matches of all time either.
If I had to guess, it was a "show of force" by Bischoff to try to assert/display some control against Nash/Hall/Waltman by canning the only one he felt he could reasonably afford to can.
ReplyDeleteAll that did was make Waltman *crazy* motivated for two or three years though. Honestly I don't think I ever saw him as fired up and energized as the two years following his return.
I remember that Lenny Lane thing- totally great stuff. Especially since Lane was new enough that he couldn't give himself away with any recognizable bits just yet. The Giant/Nash bit is also memorable to me- though that's about it, especially the Main Event stuff, which all blended together around this time.
ReplyDeleteThis was right around the time that it got REALLY obvious the tide had turned. WCW still had Cruiserweights and some good stuff, and had some red-hot angles before this, but crap like Hogan/Savage, the endless Main Event rambling feuds, the good workers being forced onto the opening matches, Benoit continuing to lose despite working his ass off in the ring, and more all added up to make SURE the fans didn't care.
ReplyDeleteNash's cowardly, selfish tactics (kayfabe-wise, not as a heel, which are somewhat fitting at least) were ridiculous- I agree. I think it's fitting that the online stuff hounds him so much that he has to continuously rip on "the marks" in every interview these days.
Just think- some of the best stuff on the card (and WCW in general) was by Jericho- a guy WCW couldn't even keep in the company because they didn't feel like pushing him. And you still have Bret Hart- just a handful of months away from the biggest Sympathy Push in the history of wrestling to that point, wrestling a past-his-prime Hennig in a nothing feud.
That post-WCW interview where he showed up on RAW was EPIC- just completely trashing people in a shoot promo. Ironically, dumping a lower-end nWo guy ended up putting a big character back in the WWF, even though X-Pac was never close to a Main Eventer. He just added to the anarchic, crazy energy of the time and made people take notice RIGHT after a huge WrestleMania.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's a good point- many of them like Nash & Konnan fit better as cool faces than cool heels (since the heels actively damage any babyface they feud with by being both cooler AND smarter than them). Buff should have been part of the stable as well, since the fans always REALLY wanted the chance to cheer for him. But for some reason, WCW almost always saw him as a heel.
ReplyDeleteYeah, WCW wasn't too hot on faces, but they weren't too hot on some heels, either. Look at Sting's Main Event Champion run here- he's wrestling fucking SCOTT HALL (coulda been a Main Eventer, but never really got above IC-level. Nobody bought him as a contender). His only real heel competition at the time was Hogan & Nash (who was busy with Giant).
ReplyDeleteThe top faces seem to be Sting, Luger, Giant, Bret Hart & Savage- not a bad crew (though all four of them were getting SHIT pushes at this time, especially Bret). DDP was nowhere near ready for that level yet (of course, he never really WOULD be- he flamed out as Champ, despite the non-stop huge push he'd gotten first), and Flair was really too old. The top heels were Hogan & Nash with no other real contenders. So the faces were more numerous, but looking more like shit.
Luger is always iffy because of his motivation, but people at least believed in him as a challenger. Giant was pretty over during this time as he was chasing Nash for revenge, too. The problem is, both guys spent YEARS getting punked over (with Giant turning nWo at least twice, if not more), so the fans were left not believing in them.
I was always baffled by Gene telling him that he lost at Souled Out and Superbrawl considering he didn't even wrestle on those cards.
ReplyDeleteThe WCW faces were lame because so many people were in the nWo. Plus they wouldn't build up guys like Jericho, Guerrero, and Benoit. The Wolfpac did become babyfaces, and they were cool.
ReplyDeleteThe WCW faces were lame because so many people were in the nWo. Plus they wouldn't build up guys like Jericho, Guerrero, and Benoit. The Wolfpac did become babyfaces, and they were cool.
ReplyDeleteThe WCW faces were lame because so many people were in the nWo. Plus they wouldn't build up guys like Jericho, Guerrero, and Benoit. The Wolfpac did become babyfaces, and they were cool.
ReplyDeleteThe WCW faces were lame because so many people were in the nWo. Plus they wouldn't build up guys like Jericho, Guerrero, and Benoit. The Wolfpac did become babyfaces, and they were cool.
ReplyDeleteThe WCW faces were lame because so many people were in the nWo. Plus they wouldn't build up guys like Jericho, Guerrero, and Benoit. The Wolfpac did become babyfaces, and they were cool.
ReplyDeleteThe WCW faces were lame because so many people were in the nWo. Plus they wouldn't build up guys like Jericho, Guerrero, and Benoit. The Wolfpac did become babyfaces, and they were cool.
ReplyDeleteThe WCW faces were lame because so many people were in the nWo. Plus they wouldn't build up guys like Jericho, Guerrero, and Benoit. The Wolfpac did become babyfaces, and they were cool.
ReplyDeleteIt just kills me what they did to Sting.
ReplyDeleteBuild up of a life-time. They completely FUCK him in that match. Next night on Nitro, same deal. They then wait TWO months for the return match, at which point he wins. Finally. Then he's fighting Scott Hall at the next PPV, and loses the strap the following month to Macho who drops it to Hogan the next night.
Ming boggling, indeed. He's a much bigger man that I as I would still be bitter about it today.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Sting's apparent apathy towards his career is a bit, as you'd say, mind boggling.
ReplyDeleteIn that sense, I put some blame on him, too. Obviously, his personal life was a wreck at that time but you would think he'd have at least some desire to capitalize on his massive rise the previous year.
ReplyDeleteIn hindsight, maybe they should have just done Sting/Hogan at Spring Stampede and Sting would not have sat around decaying for a year. Then, perhaps, Hogan would have done the job clean and everything would have worked out fine. Hindsight is 20/20 and all, but yeah...
Favorite moment of the pay per view; Jericho taking a "Jericho rules" sign in the front row and tearing it up. The Reason? "I'm too good to be his role model." :) Jericho in 1998 was awesome.
ReplyDeletehe blew it out in june of 98
ReplyDeleteBecause he had injured his neck again, and it was a power play by Bischoff to assert dominance over Hall/Nash
ReplyDeleteDidnt work though.
They had him worked from day one
I heard the ran out of dates theory, but i never subscribed to that.
ReplyDeleteI called a hotline a LONG time ago and I heard he had discs removed from his back.
It made more sense to me because he came back with the singlet (to cover up the possible scarring, and he lost muscle mass (cuz he couldn't lift throughout the year until he was cleared.)
I really don't think he was able to compete by Stampede.
It always made sense to me because Flair would promise someone the belt who had apathy for the business, where he could get the belt back because they are buds.
ReplyDeleteAs opposed to Luger who he beat every which way because that was the gjuy Herd wanted and knowing Herd, he wouldn't have let Flair sniff the title again.
Eh, seeing what he did @ Uncensored '97, I don't see how he couldn't beat up Hogan for a few minutes. Hit a few splashes, death drops, and Scorpion death lock. They could then do the rematch @ Great American Bash before the big nWo split. Maybe Sting, Luger, and Giant vs. Hogan, Hall, and Nash at Bash at the Beach with Nash turning on Hogan? So many possibilities in that era...
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