WCW Slamboree 1997

From Charlotte, North Carolina; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan.


Opening WCW Television Title Match: Ultimo Dragon v Steven Regal: They take their time sizing each other up at the bell, and get right into trading wristlocks after Dragon tries a waistlock. A stalemate leaves them back at square one with a test-of-strength - controlled by Regal with a takedown into a couple of near falls. Regal with a gutwrench suplex for two, and he ties the champ up in a bow-and-arrow on the mat. Dragon fires back with a shoulderblock for two, and he slaps a side-headlock on the dazed challenger. A criss cross ends in a Dragon dropkick, and a droptoe-hold sets up the headstand dropkick. Dragon with lightning kicks to fire up the crowd, and he grabs a chinlock. Dragon shifts into a half-crab when Regal gets uppity, but Steven makes the ropes to force a break, so Dragon gives him a swinging neckbreaker and slaps on a headscissors. Regal counters into the Regal Stretch, but Dragon grabs the bottom rope before he can lock it on properly, and the champ bails to the floor before Regal can follow-up. Inside, Regal suplexes him for two, and locks a full-nelson on. Dragon reverses, and hits a sunset flip for one - only for Regal to counter into the Stretch again. Dragon snags the rope before he can lock it again, and this time spears his challenger, and slaps on an armbreaker. Steven again counters into the Regal Stretch, but he still can't get it fully locked on, so he decides to teach Dragon a lesson with a surfboard - which we call 'Point Break style' around these parts. Back to the Stretch, but Dragon fires back with lightning kicks to block, and locks a bridging STF at center ring. Regal won't give, so Dragon tries a reverse chinlock - only to take a thumb to the eye. Regal with a series of European uppercuts, but Dragon counters a backdrop with a dropkick to the floor - where manager Sonny Oono gets his licks in. Dragon with a handspring elbow on the way back in, and a nice rana off the top gets two - only to miss a flying moonsault. Regal pounces with the Stretch again, but Dragon is in the ropes, so Steven tries a double-underhook powerbomb - only to get rana'd again for two. Regal with a schoolboy for two, but more uppercuts are countered with a spinkick and a magistral cradle by Dragon. Dragon with a springboard moonsault, but the tiger suplex is blocked, and Regal ends up on the floor - where he dodges a plancha. Dragon regroups with a whip to the rail and a springboard moonsault out there, but a kick from Sonny Oono accidentally hits Dragon, and that's enough to allow Regal an inverted suplex on the way back in to set up the Regal Stretch for the title at 16:04. These two worked well together. You'd think it would be a giant style clash, but both guys adapted to each other (Regal quickening his pace, and keeping the stalling to a minimum, while Dragon worked a more mat-based style as opposed to flying around), and the match was all the better for it. Plus, the in-match story of Regal repeatedly trying and failing to hook the Regal Stretch until Oono threw Dragon off of his game worked quite well. Good opener. ***

Madusa v Luna Vachon: Luna paintbrushes her right at the bell, and follows with a snapmare and a hairpull slam. A slugfest goes Luna's way too, but Madusa fires back with a series of slaps - only to have her eyes raked, and get choked on the ropes. Madusa with a spinkick, but Luna takes her down again, and locks on a pussy-claw - though, upon closer inspection, it appears to be applied to the abdomen. Luna with a suplex, but Madusa reverses a cross corner whip to set up a pair of Stinger Splashes, and follows with a clothesline for two. Figure four, but Luna rakes the eyes to block, and sits on her face. Madusa counters with a cradle for two, but walks into another hairpull slam, and Luna adds a swinging neckbreaker. To the top, Luna misses a flying splash, and Madusa finishes her with a German suplex at 5:09. This was basically bad lesbian porn. DUD

Rey Mysterio Jr v Yuji Yasuraoka: Rey goes right for a takedown out of a waistlock, but Yasuraoka plants his feet, and twists Rey into a chinlock. Mysterio counted into a leglock, but Yasuraoka is in the ropes to break. Both back to their feet, Rey shoots at his with a takedown, and tries a front-facelock - only to get overhead suplexed and kicked for his troubles. Yasuraoka with a bodyslam, and he seems a bit lost as he settles on a wristlock. Mysterio flip-flops free, but walks into a clothesline from Yasuraoka for two. Yasuraoka with a spinheel kick out of a criss cross for two, so Rey backdrops him, and takes him to the floor with a rana. Mysterio tries to dive out after him, but the referee gets in his way to start counting, so Rey leapfrogs the official, and dives onto Yasuraoka with a somersault senton. Inside, Mysterio slaps on a reverse chinlock, but a springboard is countered by Yasuraoka with a well placed knee to the abdomen for two. Reverse armbreaker applied, but Mysterio won't quit, so Yasuraoka forces him up to a vertical base, and rams the shoulder into the turnbuckle before slapping on another armbreaker. Rey makes it to the floor to try and break the momentum, but Yasuraoka is right on him with stomps to the bad shoulder as he brings it back in. Yasuraoka snaps his arm across the top rope for good measure, and poor Rey falls to the floor this time - only to get caught with a plancha. Yasuraoka suplexes him back in for two, but a blind charge misses, and Rey hits a spinebuster to set up a slingshot moonsault for two. Rey with a standing victory roll for two, and a well executed powerbomb sets up a flying splash - only for Yasuraoka to roll out of the way, and Rey to land right on the bad shoulder. Yasuraoka with a double-arm DDT for two, so a frustrated Yasuraoka tries it again - only to get fisherman's suplexed for two. Yasuraoka with a spinheel kick as he tries to hold onto the momentum, but a flying bodypress is countered with a dropkick, and Rey finishes him with a springboard rana into a cradle at 15:01. Good stuff here - Yasuraoka destroying Mysterio's arm but not able to put him away, and Rey doing his usual phenomenal sell job. ***

Glacier v Mortis: Mortis attacks him as he makes his elaborate, laser filled entrance, and unloads a long series of kicks to the knee. And I mean a LONG series - Mortis just going ballistic with kicks and stomps until Glacier is left screaming in pain. Confident, Mortis summons Wrath down to ringside, but gets cocky, and taken down with an electric chair. Glacier with a pair of clotheslines and a backdrop, but Wrath reaches ringside, and attacks Glacier for a disqualification at 1:54. Afterwards, as Mortis and Wrath double-team Glacier, a still unnamed Ernest Miller jumps out of the crowd to make the save - sold by the announcers as a crazed fan. Nothing but an angle here, but at least they were energetic. Still, DUD

WCW United States Title Match: Dean Malenko v Jeff Jarrett: Jarrett tries to stall in the early going, but Dean is quick to get him in a collar-and-elbow tie-up - and force his challenger into the corner. Another lockup goes to a Jarrett won criss cross (shoulderblock), so Dean tries a hiptoss - only to get armdragged as Jarrett counters. Malenko with a droptoe-hold into a hammerlock, but Jarrett counters into an armbar, and messes with Dean by hitting a droptoe-hold of his own. Malenko responds with a snapmare into a chinlock, and into a side-headlock when Jarrett tries to wrestle free. Jeff counters again, so Malenko busts out an insanely difficult bridge into an STF that has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Dean shifts into a chinlock, but Jarrett counters into an anklelock - only to miss an elbowdrop, and leave both guys at square one. Jarrett tries to go back to the anklelock, but Malenko quickly sweeps him into a grapevine. He shifts into a leglock when Jarrett tries to escape, and quickly pulls his challenger to the floor - propping Jarrett's leg on the guardrail, and dropkicking it. Unfortunately for Malenko, Jarrett stomps him on the way back in, and hits a dropkick of his own for two. Jarrett with a rope-assisted abdominal stretch (so predictable that I typed it before he applied it - though it's still a good heelish spot), but Dean escapes with an armdrag. He can't mount a comeback though, and Jarrett slaps the hold right back on. Malenko's attempt at a reversal is blocked with the ropes, but Dean shrugs it off, and stomps the challenger until he bails to the floor. Back inside, Jarrett pops him in the gut as they go for a test-of-strength, and he tries a wristlock, but Dean dumps him into the corner to break, and adds a side suplex for two. Jarrett manages a swinging neckbreaker to set up the Figure Four, but Malenko blocks and goes for the Texas Cloverleaf - only to get cradled for two. Jarrett with an enzuigiri, but Dean ducks, and snaps his neck on the bottom rope with a slingshot. Back to the Cloverleaf, but Jarrett knocks him to the floor to block, and whips him into the guardrail for good measure. Jarrett with a flying bodypress on the way back in, but Malenko rolls through for two. Jarrett tries a sleeper to retain the momentum, but Dean quickly rams him into the corner to break, and dodges a short-clothesline with a sleeper of his own. Jarrett quickly escapes with a kneebreaker into the Figure Four, but Dean snags the bottom rope to force a break. Both guys stagger into each other to put Malenko on the mat and Jarrett on the floor, and that draws out Steve McMichael. He helps Jarrett back in, but he's still too dazed to counter Malenko's butterfly suplex, and Dean slaps on the Cloverleaf to retain the title at 15:02. Another good match here, loaded with well worked mat counters, well paced, and given enough time to properly develop. *** ¼

Death Match: Chris Benoit v Meng: Wow, Benoit's second Death Match on WCW pay per view in 1997. Guess they were just ten years ahead of their time. Benoit is less than eager to lock horns with the monster Meng, and gets shoved into the corner when he does. Meng with a series of kicks, but Benoit counters with a legwhip, and bails to the floor. Back in, Benoit tries to wrestle him to the mat, but gets quickly shrugged off with a belly-to-belly suplex. Meng with a clothesline, but Benoit counters into a German suplex, and dropkicks the knee to level the playing field. Benoit goes for a figure four, but Meng blocks, and they spill to the floor for a chopfest. Back inside, Meng powers him into the corner for another chopfest, and Meng manages to get him in a half-crab. Benoit makes the ropes to break, so Meng piledrives him, and the referee makes the first count (the match ends up ten count, not pinfall). Benoit answers the count, and catches Meng in the Crippler Crossface, but Meng makes the ropes. Benoit with chops, but Meng clobbers him with a forearm to end that effort, and a few more have the referee counting again. Benoit makes it up and begs him to keep coming - so Meng happily obliges, and leaves Benoit taking the count again. Chris up again, but this time he manages to dodge the incoming Meng, and gives him two rolling German suplexes - only to get backelbowed as he goes for a third. Meng with more chops, but Benoit counters into the Crossface again - Meng into the ropes to break. Meng bails to the floor to regroup, but Benoit is right on him with a tope, and rolls the monster in to finish - only to get crotched as he goes to the top rope. Meng heads up to finish him, but now Benoit counters into a German superplex, and hits the flying headbutt - only for Meng to catch him in the Tongan Deathgrip on the way down! Benoit fights it valiantly, but goes down for the count at 13:55. Some fun power stuff, some fun big/little stuff, and a creative ending sequence, but the pace was plodding, and the match fairly disjointed overall. ½*

The Steiner Brothers v Konnan and Hugh Morrus: Scott Steiner starts with Hugh Morrus, and quickly overpowers him. Hugh returns fire with a few shots to the ribs on the ropes, but a turnbuckle smash is countered with a belly-to-belly suplex, and Scott passes to brother Rick Steiner. Rick spends too much time barking at the camera, and gets caught in an avalanche for his troubles, but Morrus misses as he tries again, and Rick launches him with an overhead suplex. Steiner with a flying clothesline to put Morrus on the floor, and he tags Konnan on the way back in. Rick wins a criss cross with a clothesline, and a release German suplex sets up a hiptoss for two. Tag to Scott, but he runs into Konnan's boot during a cross corner charge (taking a visually impressive bump off of it), but still manages to suplex Konnan into tagging Hugh. Morrus manages a swinging neckbreaker (popular tonight) after an assist from manager Jimmy Hart, and he press slams Steiner into the ropes as he takes control. Morrus and Konnan cut the ring in half, but a miscommunication allows Scott to overhead suplex Konnan, and dodge a splash from Morrus before tagging Rick. Rick's a doghouse of fire as a four-way brawl breaks out, and Morrus misses a flying moonsault to set up a Frankensteiner  at 9:35. Basically a TV match here. Not bad, and featured some nice bumps from everyone, but this was just filler. ½*

Steve McMichael v Reggie White: The idea here is that both guys are professional football players... and not much else, really. White overpowers McMichael during the initial lockup, so McMichael uses his superior wrestling skill (perhaps the only time McMichael ever gets close to saying he could do that) to put Reggie in a hammerlock as they lock horns again. McMichael with a standing side-headlock, but White whips him into the ropes for a power-showdown - to a stalemate. McMichael challenges him to a 3-point stance showdown, and Steve wins the first go. White calls for another one, and this time leapfrogs a charging McMichael before shoving him out to the floor. McMichael tries to walk out, but Gilbert Brown comes out to block him, and Reggie dropkicks McMichael for two. Steve with an armbar to slow Reggie down, but White slaps him across the face, and hooks a side-headlock. McMichael makes the ropes, and takes advantage of Reggie's clean break by clipping the knee. McMichael hammers the leg, and hits a sidewalk slam, but an elbowdrop misses, and White goes back to the headlock. White with a bodypress for two, and he tries a nervehold, but McMichael takes him down for a half-crab. Reggie makes the ropes to break, so McMichael rams his head into the turnbuckle - missing by a good foot (though sold by White as if he didn't). McMichael goes for the figure four, but White shoves him to the floor to break, and slams Steve back in. White with a series of clotheslines, and an inverted atomic drop to put McMichael on the floor - where Steve pulls him out after him. White manages to reverse a whip into the rail before bringing it back in, and Reggie suplexes him to set up a splash, but the referee is caught up with McMichael's wife Debra. That allows Steve to go for his trusty briefcase, and he wallops White for the pinfall at 15:17. Far, far too long for a celebrity match, and let's face it, a guy like Steve McMichael (still a rookie wrestler in his own right) isn't the right guy to guide a total newbie like White through fifteen minutes on pay per view. This came off as amateurish, but would have worked if they had kept it under ten minutes. Let's call it a DUD, and move on.

Main Event: Six-Man Tag Team Match: Syxx and The Outsiders v Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, and Kevin Greene: This is Flair's return to in-ring competition after six months, and his hometown crowd is firmly behind him as he starts the match with Syxx. Syxx manages a quick shoulderblock and a standing side-headlock, but an attempt at mocking Flair's strut gets him chopped - hard. Another one, but Syxx ducks him this time, and hits a spinkick as the Outsiders goof around on the apron. Into the corner with chops, but Flair reverses, and backdrops the kid. He gives the Outsiders a few chops for good measure (Kevin Nash's shocked reaction especially hilarious), until Syxx passes to Scott Hall all legal-like. Flair responds by passing to Kevin Greene, and the crowd is fired up since he plays for the Carolina Panthers. Hall is less eager, however, and decides to pass to Kevin Nash before having to make contact. Greene shows no fear, but Nash powers him into the corner for some abuse. Into the ropes, Nash tries a clothesline, but Greene ducks him and hits a shoulderblock. Another one leaves Kevin on dream street to set up a bodyslam, and Big Kev rolls to the floor to regroup. That allows Hall to try a sneak attack, but Greene is ready with a clothesline, and the nWo all huddle on the floor to strategize. The dust settles on Hall and Greene ('Oates'), but Scott's brilliant plan is to insist that Piper tags in instead. Roddy obliges, and Hall goes right for his bad hip, but Piper paintbrushes him, and tosses him into the corner for a series of body shots. Hall knows that trick all too well though, and comes right back after Piper - only to walk into a kneelift. Piper threatens to butt-fuck him at center ring, but that's enough for Hall, and he shoves him into the nWo corner for a little triple-teaming. Piper fights them all off and gives Hall a swinging neckbreaker (this has to be some sort of inside joke at this point), but Syxx fires off a kick to the bad hip, so Piper passes back to Flair before they can do too much damage. Ric goes ballistic with chops, but gets flipped into the corner, and caught with a blockbuster from Scott. Hall adds a clothesline to put Flair on the floor, and of course, that allows the nWo to perform a sneak attack. Inside, that gets Hall a rope-assisted two count, and he passes to Nash. Snakeyes, a big boot choke, and a sidewalk slam hit as the nWo cut the ring in half. A double-knockout spot with Syxx allows the tag to Piper, but the referee doesn't see it, so Roddy decks him, and we have a six-way brawl. Flair ends up getting Hall in the Figure Four at center ring, and Piper locks an interfering Nash in a Sleeper as Greene drops Syxx with a powerslam, but the referee is still down. That brings in nWo referee Nick Patrick, but he counts the clean fall on all three nWo members at 17:19. Not a classic, but a fun and well paced main event for what it was, and having Greene in there with five experienced guys to carry him/share the workload worked well. Plus, the crowd was super into everything. *

BUExperience: You know, I couldn’t remember a thing about this one when I started this review, but it’s actually much better than I would have thought. The undercard is very solid with three really good matches – all given plenty of time – and the junk all kept short. Nothing particularly historically significant or memorable otherwise, but the main event doesn’t suck (a rarity for 1997 WCW), and if you can manage to stomach the McMichael/White borefest, it’s a pretty decent show. **