WCW Slamboree 1996 (Version II)

Original Airdate: May 19, 1996

From Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan

Opening Lord of the Ring Tournament First Round Lethal Lottery Match: Lex Luger and Road Warrior Hawk v Booker T and Road Warrior Animal: They don't really make note of it, but Hawk is injured here, so don't expect much as far as a Road Warrior showdown goes. Lots of posturing to start, as everyone argues over positioning before things finally settle on Luger and Animal to start. Lex overpowers him in the corner, and hits a powerslam, but then backs off to let Animal get back to his feet. Animal overpowers him on the second go around, and hits his own powerslam, then adds a jumping shoulderblock. Backdrop, but Luger blocks, and vertical suplexes him - only for Animal to no-sell, and pop up with a dropkick. Tag to Booker for a savate kick, though Luger looks like he has no idea how to take/sell it properly. No matter, Booker misses a charge in the corner, allowing Luger to level him with a lariat, and he delivers a bodyslam. Elbowdrop misses, and Booker spinaroonis up with the Harlem sidekick for two. Chinlock, but Luger starts fighting free, so Booker cuts him off with the axekick for two, with Hawk breaking up the count. Luger takes offense, and he starts going at it with his own partner, leading to everyone brawling for a lame double countout at 6:55. And that was the end of the Road Warriors in WCW, as they left for Japan over a money dispute, before surfacing in the WWF in early 1997. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Lord of the Ring Tournament First Round Lethal Lottery Match: Public Enemy v Kevin Sullivan and Chris Benoit: Rocco Rock starts with Benoit, and they trade slaps as they try to get in each others head. Rock goes to the eyes to literally get in his head, and a headscissors takedown follows, getting Benoit good and pissed off. Chris tries a pop-up powerbomb, but Rock counters with a rana, and he puts the boots to the Crippler. Benoit manages the pop-up powerbomb on the second go, and he mounts Rocco with some punches on the mat. Tag to Sullivan, but Johnny Grunge comes in without a tag, and it turns into a big brawl on the floor right away. Kevin gets put on a table for Rock to dive after, but Benoit cuts it off with a clothesline, so Rocco vertical suplexes him out of the ring. He puts both Chris and Kevin on the table, but Sullivan dodges the dive, leaving Chris to take the full force of it by himself, and Rock pins him at 4:45. This felt really rushed. ½* (Original rating: ½*)

Lord of the Ring Tournament First Round Lethal Lottery Match: Scott Steiner and Sgt. Craig Pittman v Rick Steiner and Booty Man: Pittman and Booty start, and Craig tries a go-behind, but YOU CAN'T GO-BEHIND THE BOOTY, MAN! Sorry. I dunno, I'm just trying to keep myself entertained with this boring ass show. Tag to Scott, and he dominates the Booty, but runs into a kneelift. Booty tries a backdrop, but Scott counters with a butterfly powerbomb for two, and tags are made all around. Pittman pounds Rick, but runs into a clothesline as they criss cross, and Steiner adds a powerslam. Pittman fires back with a nasty German suplex (dropping Rick right on his head), and he holds an armbar while he makes sure he didn't kill him. Rick responds by tearing his head off with a Steinerline, so Pittman bails to Scott, who hesitantly tags in. And so, two years after going rogue in the Royal Rumble by refusing to engage, we finally get the Steiner Brothers facing off. They trade off on the mat, and the referee appears to be scoring them on points, in a nice touch. Scott turns it up with a suplex, so Rick drills him with a Steinerline, only to get cradled by Scott for two when he checks on him. Scott with a full-nelson, but Rick reverses into a dragon suplex, and he goes upstairs - Scott superplexing him off. Rick tags out, and Booty charges in, but Scott avoids the Booty, and passes to Pittman. Craig cranks on the arm, fujiwara style, then slaps on the Code Red, but Booty tags out while still in the hold, making Pittman look like a complete jobber. Rick comes in with a German suplex to finish the job at 8:23. This had its moments. * (Original rating: ¾*)

Lord of the Ring Tournament First Round Lethal Lottery Match: The Blue Bloods v Jim Duggan and VK Wallstreet: WCW had some very attractive ring girls, let's give them that. Lord Steven Regal starts with Duggan, and he wastes little time in wasting time via stalling. Duggan hits a hiptoss, but Wallstreet refuses a tag, allowing Regal to sneak up on him. Jim fights him off with a series of clotheslines anyway, and forces a tag to Wallstreet, as Regal passes to Squire David Taylor on his end. Criss cross goes Taylor's way with a wristlock, and he passes back to Regal to work his own wristlock, but Wallstreet escapes with rights. He gets into an argument with Duggan again as they tag, allowing the Blue Bloods to work Hacksaw over in the corner, but it goes nowhere. Jim wants to tag, but Wallstreet refuses, so Duggan unrolls his trust tape, and hits Taylor with the wrapped up fist for the pin at 3:48. What a mess this one was. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Lord of the Ring Tournament First Round Lethal Lottery Match: Alex Wright and Disco Inferno v Earl Robert Eaton and Dick Slater: We've got four matches in the can, and this tournament has yet to produce anything decent. CAN DISCO INFERNO SAVE US?! Disco starts with Slater, and hides out in the corner, protecting his hair. Hey, it's good to have passions. Dick responds by elbowing him in the hair, which is a dick move. Tag to Alex, but he can't hold Slater in a wristlock for more than two seconds before Dick easily escapes to tag. Wright sticks and moves with Eaton, hitting a leg lariat for two, but failing to cut the ring in half, allowing the tag back to Dick. Slater hits Wright with a swinging neckbreaker, but Alex counters a piledriver with a backdrop, and passes to Disco - Roseanne Barr the door. Man, they're not even pretending these matches can go more than a couple of minutes. Disco dominates Slater, but wastes time dancing, and gets bashed with Dick's boot for the pin at 2:50. These matches are too short to really go anywhere, and the results are laughable 'matches' that play out like they're just there to namecheck a bunch of guys. I mean, even at the height of the Attitude Era these matches would seem like they're going at lightning speed. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Lord of the Ring Tournament First Round Lethal Lottery Match: Diamond Dallas Page and Barbarian v Meng and Hugh Morrus: Page and Morrus start, and Dallas plays mind games before poking him in the eyes to take control with a headlock. Hugh shoulderblocks him out of the ring to break free, but DDP dodges a plancha, and hits a clothesline for two on the way back in. Tag to Barbarian for a backdrop, but Morrus blocks, and passes to Meng. They fight over a hiptoss to a stalemate, and they start throwing some bombs at each other in a fun bit. Barbarian gets the better of it, and brings Page in to slam onto Meng, but then misses an elbowdrop. That allows Meng a headbutt drop, and he passes back to Morrus to bodyslam Barbarian as a set up for a flying elbowdrop. Back up for another one, but Page crotches him on the top to save his partner, and Barbarian overhead superplexes Morrus down for two. That brings Meng in without a tag to pound Barbarian down so Morrus can go up with the No Laughing Matter, but Page comes in to break the cover, and Roseanne Barr the door! Both Faces of Fear get simultaneous covers, but Page is in the ropes to invalidate Meng's pin, and only Barbarian's pin counts at 5:02. Practically a classic compared to some of the other shit so far tonight. ¾* (Original rating: ½*)

Lord of the Ring Tournament First Round Lethal Lottery Match: Fire & Ice v Stevie Ray and Big Bubba Rogers: Bubba's new look really suits a guy by the name of 'Bubba.' Scott Norton starts with Stevie, and gets hammered after offering Stevie a clean break in the corner. Stevie with a bodyslam, but he runs into a jumping shoulderblock as they criss cross, and Norton works him over in the corner, only to miss an avalanche. Tag to Bubba for a windmill punch and an avalanche, followed by a spinebuster for two. Scott fights him off with an ugly pop-up flapjack before tagging to Ice Train, with Train hitting a bodyslam to set up a seated senton splash for two. He tries a clothesline, but Bubba has the same idea, and both men are left looking up at the lights. Train manages to tag, and Fire & Ice hit Bubba with a quick double team for three at 3:32. That was rough, and not in the good way. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Lord of the Ring Tournament First Round Lethal Lottery Match: Ric Flair and Randy Savage v Arn Anderson and Eddie Guerrero: Hopefully this gets more than three minutes. Arn attacks Macho before Flair even gets to the ring, allowing Ric to stomp on his own partner once he arrives! Gotta love it! Eddie saves, and bounces Flair around for a bit until the Nature Boy begs off, as Woman and Miss Elizabeth sneak down to ringside while Randy is nursing his wounds. Eddie keeps knocking Flair around with dropkicks, but he passes to Arn, so Flair passes as well - tagging Macho in by elbowing him in the head. That allows Arn to work him over, and a rotating spinebuster gets two. Arn throws Macho into the corner to tag, but instead of engaging Anderson, Flair unloads on his own partner with chops! Man! Eddie saves again, and he tornado DDTs Ric, until Savage suddenly tackles the Nature Boy for some payback. As the referee works on breaking that up, Arn decides to drop Guerrero with a DDT, allowing Ric to pin him at 4:24. Arn is the worlds best stooge. This was a total mess as a match, but entertaining as hell. And so ends the first round of this terrible tournament. ¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Dean Malenko v Brad Armstrong: Feeling out process to start, with Armstrong able to dominate, sending the champion running for the hills to regroup. Back in, Dean pops off a dropkick to the leg after tricking Brad with offers of a test-of-strength, and Malenko bashes the leg into the post to take control. Dean gets a stepover-toehold, but lets off as Brad nears the ropes, and delivers a bodyslam to set-up a 2^nd rope kneedrop. Malenko keeps working the leg, and he hands Armstrong in a tree of woe to allow him to dropkick the knee. Brad tries a sunset flip for two, but Malenko kicks the leg to cut that shit off, and he baseball slides into the knee next. Dean's offense is super crisp here. He uses a stump puller next, then down into a grapevine, but Armstrong makes the ropes. Dean responds by bashing the leg into the apron, and a bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope pump-splash, but Brad lifts a boot to block. That allows Armstrong to make a comeback, and he uses a powerslam to set up a missile dropkick. He puts Dean in a Texas cloverleaf to try and finish, but Malenko makes the ropes, and dumps his challenger to the outside to buy time. Brad tries going upstairs on the way back in, but Dean brings him down with an exploding gutbuster to retain at 8:29. Glad to see all that leg stuff went somewhere. * ½ (Original rating: ¾*)

Lord of the Ring Tournament Second Round Lethal Lottery Match: Jim Duggan and VK Wallstreet v Earl Robert Eaton and Dick Slater: The Lethal Lottery is such a flawed concept to begin with, and definitely didn't need a tournament format. Duggan and Wallstreet start fighting each other at the bell, so Eaton and Slater try to take advantage, but get fought off. They eventually manage to isolate Wallstreet, and Slater hits a Russian legsweep for two. Eaton tries a turnbuckle smash, but Wallstreet reverses, and cross corner whips him to set up a backdrop. Eaton bails, but Duggan sends him back in for Wallstreet to hold in an abdominal stretch. He wants Jim to give him leverage, but Duggan refuses. Yeah, but he's got no problem using a taped fist, does he? Slater breaks the hold, and the dust settles on Duggan and Dick, and Jim delivers a shoulderblock for two, then grabs a chinlock. Criss cross results in a double knockout spot, and both men stagger for a tag - Roseanne Barr the door. It doesn't take long for Duggan and Wallstreet to start hitting each other from there, and Eaton capitalizes with a schoolboy on Wallstreet at 4:09. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Lord of the Ring Tournament Second Round Lethal Lottery Match: Public Enemy v Ric Flair and Randy Savage: Savage is still pissed from earlier (though I can't imagine why), and jumps Flair from behind during the entrances. The officials can't pull them apart (let alone talk them into wrestling together), so Public Enemy wins by forfeit. No match, but a good bit of angle development. This probably would have all led to a hot blow off at Bash at the Beach, but the start of the nWo angle pretty much abolished all active feuds

Lord of the Ring Tournament Second Round Lethal Lottery Match: Rick Steiner and Booty Man v Diamond Dallas Page and Barbarian: Thankfully, this is the final lottery match, as Fire & Ice receive a bye due to the double countout in the opener. DDP jaws at Kimberly for an extended period before slugging it out with Booty, and Dallas gets knocked t the outside, where the Booty chokes him. Over to Steiner to powerslam Page for two, and he corners DDP for a ten-punch, but Dallas escapes with a hotshot across the top turnbuckle. Tag to Barbarian to shoulderblock Steiner down, and he drills Rick with a big boot. Again, but Steiner counters with a suplex, and he takes Barbarian upstairs for a belly-to-belly superplex! Steinerline gets two, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Barbarian counters with a powerbomb for two. Page and Barbarian cut the ring in half on Steiner, but Rick manages to fight Barbarian off with a hotshot, and there's the tag to Booty. High knee gets two, but Page nails him as he tries rolling Barbarian up, and Barbarian covers at 4:59. Weak finish, but there was some surprisingly fun power stuff between Barbarian and Steiner mixed in there. ¾* (Original rating: ¼*)

WCW United States Title Match: Konnan v Jushin Thunder Liger: Mike Tenay replaces Rhodes on commentary for this one. Thankfully. Konnan takes him down for a modified surfboard right at the bell, but Liger escapes, and they do a reversal sequence. Liger cracks him with a chop, and uses a snapmare to set up a somersault senton splash, so the champ bails. Sonny Onoo is waiting out there with some abuse, and Liger adds a baseball slide to set up a plancha before taking things back in. Jushin with a brainbuster for two, and he grounds Konnan in a mat-based abdominal stretch, but the champ starts fighting free, so Liger switches to a cross-armbreaker. Konnan counters to a stepover-toehold, then to his own cross-armbreaker, but Liger counters to a surfboard. Konnan won't quit, so Liger switches to a camel clutch, but the champ makes the ropes. Liger drags him off for a stretch, but Konnan escapes, so Liger koppou kicks him, and takes it upstairs for a vertical superplex. Flying splash gets him two, and a dropkick sends Konnan to the outside, where the champ blocks Liger's follow-up dive. He tries a vertical suplex back in, but Liger counters with a saito suplex, followed by a fisherman buster for two. He tries a headscissors takedown, but Konnan counters with a whiplash into a somersault cradle for two. Splash mountain, but Liger counters with a sunset cradle for two, and he adds a small package for two. Ligerbomb only gets two, so Jushin bodyslams him to set up another flying splash, but this time Konnan lifts his boots to block! That allows him to hit splash mountain, and it's enough to retain at 9:31. This was solid action, though it was very obvious that Konnan was out of his league here, and he was looking gassed and having trouble hanging. ** ½ (Original rating: ***)

Gene Okerlund brings Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and the ladies out for an interview, because now that Randy Savage is safely locked up somewhere, Ric is free to gloat all he wants without fear of repercussions. He moves on to Steve McMichael next, who recently told Flair to quit flirting with his wife Debra, but Ric notes that he "can't back off with her hand still in my back pocket." That draws McMichael himself out, and Ric is quick to hide before the Enforcer, noting that Arn has "knocked down more football players on the way to the bathroom" than Steve has played against in his entire career. Ric's been on fire since Hulk Hogan went away. Anyway, the pissing contest results in a challenge for a tag match, provided McMichael can find a partner, which Ric limits his choices to "anyone" - joking that he might get Lawrence Taylor. Ha! But it's not LT, it's Kevin Greene, who storms out and backs the Horsemen down! This was great stuff

#1 Contender's Lord of the Ring Tournament Final BattleBowl 8-Man Battle Royal: Okay, so we've got: Earl Robert Eaton, Dick Slater, Ice Train, Scott Norton, Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge, Diamond Dallas Page, and Barbarian. That's a pretty weak field for a pay per view battle royal of any kind, let alone one to determine the number one contender. How the hell do you book a tournament with Flair, Savage, Anderson, Luger, and even Guerrero, Meng, and Benoit, yet still end up with Dick Slater and Ice Train in the finals? Even if I was playing TNM7 with the auto booker on that would never happen. Standard battle royal fare here, except that pinfalls also count as eliminations. Why the hell are they using a split screen for a one ring battle royal with eight guys in it? Like, I get that they got a shiny new toy that they really love breaking out, but come on. We get down to Train, Grunge, Page, and Barbarian as our final four, and Train powerslams everyone, but takes a Diamond Cutter. As does Barbarian and Grunge. Page pins Johnny with it, pins Train with it, but Barbarian gets a shoulder up at two. Barbarian fires back with a clothesline for two, but misses a charge, and Page tries a leveraged pin, but gets busted at two. Avalanche, but Barbarian dodges, and schoolboys him for two. Tombstone gets two, so Barbarian tries a sleeper, but Dallas mulekicks his way out of it. Backdrop, but Barbarian counters with a powerbomb into a cradle for two, and a bodyslam sets up the flying headbutt, but DDP dodges! Diamond Cutter, and Page wins BattleBowl at 9:39! The battle royal was the usual junk, but the last segment with Page/Barbarian was pretty fun. * ¼ (Original rating: ½*)

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Giant v Sting: Jimmy Hart is handcuffed to Lex Luger at ringside for this. Big criss cross right off the bat, with Sting trying a bodypress, but bouncing off of the massive champion. He keeps coming with a sleeper, but Giant drops into the corner to shake him loose, so the Stinger starts throwing dropkicks. That goes nowhere though, so he calmly steps to the outside to plot out his next move. He tries a leg-feed enzuigiri on the way back in, but Giant barely acknowledges it. Sting manages to dodge a charge to rattle the champion, but a bodyslam attempt gets him toppled for two, and Giant adds an elbowdrop. A sloppy backelbow follows, as Giant starts working Sting over, with Sting tenaciously fighting him at every turn. Giant gets caught using the ropes during a bodyscissors, so he tosses Sting to the outside to beat on in the aisle instead, but Luger puts Hart across Ric Flair's VIP table to prevent Giant from Chokeslamming his pal through it. That wouldn't have stopped a real heel. These kids today. Or, well, you know, in 1996. Giant tries a dropkick next, but Luger pulls Sting out of harms way. The referee gets bumped as they head back in, where Giant tries a stinger splash, but misses. That leaves the monster sprawled out across the top turnbuckle, and Sting Stinger Splashes him there! A series of three more Splashes follow, but Sting stupidly goes after Hart for no good reason, and ends up knocking himself silly when he misses the Splash. Or did Luger pull him out of the way? Doesn't matter, here comes Sting with a flying splash anyway, but it only gets two. Back up for a second flying splash, and it's time for the Scorpion Deathlock! Hart grabs the megaphone, and manages to wrestle it away from Luger long enough to bop Sting with - Giant capitalizing with the Chokeslam at 10:42. This was really angle heavy, but decent for the most part. * (Original rating: *)

BUExperience: Despite having hot matches and angles all over the place on the weekly TV product around this period, it felt like everyone turned it down for the pay per view here. Compare that to the WWF, which generally had a much less exciting weekly TV product, but you could always count on everyone to kick it up a notch for pay per views. The thing with this show is that it doesn’t even seem to understand it’s premise. The cool thing about the Lethal Lottery concept is that you get to see matches that otherwise only exist in fantasy. Videogames, simulators, action figure promotions. But if every match runs under five minutes, what’s the point? Honestly, this one should be in the conversation when it comes to worst supercards ever, because it’s legitimately terrible, with only very minor redeeming qualities.

DUD