WCW SuperBrawl VII

From San Francisco, California; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan.


Opening WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Dean Malenko v Syxx: Dean (pissed that Syxx has stolen his title belt) charges right in with a series of rights, and whips the challenger into the ropes for a dropkick. Into the corner, Malenko unloads forearms to the chest, and brings him out with a hanging vertical suplex for two. Syxx tries to kick at him to slow the champ down, but Dean snapmares him, and hits a powerslam for two. Chinlock, but Syxx isn't close to giving, so Dean tosses him back into the corner for stomps and headbutts. Tree-of-woe allows Dean to dropkick his leg, and he looks to finish with the Texas Cloverleaf, but Syxx rakes the eyes. A bodypress sends both guys tumbling over the top rope, and Dean takes the opportunity to snag the title belt, but Syxx fires off a spin kick as we head back in. Syxx with a reverse enzuigiri, and he unloads lightning kicks in the corner to set up the bronco buster. Syxx with the baseball slide legdrop for two, and a sleeper, but Malenko quickly falls into the turnbuckle to force a break. Syxx keeps on him with another sleeper, but this time Dean uses a side suplex to break - and gets two off of it. Syxx hangs him on the apron to set up an elbowdrop from the middle rope - but the landing hurts the knee again, and slows him down. He still manages a hanging vertical suplex, and a gorgeous flying legdrop gets two. Criss cross ends in another sleeper from the challenger, but Dean counters into a crossface chickenwing - only to get knocked into the ropes for a double shoulderblock before he can properly apply it. Syxx goes up to the top, but he's moving too slowly, and Dean crotches him before side superplexing him off - but Dean is too battered to capitalize. Syxx gets desperate and goes for the title belt, but Eddie Guerrero runs down to wrestle it away from him, only for it to literally backfire and hit Malenko - Syxx getting the pinfall at 12:02. Well, looks like Syxx's thievery plan worked out pretty well, after all. Good lesson for the kids. Fun match here - well paced, filled with great selling (particularly from Syxx, who worked in tons of subtle touches to get the leg injury over), and well booked. Good opener. ***

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Konnan, La Parka, and Villano IV v Juventud Guerrera, Super Calo, and Ciclope: Let the spots begin! Villano starts with Ciclope, and they go through the formality of trading wristlocks before speeding it up with armdrags. Tags to Konnan and Guerrera for a stalemate, until Konnan nails him with a rolling clothesline. Backbreaker, but Guerrera knocks him to the floor, and brings him back in with a springboard dropkick. Konnan fires back with an ocean cyclone suplex, and gives Calo and powerbomb for good measure. La Parka in to tie Calo up in a tree-of-woe, but Calo comes off the top with a flying monkey flip. Parka ends up on the floor for a baseball slide and a somersault plancha, but a springboard dropkick misses, and Parka grabs a chair. He seats Calo out on the floor, and heads back in with a tope to knock him out of his chair, and both guys tag back to Villano and Ciclope. Ciclope with a dropkick, but a backdrop is blocked, and Villano hits a backelbow. Another dropkick puts Villano out, but a springboard moonsault misses, and Villano suplexes him for two. Guerrera in with a 450 splash (which missed by a good two feet) for two, and he adds a spinkick, but misses a blind charge, and Parka comes in with a flying somersault bodyblock for two. Parka takes him to the top, but ends up getting crotched, and nailed with an impressive springboard rana for two. Konnan and Villano slow him down with a Doomsday Device, and everyone comes in for a goofy (but neat) six-way submission spot. All six guys stay in for a brawl, and Konnan ends up finishing Guerrera with a sitout crucifix powerbomb at 8:54. Good use of tags, well paced, TONS of spots - but that's about all these multi-man cruiserweight matches ever are. No psychology, or flow to speak of - but fun. Definitely fun. * ¼

WCW Television Title Match: Prince Iaukea v Rey Mysterio Jr: The referee looks hilariously huge next to these two. They trade wristlocks in the early going, until Rey blasts him with a dropkick, and a long criss cross ends in Iaukea hitting a savate kick for two. Rey slides to the floor to avoid another criss cross, but Iaukea follows to ram him into the apron, and adds a flying bodypress for good measure. Back inside, Iaukea hits a sliding legdrop for two, and wristlock-overhead suplex gets two. Hanging vertical suplex for two, and the champ slows things down with a chinlock at center ring. Iaukea with a press into a backbreaker when Rey won't quit, but a flying bodypress is countered with a well placed dropkick from Rey Jr. Mysterio pulls out a rana to knock Iaukea to the floor, and follows up with a visually impressive somersault tope - a move that's even more impressive when you sit down and consider the mechanics of it. Inside, Rey unloads chops, and hits a two-alarm springboard moonsault for one. Spinheel kick and a snapmare set up a well executed springboard-slingshot moonsault for two. Droptoe-hold stuns Iaukea, but Rey takes too long getting to the top rope, and gets super-Samoan dropped off. That draws out Iaukea rival Steven Regal as Rey dodges a dropkick, and Regal jumps him as he preps another springboard spot - Iaukea getting an easy win at 8:57. I was really into this Iaukea doof back in 1997 (I was twelve, shut it), but looking back, he was really nothing special. Mysterio carried this nicely with his usual arsenal of eye-popping spots, but nothing legendary. **

Diamond Dallas Page v Buff Bagwell: Page paintbrushes him at the bell, and suckers the charging Bagwell into an armbar on the mat. Buff grabs the ropes to break, but ends up right back in the hold, so he grabs a handful of hair. That only serves to piss Page off though, and Bagwell is left cowering in the ropes as DDP gives chase. Page with a side-headlock, and a swinging neckbreaker when Bagwell tries to turn it into a criss cross. Buff bails to the floor, but he barely touches down before Dallas is there to drag him in - only to get his neck snapped across the top rope for his troubles. Inside, Buff chokes away, and hits a 2^nd rope DDT. That allows him to stop and pose before hitting a backelbow for two - only to get cradled as he argues the count with the referee. He stupidly does it again and gets rolled up for two, but when he tries it a third time, and referee shoves him across the ring, and dresses him down. That bit of theater allows Page to recover with a short-clothesline, and an inverted atomic drop follows. Sitout powerbomb gets two, but a cross corner charge hits a backelbow, and Bagwell throws two feet on the ropes for a near fall. He misses his own charge, however, and Page schoolboys him for two. Page with a stungun and the Diamond Cutter - only for Bagwell to block with a backslide for two. Buff with a fisherman's suplex for two, but he wastes time posing instead of finishing him. He finally gets around to going for a neckbreaker, but Page is quick to counter with the Diamond Cutter - and here comes the nWo. Page bails before they can catch him, and officially wins the match by disqualification at 9:46. Both guys worked hard here, there was very little stalling or resting, and other than the copout ending (fine for TV, but pretty lame for pay per view), it was solid. *

WCW United States Title Match: Eddie Guerrero v Chris Jericho: Guerrero takes him down with a quick armdrag at the bell, so Jericho slaps on a firm waistlock, and gets Eddie on the mat in a hammerlock. Guerrero works to counter with a droptoe-hold, but Chris quickly makes the ropes to break, and they're back to square one. A criss cross allows Eddie to crack him with a nice jumping backelbow, and he adds a side suplex for two. A side-headlock is countered by Jericho with a side suplex of his own for two, and he ties the champ up in an abdominal stretch. Eddie wrestles it into a test-of-strength, but takes a Northern lights suplex for two. Jericho adds a backslide for two, and a hanging vertical suplex gets two. Eddie comes at him hard to trigger an armdrag stalemate sequence, and Jericho regroups with a spinebuster into the Liontamer - but Eddie won't give. Chris with a lariat for two, and he slaps on a chinlock. Surprisingly, that doesn't do the trick either, so he tries a modified torture rack. No dice, so Jericho turns the rack into a drop for two - only to miss a springboard and get clotheslined. Eddie with a powerbomb for two, and a brain buster sets up a flying somersault senton, but Chris moves, and tosses him across the ring with a nice release German suplex. Criss cross ends in Jericho hitting a belly-to-belly suplex for two, and a springboard dropkick puts the champ on the floor for a springboard splash. Jericho with a flying axehandle on the way back in, but Eddie counters with an inverted atomic drop, and backslides him for two. Another criss cross ends in both guys colliding as they try dives, but Jericho's up first with a powerslam for two. Jericho with a suplex, but Eddie slips into a cradle for two - only to walk into a superkick as he gets to his feet. Jericho with a magistral cradle for two, but a charge into the corner hits Eddie's elbow to set up a tornado DDT - which Jericho counters with a Northern lights suplex for two. Powerbomb, but Eddie counters into a sunset flip, and he retains at 12:04. The crowd didn't give a shit about this, but both guys worked a wonderful counter-loaded match, filled with near falls, and crisp execution. Excellent outing, even if unappreciated. *** ½

Triple Threat Match: Harlem Heat v The Faces of Fear v Public Enemy: Barbarian starts with Rocco Rock, and quickly uses his size advantage to overpower him, and hits a running powerslam for two. Stevie Ray tags himself in when Barbarian gets too close to the ropes, and hits a press slam for two. Rock tags partner Johnny Grunge, but he walks into kicks from both members of the Heat, and Booker T tags in all official-like. Axe kick gets two, and the Heat double-team Grunge as Rock protests. Johnny finally manages to dodge Booker coming into the corner, and passes to Meng. The Faces of Fear work Booker over in the corner, and Barbarian gives him an awesome belly-to-belly superplex. Meng with a piledriver for two, and the Faces hit a neat Meng Backdrop into a Barbarian powerbomb spot - which is pretty awesome when you consider that Booker is far from a cruiserweight. That triggers a six-way brawl though, and Public Enemy double-team Barbarian - Rock diving onto him for the pin at 7:45. Not good, but thankfully short, as they often used to book these things to run twenty minutes on pay per view, and they were never any good. ¼*

Jeff Jarrett v Steve McMichael: If Jarrett wins, he gets to join the Four Horsemen - this feud easily one of the lowest points for the famed group. Jarrett uses his experience advantage to outwrestle McMichael in the early going, but Steve blocks a cross corner whip, and powerslams him. A pair of 3-point stances put Jarrett on the floor, and he suckers McMichael into a chase for a cheap shot, then slaps on a rope-assisted abdominal stretch on the way back in. Steve fires back with a hard-hitting press slam, and a clothesline puts Double J back on the floor. McMichael follows again, but this time tosses Jarrett into the rail, and then slams him onto it. Inside, Jeff blocks a backdrop by driving McMichael's head into the mat, and hits a dropkick for two. Sleeper, but Mongo reverses, so Jarrett uses a side suplex to break. McMichael still recovers first with a sidewalk slam, and follows with a scrapbuster for two - so Jarrett rakes the eyes. Jeff with a bodyslam to set up a flying bodypress - but the referee gets bumped in the process. That allows McMichael to go for his trusty briefcase, but Jarrett gets hold of it, and whacks Steve for the pin at 8:13. Not horrible, but certainly not anything resembling good. ½*

San Francisco Death Match: Chris Benoit v Kevin Sullivan: Well that's an... unfortunate... match title. The additional gimmick here is that Benoit valet Woman, and Sullivan valet Jacquelyn are tied together with a strap at ringside. Benoit takes control quickly, but gets slammed as he goes to the top rope, and Kevin hits a double-underhook suplex. Meanwhile, the ladies spill into the ring for a little spanking, and Sullivan takes advantage of the strap to choke Benoit. All four end up brawling (mixed), and it ends up backstage (with WCW exposing the business by conveniently setting up a barricade to keep fans away from them) for a few obligatory weapon shots. Back out to ringside, Sullivan hangs him in a tree-of-woe (popular spot tonight) to set up the Double Stomp - only for Woman to break the count with the strap. The distraction allows Benoit to piledrive him, and a flying headbutt onto a table (which fails to break) finishes Sullivan at 8:34. This feud was already on fumes by this point, and this did nothing to help anyone. DUD

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Outsiders v Lex Luger and The Giant: Well, in theory. Unfortunately, Luger is suffering from a (kayfabe) broken arm, and isn't medically cleared, so Giant has to wrestle a handicap match. He starts with Scott Hall, and Hall actually tries a hammerlock, but gets quickly swatted away with a backelbow. Hall regroups with Kevin Nash in the corner, but his revised attempt at offense (punching) gets him tossed into the corner for some chops. Giant slams him to encourage a tag to Nash, and the Outsiders oblige – after Hall goes back to spit in the challengers face. Nash comes in with right hands and a cross corner clothesline, but another try is reversed, and Giant dropkicks him to the floor. Giant follows with a slam into the ringpost, and rolls Kevin back in for a leaping elbowdrop - getting two. Hall runs interference to allow Syxx to come off the top rope with his newly won Cruiserweight title belt to give Nash two, and Hall adds a flying bulldog for good measure. The Outsiders work Giant over (with no concern of him tagging), and even Syxx gets some more licks in. Giant won't quit though, so Hall gives him another shot with the title belt, and Nash Powerbombs him. That leaves both men down for the referees count, but here comes Lex Luger! Lex storms onto the apron for a tag, and uses the cast to take the Outsiders down. Torture Rack for Nash earns a submission, but since Luger's not really legal (he's legal, but he ain't 100% legal) Giant adds a Chokeslam for Hall to officially win the tag titles at 8:53. The crowd pops big for the change, but unfortunately, the decision was reversed the next night on Nitro, and the Outsiders kept the belts. Fun match as it didn't overstay its welcome and told a nice story with the nWo outnumbering the Giant, though the ending was yet another nWo screw job - something the audience was getting thoroughly sick of by that point. ¾*

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Hollywood Hulk Hogan v Roddy Piper: Speaking of nWo booking screw jobs, after the big letdown that was Hogan putting Piper over at Starrcade only for the audience to learn that it was non-title after the fact, WCW signed this - this time making it clear that the title is absolutely on the line. To prepare, Piper spent the week before the show in Alcatraz - though if they really wanted to hit a homerun, there's a different San Francisco treat Piper could have spent a week doing vignettes with. Plus, there'd be at least as many anal rape jokes we could make without anything getting lost in translation. Hogan refuses to lockup, and decides to walk out before making contact, but Piper didn't spend a week jerking off with nothing but his spit to quit now, and drags him in. Piper chokes him with his t-shirt, so the nWo run in, but it's only the b-team, and Piper easily handles them. Piper with closed fists and an eyerake for Hogan, followed by an earringer. To the floor, Hulk tries to go for the bad hip (seriously, people are already making fun of these guys for being too old, and you book hip-related heat segments?), but Piper rakes the eyes again, and crotches Hogan on the top rope. Meanwhile, Randy Savage and Sting head down to ringside to observe, since apparently you have to see this shit to believe it, and the monitors in the back just won't do this epic clash justice. A slugfest goes Hogan's way, and a series of mounted punches get two. Backscratches and hairpulling put Piper on the floor for a ram into the ringpost. Inside, another slugfest goes Piper's way with another eyerake, but Hogan hugs him like a bear at center ring. Hogan gets a few near falls with the hold, but Piper rings his ears again to break, so Hogan tries a blatant choke. He misses an elbowdrop though, and Piper unloads mounted punches, and blocks a bodyslam with the Sleeper. Hogan fades, and the arm drops three times - Piper winning the WCW Title at 10:14. Unfortunately for Piper, Randy Savage pulls Hogan into the ropes, and tells the referee that Hulk's feet were in the ropes, so the submission doesn't count. The referee stupidly takes his word for it without any further investigation and restarts the match, but Hogan has got a pair of knux passed to him by Savage, and he bops Piper with them to retain at 11:00. Yep. Another disappointing nWo screw job finish. And this time to an atrociously bad match that wouldn't have passed for acceptable in their heydays, let alone at this point. DUD

BUExperience: As usual with WCW shows during this period, the undercard is quite good (even great, at points), but gets increasingly worse the higher you go up the card. The last couple of matches are textbook examples of the kind of crap WCW used to pull that made everyone stop wanting to pay for their product not long after, so if you weren’t around during the period, it might be worth checking out just to see what we used to put up with on a regular basis. *