WCW Fall Brawl 2000

From Buffalo, New York; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson, and Mark Madden.

Opening WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Elix Skipper v Kwee Wee: Slugfest to start, and Kwee Wee controls with a slam, then dropkicks the champ out of the ring. Skipper furiously charges back in, but Wee outmaneuvers him through an armbar, and hits a few armdrags into an armbar of his own. Skipper fights out and hits a diving forearm to the back of the head, followed by a European uppercut for two. Wee tries to backdrop him out of the ring, but Skipper lands on the apron, and springboards back in with a Dragon suplex for two. Side suplex and a pump-legdrop for two. Chinlock, but Wee escapes, and they fuck up a bodypress spot to send them both to the outside. Skipper with a springboard moonsault out there, but he overshoots it, and takes out the cameraman too - which made for a cool visual, at least. Back in, Elix gets two off of it, but the Overdrive gets countered into a powerbomb. That draws out the Natural Born Thrillers (quite possibly my least favorite stable of all time), as Wee unloads on him in the corner. Hiptoss and a Thesz press set up a dropkick for two. High elevation backdrop gets two, and he tosses Skipper out of the ring for a slam across the rail. Back in, Mike Sanders pops Wee with a stick, and Skipper capitalizes with a flying bodypress - only for Wee to roll through for two. Wee tries a clothesline, but Skipper does the Matrix counter, and clips the knee Sanders hit with the stick. Overdrive retains at 11:05. Was this the best Cruiserweight match ever? Not even close. But, both guys worked hard, and the ending was practically clean - something almost unheard of for Russo era WCW. ¾*

Six-Man Tag Team Match: The Misfits in Action v 3-Count: Lieutenant Loco starts with Shannon Moore, and controls with a hammerlock, but Moore snapmares out, and they criss cross - ending in Loco chopping him. Flapjack, but Moore tries blocking, so Loco turns it into a nice ocean cyclone suplex. Tag to Corporal Cajun for a backelbow, and he hits his dancing punches, but a whip into the corner is blocked with a springboard moonsault by Moore for two. Tag to Evan Karagias, but he charges into a flapjack, and tags Shane Helms - who promptly misses an elbowdrop. Tag to Sergeant AWOL to press slam Helms for two, and it's back to Cajun for a bodyslam, but he takes a cheap shot from Karagias, and Shane catches him with a neckbreaker for two. Shannon with a leg lariat in the corner, and a fameasser for two. Vertical suplex/flying bodypress combo gets two for Evan, and a powerslam sets up a flying elbowdrop for two. Helms with a flying sunset flip for two, and a Russian legsweep sets up a backbreaker/flying splash combo with Moore for two. Stinger splash misses though, and Cajun catches him with a springboard sitout facebuster before tagging to AWOL. He's a barracks of fire, and it's six-way brawl time! Dog pile on the floor ends in AWOL getting superkicked through a table, but Cajun catches Helms with the Whiplash for the pin at 10:25. Really fun match here - fast paced from bell to bell, and with a great heat segment from 3-Count. Not great in the classic Midnight Express sense, where it's endless cheating and cutting the ring in half, but great in the variety and execution of the spots to try and put the other guy away. And, hey, both are completely legitimate styles. ***

First Blood Chain Match: KroniK v The Harris Brothers: The 'first blood' stipulation is added right before the match, at the request of Brian Adams, so you can probably see where this is going. They play tug-of-war for a bit, then it turns into a brawl around ringside, and into the crowd. 'This is like a Heavy Metal match, because you can use metal, and metal is heavy!' God, and you guys think Michael Cole is bad today? He's got NOTHING on WCW. Back into the ring, Don Harris bleeds, but the referee is down, and doesn't see it. Don whacks Bryan Clarke with a bat and frees himself of the chain, then heads in to beat Adams with the bat, and when the referee comes to, he sees Adams bleeding at 6:36. Really boring, punchy-kicky affair. DUD

WCW United States Title Match: Lance Storm v General Rection: Jim Duggan acts as the special guest enforcer. God, Duggan never ages. Guy looks exactly the same here as he does on Legends House now. Storm chops him into the corner, but Rection no-sells, and hits a nice backdrop - high elevation style! Storm bails to kill the momentum, and tries a crucifix on the way back in, but gets dropped like a Samoan. Avalanche, but a second one misses, and Lance bodyslams him. He goes up, but Rection brings him down with a superplex for two. Storm with a mulekick to stop a follow-up, and superkicks his challenger for two. Dropkick gets two, and he shoves Rection to the floor for a flying bodypress, then in for a chincrusher. Rection fires back with a powerslam for two, and a gutwrench powerbomb is worth two. Release German suplex hits, and he clotheslines the champ out of the ring - Duggan rolling him right back in. Flying moonsault to finish, but Duggan whacks him with his 2x4 (to turn... on America) - Storm finishing with the Maple Leaf at 6:46. A bit rushed for what they were going for, but it was fine while it lasted. * ½

Elimination Match: Paul Orndorff, Big Vito, and The Filthy Animals v The Natural Born Thrillers: The idea here is that Orndorff trained the Thrillers at the Power Plant, but doesn't like what they've become. Anyway, Rey Mysterio Jr starts with Mark Jindrak, and takes a vertical suplex almost right away. Mark with a backelbow, and he tosses Rey, but can't keep up during a chase, and Mysterio hits a slingshot legdrop on the way back in. Springboard bodypress follows, but Mark counters with a sidewalk slam, and tags Sean O'Haire to powerslam him for two. Tag to Juventud Guerrera, and he nails Sean with a springboard bodypress, and snaps his neck across the top rope to set up a springboard dropkick. Flying bodypress, but Sean catches him in a falcon arrow. Tag to Big Vito, and he goes for Jindrak with a Japanese armdrag, and Disqo comes in with an inverted atomic drop for two. Mark with a tilt-a-whirl slam for two, and Sean superkicks Disqo, but takes a swinging neckbreaker ahead of a tag to Konnan. Konnan with a sitout facebuster, but a miscommunication ends in Disqo giving Konnan the Last Dance, and Sean pinning him off of it at 5:51. Johnny the Bull in to face Disqo, and he unloads on him with punches, then hits a spinebuster. Springboard legdrop misses, but no one wants to tag Disqo now, and Reno runs over with the Snake Eyes (a neckbreaker) at 6:40. Vito's in for a slugfest with Reno, and he hits an inverted atomic drop, and he goes for his stickball stick, but it backfires, and Reno gives him Snake Eyes at 8:45. Orndorff and The Animals hop off the apron to strategize before sending the next man in, and decide on Juvi. He catches Reno with a dropkick, and shoves him into the corner for a ten-punch count, followed by a flying spinheel kick. Tag to Rey for some springboardy double-teams, and Guerrera hits the Juvi Driver - Mysterio finishing Reno with a flying legdrop at 10:43. O'Haire comes in to unload on Juvi, but misses a blind charge, and Guerrera catches him with a 2^nd rope dropkick to knock Sean out to the floor. He tries a springboard dive after him, but gets caught, and dumped across the rail. Back in, O'Haire finishes him with the Seanton Bomb at 12:10. Orndorff in, and he goes after both Jindrak and O'Haire - cleaning house. Johnny the Bull uses a stickball stick to slow him down, but misses a shot in the corner, and Paul piledrives him at 13:24. The Thrillers gang up, but a splash in the corner misses, and Orndorff piledrives Jindrak. Unfortunately, he suffers a legit stinger while executing the hold, and can't move on the mat. O'Haire quickly covers for the pin at 14:47. Okay, so now Orndorff is legitimately hurt, and the match grinds to a halt as the referees work to get him out of the ring, with Mysterio trying to work spots with Jindrak without getting in the way. Finally, the referee decides to stop the match at 16:40 - ruling it a no contest. Shame, too, because this was pretty good up until then - fast paced, and action packed. **

Scaffold Match: Shane Douglas and Torrie Wilson v Billy Kidman and Madusa: The scaffold is by the entrance area instead of over the ring in this case, and instead of having to climb it, then entire piece of the set just rises like an elevator. Well, that was different, though despite the technology, it takes them forever to get to the top, as the ring crew seems confused. It's also much, much wider and much steadier than the rickety deathtraps from the 80s. Brawl to start, and the scaffold is actually wide enough that they can work actual spots on it, as opposed to the usual 'crawl and hope I don't die' spots. Nothing crazy, but it's wide enough for snapmares or basic suplexes, and such. So, that goes on for a bit, until Madusa tries climbing down the opposite end, but gets knocked off by Douglas - though they missed their cue, leaving her waiting there like an idiot forever instead of just climbing and being done with it. Shane goes for Kidman next, and gives him the Pittsburgh Plunge, then tosses him off at 4:47. Eh, with the wider scaffold, and the air mattresses for them to land on, the thrill is gone. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't want to see guys get legitimately hurt, but the whole appeal of a scaffold match is that someone will plummet from a very high platform. When there's a giant safety net all around, it kind of loses the mystique. ¼*

Triangle Match: Sting v Great Muta v Vampiro: Brawl in the aisle to start, with Vampiro and Muta double-teaming Sting. Into the crowd for a bit, then finally into the ring, where Muta dodges the Stinger Splash, and they continue to double-team. Vampiro side suplex sets up a flying moonsault by Muta for two, but Vampiro wants the pin, and it ends up turning into a fight between them. Sting comes in with a bat to break it up, and the Scorpion Deathdrop finishes Muta at 5:08. DUD

Bunkhouse Brawl: Jeff Jarrett v Mike Awesome: Jarrett goes to the trouble of insulting all the Buffalo Bills sitting at ringside before we start, which becomes important later. Awesome attacks for a brawl on the floor, and they trade weapon shots, then inside, Mike hits a diving shoulderblock. They do a dueling chairs bit so choreographed you'd think this was a stage play, and Awesome tries a powerbomb off the top rope, but gets backdropped through a table. He tries whipping Awesome into a second table that's covered in barbed wire, but Mike reverses, and hits a sitout powerbomb for two. Flying frogsplash, but Jeff rolls out of the way, then stops to taunt the Bills players again. They hop the rail and surround the ring, and shove Jarrett right into another sitout powerbomb - for two. Yeah, that should have been the finish. Another powerbomb, but Jarrett escapes, so Gary Coleman (yes, the Gary Coleman you think I mean) runs in to attack. Jarrett hits him with a guitar for his troubles (serves him right, the little prick), as the football players have a good ol' time on the floor, forgetting that they're supposed to hate Jarrett. Stroke for Awesome, but Sting runs in with a Deathdrop for Jarrett, and Mike falls on top for the pin at 9:03. This might have been okay as a standard match, but instead, it was just the usual overbooked mess. And hell, I could have tolerated the Bills stuff if that was the finish (since it got the crowd into things), but once a match turns into has-been midgets running in, I'm out. ¼*

No Disqualification Match: Goldberg v Scott Steiner: Goldberg with a diving shoulderblock early, and he hits a visually impressive delayed press slam on the roided Steiner. Scott bails, so Goldberg follows, but a whip into the rail is reversed. Scott with a clothesline on the way back in, and an elbowdrop gets two. Cross corner charge hits boot, however, and Goldberg suplexes him, but telegraphs a backdrop, and takes a cutter. Steiner with a belly-to-belly suplex, but a tombstone is countered into a powerslam for two. Nice spot there. Spear, but Steiner sidesteps and tries a flying clothesline - which gets caught for a powerslam. They spill to the outside, and Steiner reverses a whip into the steps, and Goldberg bleeds. Back in, Scott hangs him in a tree of woe, then hits an overhead suplex. Backbreaker for two, but Goldberg elbows out of a Dragon suplex, so Scott goes for another overhead version. He grabs a lead pipe, but Goldberg spears him to block, and sets up the Jackhammer, but now Vince Russo runs in with a bat to stop it. That gets Steiner two, and out to the floor, Scott hits an axehandle off of the apron. Scott slams him through a table out there (a really halfassed version, with the table only partially unfolded), and inside, it's Recliner time! Goldberg powers out into an electric chair, then brutally tosses Scott forward instead of back - Steiner crashing with no support. Ouch! Scott still clotheslines him, and tries a rana off the top rope, but Goldberg saves his life by blocking. Midajah hits him with a pipe to stop a comeback, however, and Scott overhead superplexes him for two. Recliner, but Goldberg muscles out with so much force that Steiner goes flying out of the ring. He comes back with a chair, but Goldberg ducks, and hits a neckbreaker. Spear, but Russo gets involved again, and Scott clobbers him with the pipe. Now, with Goldberg unconscious, Steiner slaps the Recliner back on, and Goldberg is unresponsive at 13:50. Overbooked, sure, but tons of effort from both guys to have a good power match, and lots of variety leading to visually impressive spots. Plus, I don't think I've seen Steiner sell that much since the early-90s. ** ¼

Main Event: WCW World Title Caged Heat Match: Kevin Nash v Booker T: Unlike the last time we saw a 'caged heat' match, this one is basically just a standard cage match, as opposed to the Hell in a Cell. Nash overpowers him through the initial lockup, and shoves him into the corner for some abuse. Cross corner clothesline hits, and a lariat gets two - sold by Booker with a nice spiral. Bow-and-arrow, but Booker escapes, so Nash hits a sidewalk slam for two. He rips off the top turnbuckle pad, but Booker blocks a snake-eyes into it, and bodyslams the champion. Harlem sidekick and the axekick hit, and he goes for the Book-End to finish, but Nash chokeslams him for two. Nash tosses him into the cage, but Booker reverses another shot, then adds one into the exposed turnbuckle - busting Kevin open. Ten-punch count, so Nash blows him low, and drops him across the top rope. Powerbomb, but Booker grabs the side of the cage to block, and hits a missile dropkick for two. Nash counters a kick with a short-clothesline for two, and the big boot sets up the Powerbomb, but Booker counters again - this time into the Book-End to win the title at 9:04. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this was good, but it was fine for what it was. *

BUExperience: You know, this wasn’t terrible! Look, it wasn’t ‘good’ in any traditional sense, but compared to some of the shit they put out in 1999 and 2000, this was practically brilliant. Nothing in negative stars, effort all around… this is the best WCW pay per view since Spring Stampede a year and a half before.

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