WCW New Blood Rising (August 2000)

From Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson, and Mark Madden.

Opening Ladder Match: 3-Count v The Jung Dragons: No title on the line, this is for a recording contract that hangs high above the ring. Yes... a recording contract. Jeff Jarrett had a lot more sway over the angles now that he became a main eventer, I guess. Shane Helms starts with Jamie-San, since they're bothering with tags, apparently? They do a reversal sequence on the mat, and Shane pops him with a backelbow to win it, then bolts up the aisle for the ladder. That sets both teams after it for a brawl, and Yun Yang tires to climb, but gets thwarted by Shannon Moore. Shannon tries to powerbomb him onto the ladder, but gets backdropped. Yang tries a superplex, but Evan Karagias crotches him on the ladder to stop it, and powerbombs him for Moore to flying splash onto. Neat spot, as they lay the ladder across the middle turnbuckle, and slam Yang onto it, then slam Kaz Hayashi onto him. Helms climbs, but the Dragons storm back in, and we get a cool spot with stereo electric chair/springboard clotheslines. Yang climbs, but gets shoved off by Moore, and everyone ends up in a dog pile on the floor for Jamie-San to hit a crazy flying bodypress onto. With everyone down on the outside, Yang climbs again, but Karagias rushed over to slug him, and Moore slams him off. They take turns with everyone trying climbs and getting knocked off by a member of the opposing team until everyone is down again. The Dragons fire off spinheel kicks, but Evan powerslams Yang across a ladder before he can make a climb. Helms and Karagias give Jamie-San a cool Russian legsweep/seesaw ladder spot, but Kaz stops a climb, and Moore takes a rana off the top rope. Kaz and Yun hit stereo dives off the top of the ladder, and Jamie-San climbs to grab a gold record. However, that does not end the match, as they still have to snag the contract. Um, okay. Why he didn't just grab that, too, is beyond me, but then, I don't have the combined brain power of Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff to work with. The Dragons take everyone out with a ladder, and Moore takes a powerbomb. Yang and Helms get into a footrace up, but Tank Abbott comes in to shove them down, and Evan snags the recording contract at 11:32. Fun spotfest, and totally entertaining, but nothing more. No psychology or selling or any of that crap. Just spot, spot, spot. But hey, this is probably the match of the night, so you take what you can get. ** ½

Ernest Miller v Great Muta: Miller shoves him into the corner for a ten-punch, but takes a jab to the throat afterwards, and Muta drops a swift elbow. Muta with an armscissors into an armbreaker, but Miller escapes, and knocks Muta out of the ring with a kick. He follows to choke with some electrical cable, and superkicks him out there. Back in, he covers for two, but another kick is countered with a corkscrew legwhip from Muta, and he ties Miller up on the mat in a grapevine. He makes the ropes, so Muta tries a flying moonsault - which misses. He stops Miller's comeback with some mist, but Tygress hits him with a chair to give Ernest two. Ernest with a flurry of kicks, and a roundhouse version finishes Muta at 6:48. They were going for a martial arts showdown here, but both guys looked bored, and lazy. DUD

Judy Bagwell on a Pole Match: Buff Bagwell v Kanyon: Except, instead of an actual pole, it's a forklift at ringside. Bagwell tries to get his mother down before the bell, but Kanyon attacks, and they brawl into the crowd. Into the ring, Buff unloads a ten-punch, but ends up taking a Russian legsweep off the middle rope from Kanyon. Vertical suplex, and Kanyon cuts the top turnbuckle off (always hated the WCW style buckles... if you need literal wire cutters to get it off, just don't bother), and hits a whiplash for two. Into the exposed buckle, but Buff blocks, so Kanyon tries a cobra clutch to weaken him. Buff escapes, but takes a swinging neckbreaker for two, and Kanyon goes for the exposed buckle again - but gets reversed. Bagwell adds a stungun onto it for two, but Kanyon fires back with a Cutter for two. That draws David Arquette out, but the distraction allows Bagwell to fire off a series of clotheslines. Blockbuster, but Arquette whacks him with a helmet, and Kanyon gets two out of it. David goes for the kill with another helmet shot, but Bagwell takes him out, and the Blockbuster finishes Kanyon at 6:46. Yeah, I wasn't feeling this. They tried really hard to get over that Kanyon was trying to reinjure Bagwell's neck - which is fine - but it all fell very flat, and the Arquette run-in was superfluous. ¼*

WCW World Tag Team Title Four Corners Match: KroniK v The Perfect Event v The Misfits in Action v Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak: Disqo, Tygress, Juventud Guerrera, and Rey Mysterio Jr are all special guest referees, to ensure that this won't fall anywhere short of 'overbooked clusterfuck.' Heaven forbid! Brian Adams starts with Chuck Palumbo, and tosses him around. Palumbo gets tossed to the outside, so Shawn Stasiak runs in to take his place - only to take a full-nelson slam. Tags to Sean O'Haire and Corporal Cajun next, and Sean controls with a dropkick. Tilt-a-whirl is countered by Cajun with a headscissors, and he passes to Bryan Clarke to hit a shoulderblock. Tag to Mark Jindrak, and he out moves Clarke to allow him a spinkick for two. He tries out moving him again, but takes a tilt-a-whirl slam, and General Rection tags in to hit Mark with a spinheel kick for two. Rana, but Mark counters with a nice sitout powerbomb, and referee Tygress adds a bronco buster on him. Cajun makes the save, and hits his dancing moves for a nearfall on Shawn, but takes a gutbuster for his troubles. It turns into a big brawl (with everyone other than KroniK - who wisely hang out on the apron and let the others kill each other), and Palumbo ends up putting Rection in a sleeper. It goes nowhere, so Chuck superkicks him, and tags Stasiak - who does nothing. Another brawl breaks out (probably because the guys on the apron got as bored watching this as I did), and Great Muta runs in to attack Adams - allowing Palumbo a schoolboy for two. Powerbomb, but Clarke saves, and gives Chuck a Meltdown for two - Disqo refusing/unable to count higher. High Times for Palumbo, but Disqo still won't count, so Lieutenant Loco runs in, steals the stripped shirt, and counts the fall himself at 12:23. Ugh. An overbooked, boring nightmare, with no regard for silly things like 'logic' or 'rules.' Besides, I hate the four generic, interchangeable Power Plant losers that are Palumbo, Stasiak, Jindrak, and O'Haire, and loath watching them. DUD

Strap Match: Shane Douglas v Billy Kidman: They play tug-of-war with the strap for a while, and Shane ends up getting crotched with it when Kidman slides between his legs. He decides to go chasing Torrie Wilson on the floor (Can you blame him? Who would YOU rather touch?), but they're attached at the wrists, so Douglas has no problem catching up to him. Billy responds by choking him with the strap, and then starts whipping him, but Torrie distracts him from the apron, and Shane crotches him with it. Shane with an inverted somersault necksnap, and he lays in some strap shots. Shane breaks out a wristlock (really?), so Kidman starts slugging him, and hits a rana. Dropkick, and a sitout powerbomb get two, and he rips Shane's shirt off for some unprotected strap shots. Strap shots to the nuts next, but thankfully he doesn't expose them first. Bulldog for two, so Torrie tries hitting him with her shoe, but it backfires, and Douglas goes down for two. Shane fires back with a press slam across the top rope for two, but Kidman counters the Pittsburgh Plunge into a cradle - broken up by Wilson. Shane tries again, and hits the Plunge, but it only gets two, and Kidman hits an inverted double-underhook facebuster to finish at 8:22. They were trying to work an actual match here, but Russo did everything in his power to make sure we don't have to watch any of that 'wrestling' bullshit, bless him. ½*

ROTC Match: Miss Hancock v Major Gunns: 'ROTC' standing for 'Rip off the Clothes' here. Though, technically, that doesn't end the match, as first you must rip off the clothes, and then get the other girl into a mud pit (stationed near the entrance set) and pin her there. Hancock offers a handshake to start, but Gunns paintbrushes him, and they catfight. Hancock manages the handspring elbow early, but Gunns shoves him into the opposite corner for a choke, and hits a snapmare. Somersault necksnap, and a somersault cradle (with the crack camera team shooting from the worst possible angle - good job, guys) for two. Hancock with a clothesline, and she rips Gunns' top off for two. What's with all the pinfall attempts here? The clothes are still on, and they haven't even gotten to the mud pit yet. Even the announcers don't know what to make of it. Gunns with a sitout facebuster (with a proper camera angle for max ass-age, thankfully), and she rips the shorts off. Kick to the gut, and Hancock is holding her stomach dramatically. They spill out (of the ring, not their shirts, unfortunately), and Gunns loses her shorts. Into the mud pit, but Hancock's stomach is bothering her again, and Gunns pins her at 6:43. Afterwards, shit gets real though, as Hancock is clutching her abdomen, and Gunns starts crying since this 'isn't part of the script.' Everyone flips out, and yep, it's a miscarriage angle - thankfully one that was aborted before being blown off. Fine 'match' for some t-and-a filler, but the angle was just terrible, and came off as hokey with Gunns 'crying' and paramedics coming out. DUD

Sting v The Demon: Sting repels from the rafters and attacks Demon in the aisle way, and he rolls him in for the Stinger Splash, followed by a Scorpion Deathdrop at 0:53. Well, it got its point across. Afterwards, Vampiro and Great Muta attack Sting, and deliver a beat down. DUD

WCW United States Title Canadian Rules Match: Lance Storm v Mike Awesome: 'Canadian Rules' aren't clear, but Jacques Rougeau is the special outside enforcer, and will let us know as we go along, so don't worry! Awesome goes right after him, and hits a double-underhook driver for two, but Storm stops a follow-up with a chincrusher, and a superkick. Cross corner clothesline, and he unleashes chops in the corner, but can't muscle him through a suplex, and gets clotheslines out. Mike follows with an axehandle off of the apron, and he tries a powerbomb through a table out there, but takes too long setting it up, and shoved into the rail. Lance with a springboard dropkick on the way back in for two, but Awesome counters a springboard bodypress with an overhead suplex. Powerbomb, but Lance counters into a backslide for two - only to take a sitout powerbomb as a counter to a rana for three. However, Jacques pulls out his handy rulebook, and informs us that Canadian Rules require a five-count. Awesome with a whiplash for three, and he slaps on a Dragon sleeper for the submission. However, Jacques informs us that under Canadian Rules, submissions don't count. Yeah, tell that to Vince McMahon. Undeterred, Awesome tries a press slam, but Lance cradles him for two. Awesome responds with a release German suplex, and a slingshot shoulderblock for four. Flying frogsplash is enough for five, but now Rougeau informs us that Storm is still in it if he answers a ten-count. So, the referee counts, but Lance beats it, and rolls out of the ring. Awesome goes for the table again, but Storm whacks him with a chair for four. He tries for the table now, but Awesome belly-to-belly superplexes him through it. Jacques decides that the first man up wins, and of course, attacks Awesome to make sure that man is Lance at 11:01 - to a huge pop from the Canadian crowd. This would have been better had Storm been a heel, but he was beloved in Canada, and the booking made no sense. Unfortunately, this is another case of a match that probably would have been great on its own, but crumpled under the weight of all the overbooking. *

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: KroniK v The Dark Carnival: Bryan Clarke starts with Vampiro, and responds to Vampiro's goofy shit with a hard shoulderblock for two. Vampiro rakes the eyes and tries a rana, but gets powerbombed for two. Tag to Brian Adams for more power stuff, so Great Muta fires off a cheap shot from the apron, and tags in with the handspring elbow. Adams shrugs it off and hits a full-nelson slam for two, and Clarke powerslams Vampiro for two. Big boot from Adams, and he adds a poorly executed (on Vampiro's part) press slam on the floor. Inside, Adams tries a powerbomb, but Vampiro counters into a facebuster, and the challengers cut the ring in half. Double-knockout spot allows the tag to Clarke, and he's a silo of fire! Meltdown for Vampiro, but the referee goes down as Muta makes the save. Four-way brawl, and KroniK hit High Times on Vampiro, but here are the Harris Brothers to make the save. They beat down the champs, and Muta moonsaults Clarke for the titles at 9:06. Really boring match, that just sort of wandered around aimlessly before the usual overbooking kicked in. DUD

#1 Contenders Triple Threat Match: Kevin Nash v Scott Steiner v Goldberg: We start with only Nash and Steiner, as Goldberg is out due to a 'motorcycle accident' that the announcers say with a wink, since we're in the midst of a stupid angle (which is really saying something, for this period) where Goldberg is 'uncooperative within the script,' and doesn't want to wrestle since Nash made him job at Starrcade '98. Brawl on the floor almost right away, and here comes Goldberg with a chair for Nash. Steiner breaks it up and clotheslines Goldberg, as now the announcers are selling it like Goldberg is back to work his part of the script, and talk about seeing if he can 'reach deep down, and pull it off.' He catches Scott with a shoulderblock, and a superkick knocks him out of the ring. He brawls with Nash next, as the announcers veer dangerously between 'the script' and telling us Nash booked himself over Goldberg at Starrcade '98, and that there might be heat. Nash with a sidewalk slam on Steiner, and the big boot for Goldberg. Powerbomb, but Goldberg gets 'uncooperative,' and shoves him off, then decides to walk out. Vince Russo meets him in the aisle to order him to go back and job, but Goldberg brushes past him, and leaves. Back in the ring, Steiner attacks with a chair, as the announcers stop to talk about how Nash is a 'pro,' and could have taken liberties with Goldberg, but didn't. Scott with a side suplex for two, as the announcers wonder what they'll do now that Goldberg has 'changed the script,' and they have to 'improvise.' Scott with a backbreaker for two, but Nash hits the snake-eyes - drawing Midajah out. She blows Nash low to block a chokeslam, and Scott covers for two. Sleeper, but Nash powers out, and hits the big boot. Powerbomb ends this train wreck at 10:49. Holy God, this was stupid. I get wanting to be innovative and wanting to try something new, like Russo did so successfully in the WWF, but how this was supposed to help anyone, I'm not sure. How does booking Goldberg as 'uncooperative' within the 'script,' and walking out on a match because he refuses to work with Nash get either of them over. I especially hated those lines about Nash 'not taking liberties,' and how they have to 'improvise' without Goldberg. So, then, why do I care about any of the other matches we've seen tonight if those guys just stayed on script? Then that was all fake? So, then, why should I care what happens to Sting, or Billy Kidman, or Mike Awesome, or whoever? And, obviously, most people KNOW it's scripted. But, you don't need to rub our noses in it every thirty seconds. This wouldn't work in ANY form of entertainment, let alone pro-wrestling, where suspension of disbelief is crucial. This is, like, if you went to see Ocean's Eleven, and midway through the movie, Pitt and Clooney stop to make salary demands, and Andy Garcia says he doesn't care who robs the vault or gets Julia Roberts, since he's married in real life, and it's all fake anyway. DUD

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Booker T v Jeff Jarrett: Jeff attacks at the bell, but runs into a nice backelbow, and gets cradled for two. Roundhouse kick and a powerbomb get two, and a superkick knocks Jarrett out of the ring. Booker follows for some whips into the rail, then crotches him on the post for good measure. Booker with a missile dropkick on the way back in, but Jeff sorta moves out of the way, and they decide it missed. Guess it was scripted that way, right guys? Jarrett goes after the knee, and locks a Boston crab on, but the champ makes the ropes. Booker rolls out of the ring to try and catch a breather, but Jarrett is right on him, and keeps hammering the knee. Inside, Booker snaps off a quick sunset cradle for two, but a criss cross leaves both men looking up at the lights. Another criss cross allows Booker a spinebuster for two, and the axekick follows. Harlem sidekick, but Jarrett whacks him with the guitar to block - right on the knee. Figure four spells doom, but Booker makes the ropes. Booker rolls out to the floor again, but again Jarrett is on him - this time with the title belt. Booker sees it coming and ducks, so Jeff takes out the referee. The knee is still damaged, so he tries a bulldog off the apron and through a table, but Booker counters into a Book-End through it. Looked bad, as Booker didn't follow him down in the move, and instead just kind of lamely shoved him off the apron. Back in, that gets two, so Jeff blows him low, then accidentally takes out another referee with a chair. Stroke on the chair for Booker gets two, but another chairshot is blocked with a sloppy swinging neckbreaker (Booker rolled one way, Jeff the other). Jeff makes a last ditch comeback effort with a 2^nd rope axehandle, but Booker counters into the Book-End to retain at 14:31. Yeah, well and good, but these guys were just 'sticking to the script,' so who cares, right? *

BUExperience: So much going on – from miscarriages, to shoots, to impromptu matches, to multiple heel/face turns – that this show is almost impossible to follow in any real way. Besides, why bother, since it’s all fake anyway, right?

DUD