Happy Saturday Everyone!
We continue on with reviewing WCW pay per views from 1998, with it being time for Great American Bash 1998 this month. I’ve already reviewed Bash at the Beach and Road Wild (thank goodness) from 1998 so we’ll re-join this thread in September for *shudder* Fall Brawl.
The big storyline coming into Great American Bash 1998 is that Roddy Piper and Randy Savage have formed the World’s Craziest Tag Team in an effort to combat Hollywood Hogan and Bret Hart. However, their relationship is tenuous at best and regardless of the result of their tag match they will wrestle each other straight after.
*Insert the Phillip J. Fry MEME everyone likes here*
You can view the card for the event by clicking below;
Let’s review WCW Great American Bash 1998!
The event is emanating from Baltimore, Maryland on the 14th of June 1998
Calling the action are Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay
We get the pre-show video package, with clips of American flags interspersed with unnerving clips of WCW wrestlers being violent and mean.
The announce team blabs for a bit whilst the momentum of the show grinds to a halt, because it’s a WCW pay per view. The fans are usually always flat for the opening match when they do this as well. The WWF was so much better at starting a pay per view, as they’d have all of the pyro and then get a match in the ring ASAP so as to make the most of the momentum gained from the opening.
Opening Match
Final in the Best of Seven Series for the #1 Contender status of the WCW World Television Title
Crippler Chris Benoit (3) Vs Booker T (3)
Benoit and Booker had been battling for a month in order to decide who would get a shot at Fit Finlay for the TV belt. Benoit actually won the seventh match on an episode of Thunder, but did so thanks to Bret Hart, who was trying to recruit Benoit to the side of evil. Benoit, being a sporting fellow, decided he’d rather tell the ref and lose by DQ as a result. Booker appreciated this and asked for the seventh match to be replayed, thus we have this bout and the winner will take on Finlay later. Bobby Heenan is great on the call for that Thunder match actually, as he’s completely exasperated at the very notion of Benoit being a good sport.
This match has everything you’d want, with two highly competent wrestlers battling over a tangible reward in front of an invested crowd, with Brian Hildebrand, the greatest referee of all time, in there officiating it. What more could you ask for? The announce team even do a good job calling it as well, as they actually focus on the match itself instead of trying to hype up whatever Hogan, Nash etc are doing later on in the show. The competitors build the match nicely as well, with both wrestlers trading holds in the early going until gradually getting to bigger moves as they bout wears on.
What I’ve always enjoyed about this match is that it feels like two people actually trying to out-wrestle one another. It still retains the flashiness and showmanship you’d want from an entertainment perspective, but everything that’s done is executed crisply, and the bout has an air of legitimacy to it that not every Pro Wrestling match can attain. I think any wrestling fan could appreciate what the two wrestlers are going for here, even if the more sports based version of wrestling isn’t for you. This is partly due to the bout having consistent selling, with Booker nursing a few injuries that leave him on the defensive throughout the bout, causing Booker to have to hang on and find openings, which is a straightforward story that anyone could understand and appreciate.
The crowd gets behind Booker the more he sells, although there are some of them that cheer whenever Benoit cuts Booker back off again, with the match having an interesting atmosphere due to neither wrestler being a Heel, so the fans have just picked a wrestler they would like to see win and are reacting accordingly. Booker keeps trying to gain a foothold in the match, but whenever it looks like he will, he ends up missing an attack or Benoit catches him with something in order to return Booker to the mat. It’s clear that Benoit’s game plan is to keep the bigger and flashier Booker down so that he can’t get cooking, whilst Booker wants to get a sustained period of offence in order to make his high impact offence pay dividend.
Booker does finally start making a bit of a comeback, and the crowd reacts strongly to his successful offence because he’s been on the defensive for so long and they’re ready to see him do something. Benoit manages to catch Booker with a Superplex though, and that restores us to parity with both wrestlers being down on the mat. The ante keeps getting upped when it comes to big moves, with Benoit busting out the rolling German Suplexes before switching to a Dragon Suplex for two in a good near fall. Benoit tries the head butt off the top following that, but he hurts himself by delivering the move and the delay allows Booker to kick out in a good example of protecting a match winning move, as the suggestion is that Benoit might have won if he could have pinned right away.
Realising that he has to do something fast or the match will slip away, Booker hits Benoit with two big jumping sidekicks before heading to the top rope for his trademark Missile Dropkick, which leads to the three count as he’s able to make the pin right away. Thus the delay in making the pin from the head butt ends up being costly for Benoit, which just makes his defeat all the more agonising for his fans, whilst Booker’s resilience sees him survive the war of attrition, although it’s clear that he’s been worn down and will have a real tough time of it later on in the show.
WINNER: BOOKER T
RATING: ****
Thoughts: This match was excellent, with great wrestling, good storytelling and some top-notch selling from both wrestlers throughout. They possibly had an even higher gear they could have kicked it up to, but Booker had to come out again later, so they eased off just a bit, but the match was still great fun
Chavo Guerrero Jr. is being interviewed by Lee Marshall at the internet area. I’m sure the interview was grrrrrrrrrreat!
Match Two
Saturn Vs The Innovator of Offence Kanyon
Kanyon had been causing Raven all kinds of bother after Raven refused to let him join The Flock, leading to Raven giving his enforcer Saturn the task of dealing with Kanyon here at Great American Bash 1998. Kanyon had previously been the Mortal Kombat inspired character Mortis, so he dresses a guy up as Mortis for a distraction here so that he can jumpstart the bout by attacking Saturn from behind. What follows is a match with some nice wrestling and big moves, although the crowd doesn’t really get into it that much.
Kanyon busts out some really nice looking moves, including an Electric Chair Drop at one stage, and dominates the bout in the early going, even foiling the rest of The Flock when they try to run down and help Saturn. One thing I never got about this storyline is why Raven, a despicable Heel who was always looking out for his own benefit, wouldn’t see the damage Kanyon was causing and try to make amends in order to recruit the guy who clearly wanted to be on his side? That is kind of where they went with it eventually, although it took them MONTHS to get there.
Eventually The Flock manages to distract Kanyon long enough for Saturn to be able to gain a foothold in the bout, as he dives out onto everyone, Kanyon included, which leads to referee Nick Patrick sending all of The Flock to the back. Kanyon sells well whilst on the defensive, whilst Saturn looks good on offence, busting out some neat throws and some painful looking submission holds. The crowd is still rather pensive and doesn’t really get that into the match, but the match itself has had some good wrestling and they’ve worked it well for the most part.
Saturn was doing a lot of Taz and Sabu moves at the time, including Sabu’s Triple Jump Moonsault, and I know that Taz wasn’t happy about it because he would reference it in shoot interviews at the time. I guess Saturn felt that Taz and Sabu wouldn’t be in WCW anytime soon, so the moves were fair game? Kanyon takes some absolutely fantastic bumps from Saturn’s big moves, and sells consistently as well, but they still struggle to get the crowd into it, even when Saturn goes to a chin lock in an effort to get the crowd to clap for Kanyon to make a comeback.
Kanyon eventually manages to catch Saturn with a desperation Stun Gun and the two wrestlers start trading pin attempts with a selection of roll ups, including an inside cradle from Kanyon and a backslide from Saturn. Kanyon gets a nice Fireman’s Carry into a Facebuster, as well as a Torture Wrack into a neck breaker, but Saturn manages to kick out each time. Saturn replies with an impressive suplex, as they continue to bring the movez in this one. It’s probably the wrong match for this crowd, but I’ve enjoyed the action at least.
We get a moment in the match where two Mortis’ go at it, which would probably be getting great pops in front of a crowd that was into the storyline or the characters involved. In the confusion of it all, Kanyon is able to get the Flatliner (kind of a reverse Rock Botton) and that’s enough for the three count, which gets an anaemic pop all things considered.
WINNER: KANYON
RATING: ***
Thoughts: They just could not get the crowd to bite here, even though they worked a solid match, with good action and actual storytelling. It wasn’t just two folks going in there and doing moves, there was actual selling and proper match structure, but the crowd just wasn’t into it
One of the Mortis’ (Mortisi?) attacks Kanyon following the match and unmasks as Raven in a very ECW styled reveal. Raven then chastises Saturn for losing, only to then back off. However, when Raven sees that The Flock are coming down to ringside, he suddenly gets more bold again and goes back to chastising, which is a really neat little character touch that just sums the whole Raven gimmick up in a nutshell. The minute he realised he had some backup he was ready to chew Saturn out again. Saturn goes after Raven following that, leading to The Flock trying to attack Saturn, only for Saturn to lay them all out, which does at least finally get a pop from the crowd.
We get clips of Dean Malenko vacating the Cruiserweight belt so that he can get another match with Chris Jericho tonight.
Match Three
WCW World Cruiserweight Title
Belt Vacant
Lionheart Chris Jericho Vs The Iceman Dean Malenko
Malenko had left WCW after losing to Jericho back in March, which led to Jericho mocking him relentlessly until Malenko returned in May to win the Title from him. Jericho spotted a legal loophole that led to him complaining for weeks, leading to Malenko giving the belt up as we saw earlier so that the two could wrestle for it here in a rematch. Being that the belt is vacant, the usual Title match rules don’t apply and that means the belt can change hands on a DQ or Count Out as there isn’t actually a Champion right now.
Malenko is full of fire to start, as he clobbers Jericho and even stomps a mud hole in the corner. Jericho takes some nice bumps and sells well for Malenko, with both wrestlers doing a good job of telling the story that Malenko is very angry Jericho due to all of Jericho’s antics and now he’s going to batter him good and proper in order to claim his revenge, with the belt almost being secondary in Malenko’s quest for vengeance. The crowd reactions are better than the last match but still not really what you’d want considering the issue between the two wrestlers.
Malenko eventually misses an attack in the corner and that allows Jericho to cut Malenko off and work some heat, with Jericho’s offence looking good and Malenko doing a good job of selling it all. Jericho does manage to draw a bit of Heel heat from the crowd, but the reactions in general are still disappointing. Malenko is eventually able to dodge a Lionsault and makes a comeback, getting the ten punch in the corner and ramming Jericho’s face into the mat from up there for two. That looked really vicious and suited the story they are telling. It was brutally simple.
Malenko tries following up with a Gut Buster from the top rope, but Jericho fights out of that and gets a rana from up there for two, although Jericho was down for a while before making the pin in order to protect the move. Jericho goes to THE DREADED YOUNG LION BOSTON CRAB following that, but Malenko makes the ropes to break the hold, which gets one of the bigger pops of the night thus far, as the two wrestlers have worked hard and have managed to get the crowd gradually more invested. This becomes clear when the crowd pops big time when Malenko manages to lock Jericho in the Texas Cloverleaf, but Jericho is too near the ropes and manages to grab them.
The match is really starting to kick into a higher gear at this stage, but they decide to prolong the feud by going into a pretty cheap ending where Jericho starts slapping Malenko around and making comments about Malenko’s deceased father. Malenko of course doesn’t like that and ferociously attacks Jericho, but ends up going too far and gets himself DQ’ed. It’s kind of a lame ending, but it does make sense with the story they were telling and it was a way to extend the feud and get the belt on Jericho without having a definitive finish.
WINNER BY DQ AND NEW CHAMPION: CHRIS JERICHO
RATING: ***1/4
Thoughts: This one suffered in that the crowd didn’t really get into it until they hit the closing stretch, but the wrestling was good and they did a good job of telling the story of Malenko being more focused on beating Jericho up rather than winning the belt, with it ultimately leading to Jericho prevailing and winning the mental battle. The feud kind of fizzled out after this, but this was a good way to keep the feud going and build up to one final feud ending bout
Both wrestlers brawl to the back and onto the street following that, with Jericho eventually being able to run away whilst Malenko is being held back by security. Ring announcer David Penzer announces that Jericho won the match and that means that Jericho is now the Champion.
Eddy Guerrero is doing an interview at the internet desk and wants to try and get out of his match with his nephew Chavo later on. Eddy is great as the coward trying to dodge taking his comeuppance on and is supremely entertaining.
We get a Juventud Guerrera video package, as he walks around a garden looking all solemn and, dare I say it, quite hunky. Unmasking him was one of the rare smart occasions that WCW did that, as it instantly made him look like a bigger deal, although it didn’t work as well for Psicosis and Rey Mysterio Jr when they tried it with them.
Match Four
Reese w/ Lodi Vs The Youth Warrior Juventud Guerrera
WCW was trying to get Juventud over as a never-say-die character as a way to make up for de-masking him back in February. Thus he’s in there with Reese the big galoot, with the idea being that Juventud is outsized and overmatched but he will refuse to back down. Reese stumbles on his way out of the entrance way, which bodes well for the match ahead. I could see this match working well if they did it with a better wrestler than Reese, but I don’t think a better wrestler than Reese would want to be booked like this against Juventud, so I guess it is what it is.
Juventud prays before the match starts, which works in both real life and kayfabe for different reasons. They do their best to idiot-proof this one, with Reese not really being asked to do anything he can’t do and Juventud trying to chip away at his bigger opponent and be illusive until Reese is able to grab hold of him and work him over. This is an easy story to tell visually, so the crowd reacts to it if nothing else, even though the actual wrestling isn’t up to much due to it being such a styles clash and Reese having such low aptitude as an in-ring performer. He’s trying though, I’ll give him that.
Reese ragdolls Juventud in a bear hug at one stage, with Juventud doing a good job of selling everything, and the crowd reacts whenever the smaller wrestler manages to get any form of offence in. This has been way better than I thought it was going to be actually, as Reese hasn’t tried to do anything he shouldn’t be trying given his greenness and Juventud has taken good bumps for everything and sold consistently throughout the bout as well.
Reese tries to introduce a chair into proceedings, but referee Charles Robinson isn’t having any of that and dis-arms the big man, which is Van Hammer’s cue to join us. Hammer had previously been a member of The Flock with Reese and Lodi, but he got kicked out and now he’s looking for revenge. Lodi and Robinson get into a spat, and that allows Hammer to clock Reese when he has Juventud up in a Powerbomb position, which allows Juventud to snap off a sloppy rana for the three count and a healthy pop from the crowd.
WINNER: JUVENTUD GUERRERA
RATING: **
Thoughts: This was FAR better than I thought it was going to be, even though the finish was a bit sloppy in execution. Juventud got over merely from staying in the match and they protected Reese in defeat, with the crowd enjoying the end result, so it ended up working even though the wrestling wasn’t especially great
Juventud and Hammer celebrate following that whilst Reese seethes.
Match Five
Eddy Guerrero Vs Chavo Guerrero Jr
Eddy had been in control of Chavo’s career for months, which led to Chavo snapping and demanding a match, which Eddy has been scared to accept because his treatment of Chavo has turned his nephew into a raving nutter. There is some good intensity in this one, as both wrestlers throw down in the early going, with Chavo playing a very believable crazy man. It’s another match that suffers from a relatively quiet crowd, but the wrestling is really good and the match tells a good story of Eddy being taken aback by his nephew’s aggressiveness and not knowing how to deal with it.
Chavo gives Eddy a bit of a battering in the early going, with Eddy selling it all well in an effort to make his nephew look good, and the match works well as a payoff to months of Eddy shoving Chavo around and just generally being a bullying jerk. Eddy is eventually able to kick the ropes into Chavo’s nether regions and that’s the cut off, with Eddy working some heat and playing the Heel role well whilst Chavo does a good job of selling and bumping for Eddy’s offence.
Eddy takes the fight outside at one stage and flings Chavo into the metal ring steps, which in typical WCW fashion barely budge. Eddy talks some trash to Chavo back inside, which leads to Chavo goozling Eddy and choking him in a rage, which is great stuff. I’m enjoying this immensely and think they’ve done an excellent job getting across how angry and violent Chavo is due to what Eddy has been doing to him, but the crowd just hasn’t been biting on it for the most part and I’m at a loss as to why, as this storyline had got plenty of play on TV and Eddy was usually over as a Heel in the mid-card, so the crowd being so not into this match is really odd.
It sounds like there’s a fight in the crowd at one stage, as some of them sing the “goodbye” song whilst others look away from the ring. Is there anything lamer than starting a fight at a wrestling show? The guys in the ring aren’t actually fighting to begin with you absolute loon, so you starting a real drunken punch up just makes you look like a wannabe tough guy. Eddy targets the legs of Chavo in order to cut his nephew off again, leading to some mean looking submission moves from Eddy in an effort to get the crowd behind Chavo, which doesn’t really work.
Chavo does eventually wake the crowd up a bit by fighting back and getting a very impressive front flipping TOPE CON HILO, but then they start chanting for Ric Flair, as Flair was out of WCW at the time due to real life dispute with Eric Bischoff. Chavo makes the comeback anyway, and goes up for a Frogsplash, only for Eddy to jam the ropes in order to prevent it. Eddy tries his own Frogsplash, but Chavo is able to dodge it and then follows up with two Swinging DDT’s, one onto the top rope and one into the ring, and that’s enough for three. The crowd, despite sitting on their hands for all of the match, actually pop big for the three count. Why are you the way you are Baltimore?
WINNER: CHAVO GUERRERO JR
RATING: ***3/4
Thoughts: This is one of those matches where the rating more reflects my own personal enjoyment rather than anything else, as I could totally see some people not liking it as much due to the unenthused crowd. I personally thought the match was great though, as they told an entertaining story of Chavo being far more dangerous than Eddy thought he would be due to Chavo being so angry at his uncle’s previous treatment of him, and the wrestling was on point as well, with both wrestlers entering strong in-ring performances. It’s a shame the crowd just wasn’t with them, and it’s rare that I’d ever say a crowd was “wrong” for reacting a certain way, but this Baltimore crowd baffled me by sitting on their hands through this one. It was a match that had months of build-up and the story of the match all played into that build, with the good wrestling being a cherry on top of the whole thing. Definitely one of the stranger cases of a crowd just not caring about a good match. Normally I’d mark a match down for something like that, but sod it, I really enjoyed this one and I’m going to rate it highly because I feel like it!
We get footage of Roddy Piper and Randy Savage arguing on Nitro, as they don’t trust one another due to both being crazy blokes who don’t trust other people, leading to them throwing punches at one another.
Match Six
WCW World Television Title
Champ: Fit Finlay Vs Booker T
Finlay gets to come into this one fresh whilst Booker has already wrestled of course, so Booker is very much the underdog. Booker and Finlay would end up aligned at one stage in WWE, but they’re opponents here and are happy to throw down with one another, with Booker cleaning Finlay’s clock with a big kick early on. You can hear the slaps and thuds reverberate through the building when the two men attack one another.
Finlay is on the defensive in the early going but eventually manages to get himself into the match by working over Booker’s left knee with a variety of painful looking submission holds. Being a European wrestler who competed during the classic World of Sport days, Finlay knows his way around a submission hold and he believably punishes Booker, with Booker selling it all well. The crowd is once again kind of quiet for all this; although Finlay will occasionally play to them in order to draw some boo’s. It’s not the most exciting match ever, but it has solid wrestling and tells a decent story of Booker gutting it out in an effort to regain his belt.
Booker gets the odd pin attempt or attack in here or there to show he’s still alive in the match, but it always comes back to Finlay going back to attacking his leg, including a moment where Finlay drags Booker out to the floor and then swings his knee into the ring post. Booker manages to get Finlay with a Scissors Kick, but he stops to Spinaroonie and that allows Finlay to take him out with a clothesline before setting up his trademark Tombstone Piledriver finisher. Sadly the match kind of falls apart here, as Booker is supposed to counter the Piledriver into one of his own but he loses his grip and the spot goes awry. They improvise a new finish though as Finlay misses a charge in the corner and Booker snaps off a more standard Piledriver for the three count.
WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: BOOKER T
RATING: **1/2
Thoughts: Sadly the finish was a bit of a mess, but the match itself was solid enough, with some decent submission work from Finlay and some good selling from Booker
Stevie Ray comes down to the ring to celebrate with his brother following that, which was planting seeds for Stevie eventually turning on Booker T and going Heel.
Match Seven
WCW Vs nWo
WCW United States Title
Champ: Goldberg Vs The K-Dawg Konnan w/ Mr. Spiffy Curt Hennig and Ravishing Rick Rude
Goldberg’s undefeated streak had been worked for a while (resulting in it getting less over) but they’re claiming that he’ll go 100-0 here if he wins, which gives what would normally be a throwaway match some additional spice I guess. K-Dawg, Hennig and Rude are all members of nWo Wolfpac, with the idea being that they want to be the faction that ends Goldberg’s streak. Of course they would eventually do so, but that’s for later down the line. K-Dawg does his best to get some offence in, but Goldberg catches him with the Spear and the Jackhammer quickly follows to supposedly take the Champ to 100-0.
WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: GOLDBERG
RATING: SQUASH
Thoughts: This was what it needed to be, as Goldberg looked impressive here and Konnan’s downfall came quickly following the Spear before he had any real chance to get a foothold in the contest
K-Dawg’s night goes from bad to worse, as Hennig and Rude jump him before revealing that they’re actually part of nWo Hollywood and not The Wolfpac. They didn’t really suit The Wolfpac anyway to be honest. Kevin Nash and Lex Luger make the save before their buddy gets beaten too badly, and this feud will continue.
Match Eight
nWo Black and White Vs WCW and nWo Wolfpac
WCW World Champ Hollywood Hogan and Bret The Hitman Hart w/ The Disciple Vs Rowdy Roddy Piper and Macho Man Randy Savage
Bret helped Hogan defeat Randy Savage back in April for the belt and Hogan returned the favour by helping Bret defeat Savage back in May. Piper had been the ref for that match and eventually reversed the decision when he found out what happened. Savage still doesn’t like or trust Piper though, so once this match is over Piper and Savage will battle one another. In a subtle nod to the storyline being told, Hogan and Hart enter together here, to show that they are on the same page, whilst Piper and Savage enter separately and barely talk before the match starts.
Piper and Savage shine on Hogan to start with things like punches and eye gouges, as even though they’re babyfaces they still like to fight dirty, with Hogan selling it in an almost comical manner. It’s terrible wrestling in all honesty, and the crowd doesn’t really react to it much either. I can live with bad wrestling if the crowd likes it, but when they don’t it just magnifies how bad the in-ring action is even further. The match story isn’t too bad, with Piper and Savage actually managing to work as a team for a bit until Disciple gives Piper a cheap shot and that leads to the Heels cutting Piper off.
Bret is very much in cruise control here, but his wrestling is competent at least and Piper was still capable of selling and showing some fire at this stage in his career, so the heat segment isn’t as bad as the shine on Hogan was, with Hogan sticking to classic Heel techniques and not doing anything he can’t do at least. Hogan even manages to draw a “Hogan Sux” at one stage as well, which is the most invested the crowd has been in the contest thus far. Bret is eventually motivated to come off his rope with his trademark elbow attack, but that’s about as effort as he extends in this one.
Savage eventually manages to slip a chair onto Piper in whilst the referee is distracted and that leads to Bret accidentally head butting it in a pretty clever spot. Savage gets the hot tag following that and the crowd actually seems up for it, until Savage starts attacking the Heels at half speed due to his litany of injuries and the crowd quickly dies off. Savage actually teases that he might come off the top, but Hogan whips Piper into the ropes in order to cause Savage to fall off, although the announce team doesn’t really clock that. Savage’s leg is re-injured following that and Bret takes it home with The Sharpshooter soon after whilst Piper is distracted fighting off Hogan and Disciple on the floor.
WINNERS: HOGAN & HART
RATING: *1/4
Thoughts: The storytelling wasn’t bad in this one, but the wrestling was to a pretty low standard and the crowd didn’t really care outside of the occasional moment here and there. 3 of the 4 wrestlers in the match just weren’t physically capable of doing much, and the one that did didn’t seem too interested in taking it out of lower gear
Piper doesn’t want to wrestle Savage after that because he’s gained respect for him, but Savage wants to fight anyway and jumps Piper to start the match.
Semi-Main
Rowdy Roddy Piper Vs Macho Man Randy Savage
Savage manages to come off the top with the Macho Elbow, but he just hurts his leg again in the process and the delay in making the cover allows Piper to kick out. Savage clocks the referee following that, which allows Piper to clock Savage right in the Sarasota’s before following up with a Figure Four to cause Savage to uncle twice in the same night.
WINNER: RODDY PIPER
RATING: N/A
Thoughts: Too short to rate. Savage doing all these jobs was because they were going to write him out due to him having a legitimate leg injury, with nWo Hollywood beating him up in a cage on Nitro with Eric Bischoff getting the decisive blow. They actually paid that off as well with Savage coming back to cost Bischoff a match with Flair at the end of 1998
Main Event
nWo Black and White Vs nWo Wolfpac
Winner Gains Possession of both WCW World Tag Team belts
The Giant Vs Sting
The story for this one is that Giant and Sting won the tag belts at Slamboree 98, but each of them belongs to a different faction of the nWo , with Giant being a member of Hogan’s “Hollywood” group whilst Sting is in Kevin Nash’s “Wolfpac”. As a result neither man wants to tag with one another, so this match was set up, with the winner getting possession of the tag belts and then earning the right to choose who their partner will be.
Giant pretty much already had one foot out of the door by this stage, and his gimmick reflected that as he became a lazy slacking smoker. Sting had been the morose “Crow” character for quite a while prior to this, so this switch to the Wolfpac allowed him to start showing a bit more personality again. Sting goes for the Stinger Splashes right from the off, but Giant gets his boot up on one of them and then goes to work with his usual offence.
It’s not bad but it does meander a little bit. Giant had a bit more experience by this stage in his career, so expectations as to what he was capable of had naturally increased, so you’d maybe expect a bit more from him in a Main Event setting. You could probably say the same for Sting as well. They tell a simple story of Sting fighting from underneath against the bigger foe and it’s done well for the most part, with the crowd getting into it.
Sting manages to get Giant up for a body slam, which gets a big pop, and tries the Scorpion Deathlock. Giant manages to power out of that, so Sting goes to the Scorpion Death Drop instead for two. Giant tries the choke slam in response, but Sting fights it off and gets another Death Drop for another two count. Stings gets it one more time, this time from the second rope, and that’s enough for the three count.
WINNER: STING
RATING: **
Thoughts: Thankfully the crowd decided to be into something finally and it improved that match a lot as a result. It was a short match and felt more like something you’d see as a Thunder Main Event rather than a Main Event for a major pay per view event, but it was fine for what it was. Doing the three finishers spot kept Giant looking strong, as Sting had to throw everything he had at him to eventually keep him down, and to be honest keeping it on the short side probably wasn’t the worst idea. It just felt a bit cheap for a big match that you were charged money for to have such an abrupt run-time.
Sting celebrates and we’re out.
In Conclusion
This show had a lot of good wrestling, but the crowd sat on their hands for long periods despite this, which left the event feeling kind of flat even though the in-ring aspect was one of the best WCW shows all year in that regard.
Things went south somewhat during the Hogan portion of the show, with the Main Event not really being capable of kicking it back up once that section was over with. Still though, terrible crowd aside, there’s a lot of good wrestling on this show and, by 1998 WCW standards, it’s pretty darn good.
Recommended Show (but maybe shut it off following the Goldberg match)
