WCW SuperBrawl Revenge

From Nashville, Tennessee; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Scott Hudson.

Opening Six-Way Elimination Match: Shane Helms v Shannon Moore v Kaz Hayashi v Yun Yang v Jamie Knoble v Evan Karagias: They actually bother with tags to start, and we get Moore and Knoble. They trade hammerlocks, and Jamie side suplexes him for two. Shannon blind tags out to Helms - backdropping Knoble into a sitout powerbomb from Shane. They dump him to the outside to trigger a run-in from Karagias, and cue the Dragons to stereo springboard moonsault onto everyone on the outside. Inside, the Dragons double-team Jamie, but Yang takes a neckbreaker for two. Tag to Karagias, and a sloppy counter sequence ends in him hitting a full-nelson slam on Yang. He adds a botched springboard moonsault for good measure, and finally has the good sense to tag out to Helms. Shane destroys him, then turns his attention to Yang, but gets cradled for two. Tag to Shannon with a Samoan drop for two, but Yang counters the follow-up with a tornado DDT. Everyone comes in for a brawl, and everyone misses splashes off the top rope. Do these guys not get the strategy behind an elimination match? Shane superkicks Yang, and German suplexes Hayashi, then springboard dives after Yang on the floor. Karagias dives out after them with a bodypress, and we get a dog pile sequence. Inside, Evan gives Kaz a spinebuster for two, and Knoble adds a missile dropkick, but now they can't decide who should get the pin. Again, it's an ELIMINATION MATCH, idiots! Yang saves, and badly botches a springboard moonsault, then finishes Evan with a sloppy Vertebreaker at 10:22. Jamie quickly runs back in to avenge his partner with a tombstone, and it's goodbye Yang at 10:57. His victory party is cut short by Moore, however, who gives Jamie a top rope rocker dropper at 11:58. 3-Count go after Hayashi with a dangerous looking backslide/flying legdrop spot, but Shannon gives Helms a rocker dropper instead of finishing. Shannon and Kaz double-team Helms for a bit, but Kaz wants to finish it himself, and dumps Moore. Flying moonsault, but it misses, and Shannon goes for the kill with another rocker dropper, but Shane grabs him in the Nightmare at 15:11. Kaz goes after him with a series of kicks, and tries a suplex, but Shane counters into the Nightmare, but Kaz counters again into a bridging German suplex for two. Shane fires back with a neckbreaker for two, but a flying sunset flip is blocked by Kaz with a kick for two. German suplex again, but Shane counters into the Vertebreaker at 17:29. Same shit, different pay per view. Lots of blown spots this time, though. The victory earns Helms a WCW Cruiserweight Title shot at the next pay per view, though at this point, that's sort of like getting a gift card to a store that's going out of business. **

Hugh Morrus v The Wall: Yes, the epic Misfits in Action feud that absolutely no one was waiting for! Wall headbutts him out of the ring early, but Morrus throws the steps at him out there, as we get a look at his retarded t-shirt, that reads: 'Who? Who? Who? HUGH!' Wow, did his mom make that for him? Inside, captain fashion hits a flying elbowdrop, but charges into a bit boot, giving Wall two. Wall misses a flying legdrop, but recovers with a spinebuster anyway - leaving both guys looking up at the lights. Wall rolls over first and gets an arm across the chest for two, but Hugh catches him in a botched stungun as they get up. Second try goes slightly better for two, and a flapjack leaves both guys down again. Wall tries a powerbomb, but gets backdropped, and they do more extended selling before Morrus manages to cover for two. Slugfest on the knees goes Wall's way, but Hugh catches him in a German suplex, and the No Laughing Matter finishes things at 9:42. This was basically a five minute match, extended to ten by having them sell like they've been wrestling for twenty. DUD

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire v Mark Jindrak and Shawn Stasiak: Brawl to start, and O'Haire ends up starting with Stasiak. Shawn controls with a series of clotheslines for two, but Sean catches him with a bodypress off the ropes for two. Mark charges in, but takes a stungun, and Sean passes to Chuck. These guys look/work so interchangeably that I'm having trouble keeping track of who's doing what. They work Mark over with some quick tandem stuff, and Palumbo tries a sleeper, but Jindrak escapes, so Chuck gives him a modified side suplex instead. Slingshot into Stasiak is worth two, but the strategy of flinging the opponent into his home corner quickly backfires for Palumbo. Chuck takes a double-team sidewalk slam, and they cut the ring in half on Palumbo. Stasiak misses a flying splash to allow the tag to O'Haire, and he's a Power Plant of fire! Four-way brawl, and the Seanton Bomb finishes Stasiak at 11:36. I don't really care for any of these guys (in fact, I outright dislike them), and through they wisely stuck to a formula tag match, this was about the weakest strength formula imaginable. ½*

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chavo Guerrero Jr v Rey Mysterio Jr: Quick reversal sequence goes Rey's way with a hangman’s clothesline, and he dropkicks the champ out of the ring. He tries a springboard dive after him, but Chavo rolls in, so Rey reroutes in midair, and lands on the apron. Chavo responds by sunset powerbombing him off, but Rey turns it into a rana out there, and rolls him in for a springboard sunset flip - countered by Chavo on the mat into a stomachbreaker. Forward suplex across the top rope follows for two, and he cracks him with a lariat. Superplex, but Rey blocks and goes for a moonsault, so Chavo shoves him down into a tree of woe, then dropkicks him. Rey dodges a charge with a sunset flip for two, but gets clobbered as they pop up, and Chavo hooks on the Gory Special. Rey escapes (in sloppy fashion, as Chavo has to sell a move that didn't even connect), but a rana is countered by Guerrero with a Gory buster for two. To the outside, Chavo whips him into the rail, but inside Rey catches him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Springboard bodypress is blocked by Chavo with a dropkick, and the champ ties him up in an STF. Mysterio escapes with a spinheel kick, but gets dumped out again, and Chavo slams him across the rail for good measure. Chavo steals a mask from a front row fan (the look on the guys face is priceless) and makes Rey wear it while he side suplexes him for two. To the top, but Rey shakes the ropes to crotch him, and forces him to wear the mask through a rana from the top for two. Reversal sequence goes Rey's way with a headscissors to the floor, and he follows with a somersault plancha. Rey with a springboard seated senton on the way back in, but nearly kills himself on a springboard moonsault botch - giving Chavo two. See, now THAT'S how you recover from a botch. You don't pretend it didn't happen, or repeat the spot - you incorporate it into the match as if it was planned that way. Rey with another springboard, but Chavo catches him in an electric chair, and drops him across the top rope. Champ grabs a chair, but Rey slides out of the ring to avoid a whip into it, and onto the apron, Rey screws up his double-springboard rana. Rey with a springboard headbutt for two, and a tornado DDT sets up the broncobuster. Rey goes for the chair, but Chavo sees it coming and whacks him with another one, then adds a brainbuster to retain at 15:33. Mysterio looked sloppy at points, but this was still a fast paced, hard-hitting match, with all the fancy spots that the guys in the opener were throwing, but more psychology and flow. *** ¼

WCW United States Title Match: Rick Steiner v Dustin Rhodes: Dustin attacks him on the way into the ring, and a jumping clothesline knocks the champ out of the ring. Rick takes over out there, and inside, a lariat gets two. Eye gouge, but the camera zooms in way too much, and exposes it for a vicious cheek pinch instead. Aunty Steiner with a belly-to-belly suplex for two, and he works a chinlock. Dustin uses a side suplex to escape, but immediately misses an elbowdrop, and Rick slaps on a half-crab. Rick remembers that Dustin misses an elbowdrop, and decides to take some token shots at the arm instead of his shitty crab, but then just goes right back to a chinlock again. Dude, would it kill you to work an armbar, at least? Not like it's any more strenuous there, champ. Dustin escapes with a stunner, and tries a backslide, but Rick clotheslines him again. Powerslam, but Dustin escapes, and clotheslines him for a double-knockout. Dustin with an inverted atomic drop and another clothesline for two. Bulldog knocks Steiner out of the ring, but Rhodes is on him with a shot into the announce table and guardrail out there. Chairshot, but the referee steps in, and the distraction allows Rick to stungun his challenger in the corner (where he previously exposed the top turnbuckle) for the pin at 9:14. Watching at Dustin here, I'd have never - NEVER - believed that he'd not only be wrestling thirteen years later, but that he would actually still be good. ¼*

Totally Buffed v KroniK: The heels take Bryan Clarke out before the match, leaving Brian Adams to work alone. He still manages to catch Lex Luger in a backbreaker, and he DDTs both heels. Full-nelson slam for Luger, but Buff Bagwell saves, and Adams gets overwhelmed in the double-team. Buff with a swinging neckbreaker for two, and Luger side suplexes him for two. Bagwell with a weak splash for two, and Luger works a reverse chinlock - Clarke still down on the outside. You'd think a guy being unconscious for four minutes would draw some kind of medical attention out, but no. Adams makes a comeback with a powerslam for Luger, and an atomic drop for Bagwell. Double-clothesline, and he goes for the kill on Bagwell, but Clarke wakes up, and attacks Adams from behind. As this is going on, Clarke also shows up in the aisle way, and it turns out that the original 'Clarke' is Mike Awesome in disguise. As the Clarke's battle it out, Bagwell manages to hit Adams with the Blockbuster, and we're done at 6:25. Totally Shit. DUD

WCW Commissionership Match: Lance Storm v Ernest Miller: Cat with a pair of armdrags and a drop-toehold to set up a superkick, and Lance bails. Brawl on the floor goes Storm's way, but Miller hits him with a bottle of water (no!), and chokes him with an electrical cable. Inside, Storm takes over, and works the leg. Miller tries a bodyslam, but the leg gives out, and Storm topples him for two, then wraps Cat's knee around the post for good measure. Sunset cradle, but Miller slugs him to block, and drops an elbow. Cat runs through his various dance oriented offense, but the Feliner is countered by Storm into the Maple Leaf - Cat grabbing the ropes. Miller with an enzuigiri, and here comes Mike Sanders. Miss Jones takes him out before he can do anything, however, and Miller hits the Feliner to win back the Commissionership at 8:08. Some decent psychology, but not much else, unfortunately. ½*

Diamond Dallas Page v Kanyon: This is scheduled as DDP/Jeff Jarrett, but since Page had challenge Kanyon to a match 'anytime, anywhere,' Jarrett decides to allow Kanyon to get his first. Nice guy. Slugfest goes DDPs way, and they do a brawl on the floor. Dallas with a flying clothesline on the way back in for two, but Kanyon breaks a ten-punch count by blowing him low, and shoving him out of the ring. Outside, Kanyon delivers a rocker dropper onto the steps, and he superplexes Page back in for two. Nice pair of spots there. Bridging northern lights suplex is worth two, and a modified rocker dropper gets two. Chinlock, but Page powers up, so Kanyon gives him a swinging neckbreaker for two. Death valley driver, but Page counters into a sunset cradle for two, then hits a short-clothesline for a double-knockout. Page up with a uranage for two, but a powerbomb is countered into a whiplash by Kanyon for two. Page responds with a sitout-powerbomb for two, and goes for the kill, but the Cutter is reversed for two. Cue Jeff Jarrett, but his interference backfires, and Page schoolboys Kanyon for two. Jeff makes it up to him by running back in with the Stroke, and Kanyon adds a Flatliner for the pin at 8:16. Good match, with flow, and drama, and everything. ** ½

Diamond Dallas Page v Jeff Jarrett: Jeff goes right to work, and clotheslines Dallas out of the ring for a brawl into the crowd. Back to ringside, Jarrett uses a chair to control, and we get a funny spot where Page ends up taking Tony Schiavone out, and Tony still commentating anyway. Inside, Jarrett hits a fistdrop for two, and slaps on a sleeper. Page fades, but manages a reversal, and he adds a DDT for a dramatic two count. Series of turnbuckle smashes and a side suplex get two, and a belly-to-belly suplex is worth two. Forward-falling piledriver for two, and here's Kanyon again. The distraction allows Jarrett a chairshot (good one, too) - but it only gets two! Guitar shot backfires, however, and Page Diamond Cuts him for the pin at 8:28. Liked the Kanyon match better. This also had flow, and was well paced, but it just fell flat, overall. *

Main Event: WCW World Title Retirement Match: Scott Steiner v Kevin Nash: Great main event, as Nash finishes right away - sneaking up on Steiner, and walloping him with the title belt at 0:18. However, Ric Flair decides it's now actually 2/3 Falls, and no DQ. They brawl on the floor for a minute, and back in, Nash controls with his usual bullshit in the corner. Cross corner clothesline gets two, and he tosses Steiner out of the ring again, but Midajah interferes, and Scott hits Nash with a pipe. Unfortunately, he can't muscle him back in (really?), so Flair changes it to Falls Count Anywhere as well, and Scott pins him out there at 3:52. Back in, they slug it out, and both guys are bleeding as Scott hits a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Backbreaker gets two. Head-and-arm suplex for two. There's about thirty seconds of plodding and/or fan threatening between each of those moves, however. Nash fires back with a sidewalk slam, but Scott ignores it, and hits him with a chair to set up the Recliner. Kevin powers out in sloppy fashion, and hits a chokeslam, but Midajah trips over her giant jugs and misses her bit of breaking up the count, and Scott has to kick out at two. She beats up the referee anyway, but Nash still snake-eyes Steiner, and hits the big boot. Powerbomb, but this time Midajah actually remembers to break up the count. Nash sidewalk slams her and covers again, but now Flair breaks up the count, and kills the referee. Nash goes to deal with him, but that allows Scott a low blow, and he adds another chairshot before finishing with the Recliner at 12:19. Hated it. Hated the Russo-fied booking, hated that Nash made Steiner look completely harmless - hated it. While I doubt they planned it that way, this ended up being Nash's final WCW appearance, so the stipulations actually stuck, for once. DUD

BUExperience: This received fairly good reviews at the time, but I think hindsight exposes this show for the turd it is. Yeah, it was better than most of the promotion killing crap WCW was putting out during the period, and yes, the matches were actually longer than at the height of the Russo era, but overall, what do you really have here? Three decent-good matches (the best of which was done better in the mid-90s), a shitty main event, and tons of forgettable angles. Not a winner.

DUD