WCW Fall Brawl 1997 (Version II)

Original Airdate: September 14, 1997

 

From Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, and Bobby Heenan

 

Opening WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chris Jericho v Eddie Guerrero: Mike Tenay joins us for commentary on this one, swapping out Larry. Feeling out process to start, with Eddie complaining about non-existent cheating loudly and often. Eddie goes after the arm and gets control, but Jericho reverses a magistral cradle for two, and he grabs a wristlock of his own. Heenan sounds so checked out, like a videogame recording of himself. He was never great in WCW, but he was at least decent for the first few years. Criss cross allows Jericho a hotshot to set up a Lionsault for two, and he goes back to the wristlock. Eddie snaps his arm across the top rope to escape, and a pair of dropkicks leave the champion in a bad way. Guerrero with a cross corner whip to rattle Chris for modified chinlock, as Heenan makes stupid jokes about Jericho looking drunk. You know, back when that would just be a stupid joke. Eddie uses a slingshot somersault senton splash for two (called a 'diving headbutt' by Tenay, in a rare total miss), and he puts Chris in a modified gory special, but Jericho reverses. Chris shifts it into an electric facebuster, but an elbowdrop misses. Guerrero tries capitalizing with a dropkick, but that misses as well, and Jericho wins a slugfest. He misses the third of a trio of corner clotheslines, allowing Eddie to try a ropewalk, but Jericho crotches him, and then sends him to the outside with a springboard dropkick. Chris tries a powerbomb off of the apron, but Eddie keeps blocking, so Jericho hotshots him across the top rope, and both guys end up down on the outside off of that. Back in, Jericho wins a reversal sequence with a German suplex for two, but another reversal sequence ends in Eddie delivering a uranage. Jericho fires back with a powerslam for two, and a spinheel kick is worth two. Flapjack sets up another magistral, but this time Eddie reverses for two. Jericho responds with a two-alarm no-release powerbomb, and he takes his challenger up for a superplex, but Guerrero topples him on the way down. That allows Eddie to climb, and the Frogsplash wins him some gold at 16:50. Solid opener, though the Cruiserweight title seems like kind of a demotion for Eddie after getting a run with the US title earlier in the year. But then, WCW was always kind of terrible with that sort of thing. ** ¾ (Original rating: ***)

 

Harlem Heat v The Steiner Brothers: I guess they're just going to keep running this match until someone dies. Stevie Ray and Scott Steiner start, and Stevie pounds him into the corner, but Scott reverses a hiptoss out. Corner charge hits boot, however, allowing Stevie to fire back with a sidewalk slam, but his own corner charge runs into a boot, and Scott belly-to-belly suplexes him. Stevie bails to regroup, and it's over to Booker T on the way back in. Scott grabs a wristlock, but Booker escapes, and slaps on a full-nelson. Scott powers free and tries a suplex, but Booker reverses. Booker dives off the top, but Scott catches him in a suplex, and adds a press-drop for good measure. That draws Stevie in, but Rick Steiner cuts him off with a clothesline, and the Brothers clean house. The Heat stall for a while, and the dust settles on Booker and Rick. Steiner dominates the exchange and delivers an elbowdrop for two, and he and Scott control with quick tags. Rick hits boot while trying a corner charge though, allowing Booker a spinkick, and he tags out. The Heat cut the ring in half on Rick for a bit, but Booker runs into a powerslam during a criss cross, and Scott gets the tag. Stevie quickly takes a cheap shot to allow Booker a big sidekick, however, and Scott takes a bump over the top. Stevie is waiting for him with a superkick out there, and he sends Scott into the guardrail for good measure. He tries choking him with some cable, but Rick runs over to save, though the Heat retain control as we head back inside. Booker tries a spinkick, but Scott catches him in a suplex, and that's enough to allow the tag out - Roseanne Barr the door! The Heat get Rick up for an electric chair/missile dropkick combo for two (looked like Scott missed a cue to save there, forcing Rick to kick out at the last second), and then the Brothers end Stevie with a German suplex/clothesline combo at 11:42. This was watchable. * (Original rating: ½*)

 

WCW Television Title Match: Alex Wright v Ultimo Dragon: Mike Tenay is back for this one. They measure each other to start, dominated by Alex, until he makes the mistake of getting cocky with some dancing, and Dragon dropkicks him to the outside. Back in, Wright works a headlock, but Dragon escapes, and pelts him with a series of kicks to put the champion back on the outside. Dragon tries a charge as Wright rolls back in, but Alex catches him in a hotshot, and he unloads some chops in the corner. Spinheel kick gets two, and a pancake piledriver follows, before Wright goes to a chinlock. Dragon escapes, and wins a criss cross with a bodypress, and he takes control. Alex begs off, but Dragon stays on him, only to miss a spinheel kick. That allows Wright to cover for two, and he goes back to the chinlock, but Dragon fights free again, so Alex drives a knee to allow him to put the hold on again. Dragon escapes and hooks a sunset flip for two, but Wright cuts him off with a clothesline, and he takes his challenger up for a superplex, but Dragon blocks. Dragon dives off the middle with a splash, but Wright lifts his boot to block, then snap suplexes his challenger. Alex goes up with a flying splash, but now Dragon lifts his boot to block, and a series of kicks knock the champion back to the outside. Dragon with a springboard moonsault press into the aisle this time, and he delivers a rana on the way back in, though he's too battered to cover. That leads to both guys trading chops on their knees, won by Dragon with a kneeling dropkick. Dragon goes upstairs, but Wright crotches him, and he dropkicks him off the top to the outside. Alex dives with a plancha, and he rolls Dragon in, but a backdrop gets countered with a butterfly suplex for two. Bridging tiger suplex gets the challenger two, and a running powerbomb is worth two. Slam sets up a flying moonsault for two, so he tries a rana into a cradle, but Wright rolls through for two. Dragon cuts him off and gets to the top, but Alex blocks the dive with a dropkick for two. Side suplex, but Dragon topples him for two. Dragon goes for a slam, but Wright cradles for two. Dragon fires back with a magistral cradle for two, so Wright tries a German suplex, but Dragon blocks. Dragon gets the champ to the top for a rana off, and he immediately goes for the Dragon Sleeper to finish, but Wright is in the ropes. Wright tries his own sleeper, but Dragon reverses, so Wright drops down with a jawbreaker to escape. That stuns Dragon enough for Wright to hook a bridging German suplex, and that's enough to retain at 18:42. Hell of a match here, with both guys going for broke. And that's it for title matches on this show tonight. *** ½ (Original rating: ** ¼)

 

#1 Contender's Match: Jeff Jarrett v Dean Malenko: Winner gets a WCW United States Title shot at Halloween Havoc. They feel each other out to start, with Jarrett initially acting cocky, but holding his own on the mat once taking it seriously. Malenko gets the better of a criss cross to put Jeff on the outside, and he stalls out there a bit to break the momentum. Back in, Jeff manages to grab a headlock, but Dean forces a criss cross, and wins it with a forearm. Series of turnbuckle smashes rattle Jarrett, but he manages to win another criss cross with a sleeper, though Dean gets into the ropes. Malenko dives with a flying axehandle, but Jeff blocks. Jeff tries a suplex, but Malenko muscles him to the top rope to block, and superplexes him off. Dropkick, but Jarrett dodges, and tries a somersault cradle, but Malenko counters with mounted punches. Dropkick puts Jeff in the corner, and a German suplex brings him out. Texas cloverleaf looks to finish, but Jeff makes the ropes right away. Dean charges with a bodypress that sends both guys toppling over the top, and Malenko gets the better of that. He blasts Jeff with a baseball slide, and then feeds him the rail for good measure. Inside, Malenko lands a leg lariat for two, but a corner charge hits an elbow, and Jarrett goes after the leg. Dean shoves him into the rail again to buy time, but a suplex back in backfires when the knee gives out, and Jeff topples him for two. Corner whip, but Malenko reverses, and grabs a rebounding Jarrett in a sleeper. Jeff escapes with a side suplex, and it's figure four time, but Malenko counters with a cradle for two. Backslide is worth two, but Jeff fights back with a swinging neckbreaker. Butterfly suplex, but Malenko starts reversing, triggering a pinfall reversal sequence. Jeff tries a kneebreaker, but Malenko blocks, so Jarrett just clips the leg instead. That allows him to slap on the figure four, and Dean submits at 14:26. Another good match that was given plenty of time to develop and deliver. ** ¾ (Original rating: ***)

 

The Faces of Fear v Mortis and Wrath: Barbarian starts with Mortis, and Mortis pounds him into the corner, but gets a cross corner whip reversed on him, and Barbarian unloads. Pop-up flapjack and a clothesline gets Barbarian two, and he passes to Meng to put the boots to Mortis in the corner. Corner splash misses, however, and Wrath gets the tag. He tries pounding Meng into the corner, but Meng is in no mood, and quickly turns the tables. Wrath fights back with a 2^nd rope clothesline, and Mortis tags back in to try punches, but Meng no-sells, and tags out. Barbarian powerbombs him for two, and a pumphandle-slam is worth two. They cut the ring in half on Mortis, but James Vandenberg shakes the ropes as Barbarian climbs for a dive, and he ends up missing. Wrath comes in for a sitout powerbomb/neckbreaker combo, but Meng breaks up the pin at two. Wrath with a backbreaker to set up a pump-elbowdrop, but Barbarian is in the ropes at two. Mortis tags in to ride Barbarian off the ropes with a rocker dropper for two, and they cut the ring in half on him now. They hit Barbarian with a cool combo where Mortis superplexes him off of Wrath's shoulders, but that takes a lot out of them as well, and Meng is able to get the tag in. He comes in hot, and a powerslam on Wrath gets two when Mortis saves. Meng responds by bodyslamming Mortis to set up a flying splash, but Wrath saves at two. That draws Barbarian in, and Roseanne Barr the door! James tries to get involved, so Meng chokes him out. Mortis tries making the save, but Meng chokes him out as well, so Wrath makes the save with a uranage to score the pin at 12:21. This was more fun than I expected. * ¾ (Original rating: **)

 

Giant v Scott Norton: Slugfest to start, won by Giant as he dumps Norton over the top. Giant follows to smash him into the rail out there, but Scott reverses him into the post. Norton tries a suplex on the floor, but now it's Giant's turn to reverse, and he adds a big boot before taking it back inside. Scott is ready for him with a clothesline that sends both men tumbling over the top, however, and Norton adds a hotshot as they head back in. Avalanche rattles Giant, and a side suplex puts him down for two. Giant pops up and starts making a comeback out of nowhere, however, and the chokeslam finishes at 5:27. The finishing sequence felt like it came out of nowhere, but it was mostly a fun power match otherwise. * (Original rating: DUD)

 

No Disqualification Match: Scott Hall and Randy Savage v Lex Luger and Diamond Dallas Page: Hall and Luger start, and there's lots of posturing to start. Savage tries running in, but that fires Lex up, and he dumps them to the outside to clean house on his own. Dust settles on Hall and Page, and Scott gets control by working the arm. Page fights back with jabs, and an inverted atomic drop gets a full-Rude sell from Scott. Page with a pancake piledriver, so Macho takes a cheap shot, allowing Hall to clothesline DDP down. The nWo work Page over, and they knock Luger into the gap between the rings so they can have some fun chucking Dallas from one ring to the other a few times. Hall knocks out the referee for protesting, and then takes the replacement referee out just for existing. That burns Larry's ass, so he abandons his post at the commentary table, and storms down to the ring! So Larry stands there yelling at Hall from a safe distance, before finally growing a pair and shoving him - knocking Scott right into a schoolboy from a recovering Luger. There's no referee, however, so Larry just counts the pin himself at 9:46. And apparently there's counting that as an actual legal fall. I get that it's no DQ, but since when does that mean that anyone can be a referee? It's depressing that these four workers had a bunch of high profile matches together, and couldn't seem to string together a single good one. Sadly, this was actually one of the better ones at a whopping ½* (Original rating: ¼*)

 

Main Event: WarGames Match: The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Steve McMichael, Curt Hennig, and Chris Benoit) v The nWo (Kevin Nash, Syxx, Konnan, and Buff Bagwell): The Horsemen arrive without Hennig, who got taken out by the nWo earlier in the show. Benoit and Bagwell start, and Chris gets right to kicking the shit out of him. Benoit suplexes him into the cage, and he actually manages the flying headbutt drop even with that low ceiling, but Buff rolls out of the way anyway. Bagwell dominates him with kick-punch stuff for a while from there, and Konnan is next in. That period was really boring. Benoit comes back on them, suplexing Konnan and then slamming Buff onto him, before tossing both into the cage. He gets overwhelmed against both guys, however, and Konnan plants him with a DDT. They put the boots to him until the period ends, and Mongo joins the fray. He comes in with bodyslams on both guys, and he sends Konnan flying with a three-point stance. Syxx is next in, but he runs into Benoit as he comes running, and Chris just destroys the kid. He traps Syxx in the Crippler Crossface, but Bagwell saves, and the nWo are able to capitalize on their numbers advantage. Hennig shows up as the brawl continues, but he's wearing a sling, and doesn't look like he'll be competing. Flair enters with a flurry of chops at anything that moves, and just kind of continues doing that until Nash enters. The nWo get control again, and they grate Ric's face into the mesh, though he doesn't blade. Good for him, don't waste it on this shit match. The buzzer runs down to bring Hennig into the match, and he comes in, sling and all. He quickly discards it, however, revealing that he's not only uninjured, but he's got chains and handcuffs tucked in there! It looks like trouble for the nWo... only for Hennig to immediately turn on his team, and pass the weapons to the nWo! They handcuff the Horsemen to the cage (prompting a stupid line from Tony where he's terrified that someone might die when they lift the cage up after the match), and the nWo give them a chance to surrender, but they won't take it. The nWo keep pounding them to try and coax a submission, but no one wants to give, until finally they threaten to slam the cage door on Flair's head if no one gives, and McMichael quits at 19:38. And then Hennig slams the door on him anyway, just to be a total dick. Pretty boring WarGames, aside from the big finish. ¾* (Original rating: **)

 

BUExperience: It’s interesting in that almost every match had good build on TV, though I don’t think they actually bothered to announce the card at all ahead of time, so everything just kind of felt ‘there.’ And without Hulk Hogan on the show, and with only two (minor) titles defended, this really felt like a skippable show.

 

On the other hand, the wrestling was strong enough before falling apart at the top of the card, and the TV title match is worth going out of your way to see.

 

**