WCW Slamboree 1994

The spring of 1994 marked an interesting time for WCW – rumors heavily swirling that Hulk Hogan would be joining the promotion any day, and fans abuzz. Slamboree marked WCW’s last pay per view effort before Hogan officially signed his big money contract the next month (and was pushed to an immediate WCW Title win at the next pay per view), but that didn’t stop them from playing up on the rumors – promising a ‘six foot seven, blond, former World Champion’ mystery challenger to Ric Flair’s WCW World Title.

At the time, WCW also had something of a working relationship with still up-and-coming ECW (loaning talent like Cactus Jack and Terry Funk, who were instrumental in the promotions early success), and with Slamboree held in Philadelphia (home base of ECW) the small crowd was filled with their vocal, bloodthirsty fan base.

From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan.


Opening WCW United States Title Match: Steve Austin v Johnny B. Badd: The crowd officially welcomes WCW with a 'we're not hostile' chant. Austin tries to offer Badd a 'trust me' handshake at the bell, but Johnny falls for it by armdragging him, and hooking a side-headlock. Austin steers him into the corner to break, so Badd takes him down again - this time into a hammerlock. Austin tries a sleeper to counter, but Badd stuns him to break - in a bit of irony that wasn't ironic yet. Meanwhile, Sherri hangs out at ringside, taking notes - her introductory angle to WCW, as she scouts talent to manage. They trade armbars for a while (a long while), until Austin pulls the hair and blasts him with a kneelift. He stomps a mud hole in the corner, and starts firing off shots at the ribcage to work Badd over. Suplex and a kneedrop get two, so Austin tries a reverse chinlock. 2^nd rope kneedrop hits the knees (irony that was ironic then!), and Badd with a gutwrench suplex to try to build momentum. Backdrop, and a dropkick leave Austin reeling, so manager Robert Parker hops up on the apron to distract the referee. Miscommunication sees Austin crashing into him, and a Badd with a flying sunset flip for two. Side suplex, but Austin reverses the momentum in midair, and topples him for the pin at 16:14. They'd have more interesting matches in the WWF later, this one quite slow and dull. Bad opener, especially in front of this crowd. ¾*

Legends Match: Terry Funk v Tully Blanchard: Unlike the year before, WCW offered Blanchard enough money to work the show - though they still ended up stiffing him on the promised amount. Funk parties in the front row before things get going - ECW-style.  Blanchard gets sick of waiting, and attacks him out there, and we're underway with a big slugfest! Inside, Tully with a vertical suplex, but they get into another slugfest - Funk atomic dropping him into the rail. Standing neckbreaker gets Funk a two count, so he tears a piece of the ramp way off and piledrives Tully through it. DDT on the ramp, but it takes as much out of Funk as Tully, leaving them with a double knockout - the crowd literally calling for blood. Funk with another piledriver, but a flying moonsault misses, and Blanchard unloads chops. The referee goes down during an Irish whip spot, so Terry grabs a chair, and tries a piledriver off of the top rope onto it - only to get shoved off, taking the chair bump himself. He decides 'fuck it,' and grabs his branding iron, but the referee has had enough, and throws the whole thing out at 7:22. Much better than the restholdy Legends offerings the year before - this was more exciting than the opener, and actually gave the crowd what they wanted (Blood! Weapons! Brawling!), to boot. * ¼

Steven Regal v Larry Zbyszko: Regal is the WCW Television Champion - but this is non-title, and Larry was a retired non-contender, challenging Regal for talking shit about the United States. Regal has a ball jawing with the ECW fans (see also: stalling), to the point where even LARRY is anxious to get going. He finally pops Regal one, but follows up by yelling at him from a safe distance instead of ending Stallboree. This is like watching Parliament. Zbyszko with a savate kick to send Regal to the floor, and they trade armbars on the way back in - Zbyszko ending it by showing Steve his small package. Well, a lot of things have ended that way, to be fair. Zbyszko abdominal stretch (openly using the ropes for leverage, since this is for America), but the referee breaks it up, and Regal's good and pissed - showing us his shit face. Not that he's ugly - meaning just the face he makes when he's gotta shit. Better that than his O-face, in any case. Regal tries a side-headlock, but Larry won't play along, so he just starts punching him in the face instead. European uppercut gets two, and a backelbow for two, so he hooks a cobra clutch. No go from Zbyszko, so Regal tries a surfboard next, and more uppercuts. It turns into a slugfest, and Zbyszko manages a sleeper - but Regal stuns his way free, only to get backdropped out of a butterfly suplex attempt, and bridged into the pinfall at 11:36. For America. Zbyszko would win the title from Regal on TV the next week - though they had already taped his title win before this show even aired. Decent once they got past the stalling, and the finishing sequence worked wonderfully. *

WCW Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony: Gordon Solie hosts the segment, with Lou Thesz at his side to hand out plaques. He brings out inductees Harley Race, The Assassin, Ole Anderson, Ernie Ladd, The Crusher, and Dick the Bruiser (posthumously, represented by his family). Very different than the WWE's fun pre-WrestleMania versions we see today, as kayfabe was still in effect so we don't get funny road stories – basically just Solie reading off a career retrospective for each, and then each guy coming out to accept a plaque. The segment ran a bit long, but wasn't pointless.

Bullrope Match: Dustin Rhodes v Bunkhouse Buck: From the right angle, Buck looks just like middle-aged Eric Clapton. Both guys are tied together with a bull rope (strap match style), but instead of dragging the other to four corners for the win - they're battling to a pinfall. Rhodes jumps him right away with the rope (using it as a noose), and it quickly turns into a slugfest - Rhodes winning with an elbowsmash. Dustin works his nuts with the cowbell, and bulldogs him for two. Rhodes goes after the leg next, so Buck pulls his shirt over his head to blind him/expose his back, then whips him with his belt for good measure. To the post, Buck ties him to it for some free shots, but Dustin fires back to break loose - including blowing Buck low, as the crowd chants for blood. Inside, Rhodes with more elbows, but the referee gets bumped as he suplexes Buck, and Bunkhouse manager Robert Parker steps in for a distraction. Rhodes shrugs them off, however, and wallops Buck with the bell again for the pin at 12:46. Afterwards, Terry Funk runs in to massacre Dustin - getting a huge face pop from the ECW-crowd. Not actively bad, but on the dull side - especially compared to their brutal, bloody match the month before at Spring Stampede. ½*

WCW World Title Match: Ric Flair v Barry Windham: Windham fills the role of the mystery challenger - a one shot return deal to WCW to disappoint the fans by not being Hulk Hogan. Flair tries to get cute with head games out of the initial lockup, so Windham starts firing off closed fists to put an end to that. Elbowdrop misses, however, and Barry bails to the floor to regroup. Inside, Ric goes right after the knee, but gets caught with a clothesline coming out of the corner, and dumped to the floor for a shot to the rail. Hanging vertical suplex back in, and he hooks a chinlock on the mat - using the ropes for leverage. Flair Flips to the floor for Robert Parker (busy guy tonight) to get in his shots, and Barry follows out with an atomic drop before suplexing Flair in again. Ten-punch count is rudely interrupted with an inverted atomic drop, but Flair makes the mistake of going to the top rope, and gets superplexed off for two. Flair still manages a hanging vertical suplex of his own, and sweeps Barry off of his feet for the Figure Four. Windham makes the ropes to break, so Flair drags him out for another one - Barry grabbing the ropes again. Ric regroups with a flying axehandle and shindrop for two, but a bodypress sends them both tumbling over the top, and Ric has to drag him back in. Series of closed fists take Windham down for two, and a sunset flip gets two. Windham tries to whip him into the corner to slow him down, but Flair Flips onto the top rope, and finishes with a flying bodypress at 13:22. I don't know what's more surprising: that the Flair Flip/bodypress spot actually worked for once, or that the ECW crowd cheered Flair like a God. Windham looked bad here (overweight and unmotivated), but Flair worked hard to keep it interesting - carrying him through competent sequences. **

WCW World Tag Team Title Broad Street Bully Match: The Nasty Boys v Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan: 'Broad Street Bully' is just a Philly for street fight, with Dave Schultz acts as the guest referee to hammer it home. They don't even wait for Michael Buffer to finish his ring intros before getting into it, immediately spilling to the floor to brawl - Jerry Sags getting Cactus Jack, and Brian Knobs battled Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan manages to piledrive Knobs on the ramp way, as Jack whacks Sags with a trashcan. They switch nutty buddies, with Sullivan giving Sags a double stomp, but Cactus misses a flying elbowdrop from the 2^nd turnbuckle to the concrete - crashing down. Poor Schultz doesn't know what to make of it all - just standing on the ring apron with his arms folded. Sags brings a table into things, throwing Jack off the ramp through it (and onto the exposed concrete floor), but when Cactus keeps coming, Sags starts beating his head in with a light stand like Jack's an extra in Shaun of the Dead. A fire extinguisher goes off to take them both out, as Knobs desperately tries to hold a clingy Kevin back by bashing his head with a metal trashcan lid. Back in the ring, Sags continues his war with Jack by hitting a flying elbowdrop for two, but when he decides to put the cherry on it with Schultz's own hockey stick, Dave beats the crap out of him. The distraction allows Jack to snag the stick, and one slap shot later we have new champions at 9:34. Wild brawl - filled with hard hitting, innovative hitting spots, great bumps all around (especially from Cactus Jack), and a memorable ending. WCW would repeat this formula in many major Nasty Boys match over the next few years, and of course, ECW would base their entire tag division on the style, so it (along with Spring Stampede match it deviated from) was certainly influential stuff, and managed to get its point across without overstaying its welcome - like many future versions of this style match tended to. ***

Main Event: WCW International World Title Match: Vader v Sting: This is for the vacant title, as champion Rick Rude suffered a career ending back injury in Japan a few weeks before. Big staredown, as the crowd starts chanting 'Sting Must Die' - though maybe it's a Sideshow Bob situation, I don't know. Vader plays with his food, shoving Sting around out of the first couple of lockups, and cornering him to unload forearm shots. Short-clothesline, but another try misses, and Sting fires back with a series of closed fists and a BIG ol' kick to the nuts. Vader bails to regroup, but gets caught with a hanging vertical suplex on the way back in, and a power-stalemate ends with Vader throwing his weight around. Literally - as he takes Sting down with his gut, then slaps him across the face for good measure. Vaderbomb gets two, so he gives him another one - this time Sting grabbing the ropes to break the count, unable to properly kickout. Vader hooks an anklelock, but Sting gets uppity, so Vader mounts him and just unloads with rights. Vader keeps after the leg, but Sting won't quit, and hits a leaping elbowdrop to slow the monster down. He can't build any momentum out of it, though, and Vader drops a pair of elbows for two. Wristlock, so Sting viciously jabs the eyes (that was straight out of Kill Bill), and tries a diving clothesline - only for Vader to duck, and Sting to crash into the referee. Vader chokeslams him during the confusion, and takes advantage of the referee's absence by grabbing a chair - but it backfires. Sting with a DDT for a dramatic two count, and a suplex - but Vader springs right up, only for Sting to meet him right there with a clothesline over the top. Inside for the Stinger Splash, but Vader catches him with a powerslam - only to miss the flying moonsault, and Sting finishes him with a flying splash at 13:54. Not the greatest Sting/Vader match out of their long series, but a suitable main event - hard hitting, well paced, well worked, and well booked. Sting would lose the title to Ric Flair in a unification match with the WCW World Title the next month at Clash of the Champions - WCW finally figuring out that they could start using the 'Big Gold Belt' as their World Title again since they owned the damn thing. *** ¼

BUExperience: A truly fun ‘send the fans home happy’ show (something WCW was often clumsy at pulling off), in front of a divergent crowd that made for an interesting atmosphere. The entire direction of the promotion was about to radically change in the coming weeks with the signing of Hulk Hogan – and his parade of pals that followed – but if this was the farewell card to WCW’s first chapter, it makes for a good one. ***