WCW Spring Stampede 1997 (Version II)

  

Original Airdate: April 6, 1997

From Tupelo, Mississippi; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan

Opening Match: Rey Mysterio Jr v Ultimo Dragon: Mike Tenay joins us for commentary on this one. The announcers note that Scott Hall is not here, but the Championship Committee has ruled that Kevin Nash must defend the tag title against the Steiner Brothers regardless, so it's going to be a handicap match later on. And supposedly that's one of the 'main events' for tonight, which they are actually saying with a straight face. Feeling out process to start, until Dragon gets control with a series of strikes, followed by a nice dropkick. Bodyslam puts Rey down, and Dragon works a variety of holds, constantly shifting to avoid escape attempts. Into the ropes for a break, so Dragon drills him with an inverted rack drop, followed by a powerbomb into a hotshot. Sleeper, but Rey fights free, so Dragon MURDERS him with a running sitout powerbomb. Brutal. Tombstone follows, but Dragon pulls him up at two. Okay, so we know who's going over here. Dragon works another sleeper, but Rey escapes, and wins a criss cross with a spinheel kick. Dragon cuts him off with a clothesline, and starts hammering him with kicks, followed by a gourdbuster to set up a muta-lock. He can't coax a submission, so Dragon tries a surfboard instead, into a cradle for two. Rey bails, so Dragon follows to whip him into the guardrail, but Mysterio reverses. Back in, Rey triggers a criss cross, but Dragon grabs a sleeper to cut off any comeback. Rey manages to reverse the hold this time, but Dragon escapes, so Rey uses a dropkick and a spinheel kick to knock him to the outside. Rey dives after him with a springboard somersault senton on the floor, and then back in with a springboard flying somersault seated senton for two. Drop-toehold sets up a springboard flying legdrop for two, so Dragon tries a springboard bodypress, but Mysterio dodges. Rey goes up top, but Dragon throws a dropkick to knock him to the outside, and then knocks into him with a baseball slide, before diving with a plancha. Dragon tries a suplex back in from the apron, but Rey blocks. Rey tries a springboard moonsault press, but Dragon blocks with a dropkick, and then grab Mysterio for a giant swing! Both guys stagger up, and Rey gets the better of it with a rana into a cradle - reversed by Dragon for two. Reversal sequence ends in Dragon hitting a leg-feed enzuigiri for two, and a cross corner whip sets up a corner clothesline. Dragon takes him up for a rana off the middle - snapping that shit for two. Dragon tries another powerbomb, but Rey blocks this time. Tiger suplex, but Rey holds the ropes to block, and hooks a rollup for two - reversed by Dragon for two. Dragon tries a spinheel kick, but Rey ducks, and springboards with a rana into a cradle for the pin at 14:55! Good work here, about on par with their World War 3 match from five months prior. This show actually took place the day after the birth of Rey's son, Dominik, so a pretty good weekend for him. *** ½ (Original rating: *** ½)

 

WCW Women's Title Match: Akira Hokuto v Madusa: Lee Marshall joins us for commentary on this one. Hokuto throws her around to start, but misses a charge in the corner, and Madusa throws right hands at her. Snapmare, but Hokuto fights her off, and throws a clothesline. Hokuto drags her into the corner for a sleeper, followed by a bootchoke. Actually, choking is about the extent of what Hokuto has done so far. Bodyslam gets two, but Madusa comes at her with a matslam during a criss cross, and the challenger adds another pair for two. And speaking of 'pairs' she rips off her top, for no adequately explored reason. Hokuto goes for the leg, as Sonny Onoo helps out with some cheap shots. Samoan drop, but Madusa counters with a sloppy crucifix for two, and dives off the middle with a dropkick. Another one leads to the bridging German suplex, but Hokuto kicks out at two. That draws Sonny onto the apron, allowing Luna Vachon to run in on Madusa, and Hokuto pins her at 5:13. These two never had any chemistry together. It still blows my mind that they never put the belt on Madusa at any point. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

 

WCW Television Title Match: Prince Iaukea v Lord Steven Regal: The set for this show is great, something WCW always excelled at. I also love the show logo on the ring canvas, another great touch. Regal with all kinds of stalling to start, while Iaukea just stands there like a loser. Like, it's one thing if Regal is on the outside, or hiding in the ropes, or whatever. Here he's just standing there with his back turned to Iaukea, and Iaukea does nothing but his little island-wave-hands pose. And I'm something of a Prince Iaukea apologist! They finally make contact, and Iaukea uses a shoulderblock to put him down in a headlock, while the commentators announce that Scott Steiner has been arrested after an altercation outside the nWo locker room. Sounds about right. Iaukea works his headlock, but Regal is able to dump him to the outside, so Iaukea comes back in with a springboard flying bodypress for two. Cue more stalling from Regal, and Iaukea dominates a test-of-strength to the mat, but Regal starts to reverse, and pops him in the face with a shot to gain control. Regal works a full-nelson, as the announcers ignore the match to talk about the tag title situation. Normally, that annoys me, but there's so little going on here that I can't really blame them. Iaukea tries a sunset flip, but Regal blocks, and unloads on the champion in the corner. Iaukea fires back with chops, but badly telegraphs a springboard flying twisting bodypress, and Regal casually sidesteps him. That was pretty funny. Iaukea manages to reverse a cross corner whip, however, and he makes a comeback. He tries a cross corner whip of his own, but Regal stops short, and tries a cradle - only for Iaukea to reverse at 9:58. Total style clash here. Iaukea was generally fun against an able cruiserweight, but he didn't really have any game against guys like Regal. ½* (Original rating: ¼*)

 

Public Enemy v Jeff Jarrett and Steve McMichael: I like how the same people who talk shit about how Jarrett (or Paul Roma) as a Horsemen as some kind of offensive joke seem to forget that a rookie football player was also part of the group. Rocco Rock starts with Steve, and they size each other up for a while. Rock manages to get him into the corner for a turnbuckle smash, and he chokes away, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Jeff throws a clothesline from the apron for the assist. That draws Johnny Grunge in, but Steve sends him flying with a 3-point stance, and the Horsemen clean house. Dust settles on Grunge and Jarrett, and Jeff wins a criss cross with a facebuster. Abdominal stretch with leverage from McMichael, and they double team Rock as well. The Horsemen settle in on working over Rocco, and Mongo uses a tilt-a-whirl slam for two. That draws Grunge in again, so Jeff joins, and everyone spills to the outside to brawl. Grunge tries putting Debra McMichael through a table, but Jarrett saves with a chair, so Johnny tries putting HIM through a table, but misses his flying elbowdrop attempt. Jeff dives at him with a flying bodypress for two, so the Enemy try isolating Mongo, but McMichael fights them both off with relative ease. Jeff puts Grunge in the Figure Four, so Rock whacks him with the briefcase to save, and Grunge gets the pin at 10:40. Weird dynamic, as the Horsemen were clearly the babyfaces here, but they were cheating, and working a heat segment. And the Enemy winning feels like such an odd booking choice. ¾* (Original rating: DUD)

 

WCW United States Title Match: Dean Malenko v Chris Benoit: They measure each other to start, with Benoit getting aggressive, but Dean holding his own. Dean shoots at the leg for a takedown into a leglock, and he works that for a while, until Chris counters to a headlock. Dean quickly whips him into the ropes to get out of it, but Benoit barrels into the champion with a shoulderblock, and Malenko bails to regroup. Back in, they trade wristlocks, with Benoit dominating. Dean shakes him off with a bodyslam, so Chris calls for a test-of-strength. Dean dominates it, but Benoit refuses to have his shoulders pinned (in an impressive display of strength), and he manages to counter the champion into a stretch. That wears Malenko down for a two count, so Benoit stays on him with a snapmare into a bow-and-arrow. Dean manages a side suplex to escape, and he hooks a small package for two. Chris responds by throwing chops, so Dean pounds him down in the corner, and uses a bootchoke. A close-up of Malenko shows that he's bleeding from the chest following Benoit's chops, which is crazy. I loved Benoit as a worker, but I've always agreed with Bret Hart's thinking regarding those kinds of moves... if you actually have to hurt the other guy to make it look good, where's the artistry? Dean works a camel clutch, but it goes nowhere, so he tries a short-armscissors. Benoit powers out of it, and grabs the champion with a side suplex for two. Short-clothesline gets two, so Benoit cracks him with another chop, and tries an abdominal stretch. Dean won't submit, so Chris tries a neckbreaker for two, and a crisp snap suplex is worth two. Cross corner whip, but Dean reverses, and tries a suplex of his own, but Benoit counters with an inverted vertical suplex. That draws Jacqueline out to attack Woman, and it's kind of weird how color coordinated they are for enemies. Meanwhile, Benoit dives with the flying headbutt on Malenko for two, as Jimmy Hart steals the title belt. I guess he figured it was doing wonders for Syxx's career, so why not? Unfortunately for him, he's cut off by Eddie Guerrero in the aisle, since I guess this isn't overbooked enough just yet. While all this goes on, Dean manages to fight Benoit off long enough to suplex over the top to the floor, and they slug it out. That draws Arn Anderson out for a cheap shot on Malenko, but THAT draws Kevin Sullivan out for a NASTY shot with a pool cue to Benoit's head, and finally the referee sees some of this - calling for the no-contest at 17:50. This was good, solid wrestling (though a pretty dull) most of the way through, before turning into a crazy overbooked mess at the end. I actually prefer the Hog Wild match to this one, even with that shitty crowd. ** ¾ (Original rating: **)

 

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Kevin Nash v Rick Steiner: So this was announced as a handicap match at the top of the show, but now Scott Steiner has been arrested going crazy earlier in the night, so we're getting a singles match instead. And people thought all this silliness started with Vince Russo. Oh, and Nash only agrees to the match if Nick Patrick is the assigned official, just in case we needed to telegraph the screw job a little more. Rick comes right at him for a slugfest, but that does not go well for him. Yeah, shocking. Kevin with a cross corner whip and a corner clothesline, and he unloads on Steiner in the corner. Another cross corner charge ends badly when Rick lifts his boot, however, and the challenger charges with a Steinerline. A sloppy belly-to-belly suplex follows, but no cover since Nash is in the ropes. Powerslam gets two at center ring, and Rick actually wins a second slugfest, so WCW Cruiserweight Champion Syxx pulls down the top rope as Rick runs them, and Steiner takes a spill to the outside. What a waste it was putting that belt on Syxx. He hasn't even defended it once since winning it way back in February! Not even at house shows! They spent most of 1996 building it up as a belt great workers could have hot matches over, and now it's just Syxx's vanity belt. Back in, Nash drops Steiner with a sidewalk slam for two, and a big boot leads to the Powerbomb, but it only gets two. Nash goes for another Powerbomb, but Steiner blows him low to stop the effort, and Rick dives with a flying bulldog. Cover, count, but it only gets two. They try putting it over as a slow count, but it absolutely was not. Rick keeps coming with more clotheslines, but a distraction from Syxx allows the champ to run him over with a clothesline. Syxx gets rid of a top turnbuckle pad to set up a snake-eyes from Nash, and Patrick seems to suddenly give a shit about Steiner's well being. Nash doesn't care, and gives him another snake-eyes into the exposed steel. That draws Ted DiBiase onto the apron to tell him that enough is enough, but that just pisses Nash off, and he gives Rick another one. Ted decides to walk out, but Nash ignores him, and gives Steiner a fourth one. Powerbomb (called 'jackknife' by Tony, which I didn't think they did in WCW), and Patrick now doesn't want to count, but Nash threatens him, and we have a pin at 10:21. This was a WWF style storyline match, and that's fine sometimes, especially with guys whose strong suit isn't workrate. * (Original rating: DUD)

 

#1 Contender's Four Corners Match: Giant v Lex Luger v Booker T v Stevie Ray: This is also considered a 'main event.' First fall wins here. Luger and Booker start, and Booker gets some action on him for a few seconds, but Lex ducks a savate kick, and press-slams him. Luger with a lariat, so Booker goes to the eyes, and passes to Stevie. Luger and Giant pinball Stevie around for two, and Lex tags the big man in officially. Stevie actually manages to sock it to him, but Giant reverses a cross corner whip, and he follows in with a clothesline. That draws Booker in, but Giant press-slams him, and Harlem Heat bail. Dust settles on Giant and Luger, and the tag partners fight over a lockup, and Lex tries a bodyslam, but gets toppled for two. They decide to each tag out to force the Heat to showdown, which the crowd loves, but makes no sense. Like, the Heat did them a favor by tagging both in. There's a world title shot on the line, and it doesn't matter who you pin to win it. Luger really is a choker. So the Heat actually wrestle instead of just doing a finger poke, but it doesn't go anywhere beyond some hammerlocks and criss crosses before Booker tags out to Lex. The Heat work Luger over, but Booker misses a fistdrop, and Giant gets the tag. He blasts Booker with a clothesline, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Booker dodges. The Heat go to work on Giant, which Tony puts over as 'great strategy.' How? Just force him to tag the other one of you in, and flip a coin. Giant fights off Stevie with a big boot to allow the tag to Luger, and Lex uses a trio of pointed elbowdrops for two. Stevie dumps him into the corner to buy time for a tag, but Lex dodges a charge from Booker, and hits a side suplex. That draws Stevie in to suplex Lex before he can apply the Torture Rack, and Booker covers for two. Booker adds a kneedrop for two, and he works a chinlock, as Tony actually makes a good point about how Giant or Luger will probably get a title shot at some point regardless of the outcome of this match, but this is a big opportunity for Booker and Stevie. Well, he was due a good point. Also kind of funny with the benefit of hindsight, knowing how many world titles Booker would go on to win later. Stevie with a clothesline on Luger for two, and he works a chinlock of his own, but Luger fights up with a side suplex to escape. Booker cuts off the tag attempt, and hits Luger with the axekick for two, followed by a sidewalk slam from Stevie. Back to Booker for the rocket launcher, but Luger dodges, and there's the tag to Giant. Nice timing on the actual tag, with Stevie advancing like a villain. Giant runs wild, and he's got Stevie beat, but decides to let Luger put him in the Rack to get the win at 18:18. If Giant was looking to step aside for Luger, why not just go down for him earlier, when the Heat tagged them both into the match together? But I guess you could always say that he made the call on the fly. Nothing special, but it was generally watchable. * (Original rating: ¼*)

 

Main Event: No Disqualification Match: Randy Savage v Diamond Dallas Page: Savage goes back to his roots now that he's a heel again, stalling to start. He suckers Page to the outside, but a shot into the rail gets reversed on him, and Dallas rams him into the apron for good measure. Back in, Page literally tries to anally rape the Macho Man, but luckily that doesn't work out for him. A sloppy sequence ends on Savage down, but Macho blocks a Diamond Cutter attempt, and snaps DDP's throat across the top rope to put Page on the outside. Randy chases after him, knocking Dallas into the crowd with a running forearm, and they brawl through the crowd. Macho grabs a trashcan, but Page kicks it away from him, and bashes Randy with it a few times. Page finds some electrical cable out there to choke the Macho Man with on the way back to ringside, where Savage uses Kimberly as a human shield, shoving her into Page to knock him down. That allows Randy to drop him across the rail, and he dives with a flying axehandle out there. Okay, so it's No DQ, but what about countouts? Page gets tossed into the steps a few times, and we finally head in, where Savage tries a leveraged pin for two. Randy responds by grabbing a chair (or, more accurately, scaring the shit out of Michael Buffer and stealing his), and he whacks DDP with it. The referee takes the weapon away, so I'm guessing he hasn't been clued in to the stips? Maybe he just thought it was no countouts only? Page grabs the chair and returns fire, but the referee again removes the weapon, since he's just no fun. Savage gets vertical first, and unloads on Page in the corner, but DDP turns the tables. Cutter, but Macho counters with a clothesline for two. Criss cross ends in Page hitting a clothesline of his own, and both guys are left looking up at the lights. Savage recovers first with a trio of bodyslams, and he decides to grab the ring bell to finish this punk off. Macho goes to the top with the weapon, but Kimberly pulls it away before he can uses it, so Savage has to dive with just the Flying Elbowdrop instead - only for DDP to lift his boots to block! Cutter, but Savage counters to a backslide, then mulekicks Page when Page is trying to reverse! You gotta love heel Savage. He decides to piledrive the referee in response to the count, and he goes up with another Flying Elbowdrop - connecting this time. Of course, he killed the referee, so good thinking, bonehead. That draws out Nick Patrick (complete with ever present sneer) to take over, but Page recovers, and hits the Diamond Cutter - a hesitant Patrick counting the pin at 14:42. This was a fun brawl, but didn't quite get to the Hart/Austin WrestleMania level it seemed they were shooting for. Or anywhere near it. But, then, that's a pretty high bar to clear. It was really fun watching Randy Savage cut loose as a heel again, though. Afterwards, the nWo (sans Hollywood Hulk Hogan) march out to question Patrick, with Kevin Nash giving him a powerbomb, and kicking him out of the ring. ** ¼ (Original rating: * ½)

 

BUExperience: We’ve got a very good opener, a fun brawl in the main event... and not much else in between, with even Benoit/Malenko turning in a disappointing effort. What a forgettable show, with no title changes, no major angles, and not even an appearance from the world champion. I wouldn’t waste your time with this one.

 

DUD