WCW Uncensored 1998 (Version II)

Original Airdate: March 15, 1998 

From Mobile, Alabama; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan

Opening WCW Television Title Match: Booker T v Eddie Guerrero: Eddie stalls on the outside at the bell, upset at the crowd’s jeering, as the announcers delve into the history of the title, giving this thing real stakes. Booker catches him with a backdrop after forcing Eddie into action, and a sidewalk slam follows. Clothesline connects, and a second one sends Guerrero over the top. Eddie comes in offering a handshake, but Booker doesn’t fall for it, and nails him with a savate kick. Powerslam follows, so Eddie bails, but Booker chases him into the aisle this time. Booker with a bodyslam on the floor out there, and a backelbow gets him two on the way back in. Booker goes upstairs, but Eddie brings him down with a vertical superplex, only for Booker to come back with a superkick for two. Axekick, but Eddie ducks, and sweeps the leg to take the champ down again. Eddie works the leg, until Booker mounts a comeback, but the Harlem sidekick misses, and Booker ends up wrapping his bad leg across the top rope. That allows Guerrero to try for another superplex, but Booker shoves him off the top, and dives with a missile dropkick at 11:07. The ending felt a little abrupt, but this was a solid match otherwise. Afterwards, Eddie beats up cousin Chavo Guerrero Jr, angry that Chavo didn’t help him out during the match. * ¾ (Original rating: **)

Juventud Guerrera v Konnan: Guerrera kick starts the match with a spinheel kick, but a dropkick misses, and Konnan clotheslines him. Konnan puts the boots to him from there, but Guerrera fights him off, and uses a headscissors to send him to the outside. Guerrera teases a dive, but Konnan gets in his head, and ends up pulling him to the outside before he can get back on track. Konnan tries smashing his face into the steps, but Guerrera reverses, and then springboards off of the steps with a leg lariat. Tony, meanwhile, is impressed that the steps could support the weight of Juventud. I’d be concerned if they couldn’t! Guerrera with a springboard missile dropkick for two on the way back inside, but a tilt-a-whirl goes sideways when Konnan drops him across the top rope. That allows Konnan to work an Indian deathlock/guillotine choke combo, until Guerrera tries moving, so Konnan chucks him with a German suplex. “Almost tossed him to Germany,” declares Heenan. Konnan with a catapult into the turnbuckles, and he bootrakes him a few times from there. Konnan biels him across the ring for two, and he works a rocking horse. He ends up dropping Guerrera right on his neck with the move, and Juventud bails to the outside to regroup after that one, as Konnan stalls for time. Inside, Konnan uses a weak death valley driver for two, but a German suplex off the top gets countered with a tree of woe, and Juvi unloads. Guerrera with a chop, but a victory cradle gets countered with a wheelbarrow suplex for two. Powerbomb, but Guerrera counters with a facebuster, and dives with a flying 450 splash - Konnan dodging. That allows Konnan a cradle DDT for two, and a Samoan drop follows for two. Konnan looks for the follow up, but before he can figure something out, Guerrera uses a crucifix cradle for the flash pin at 10:20. This was okay, but Guerrera had to dumb this way down for Konnan, and Konnan looked absolutely laughable trying to hang with him. A really sloppy performance overall. Afterwards, Konnan does a beat down to get his heat back. * ½ (Original rating: *)

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chris Jericho v Dean Malenko: They feel each other out to start, and Jericho catches him with a leg-feed enzuigiri, but a springboard bodypress to the outside misses. Jericho responds by walking out on the match, and Dean just stands there like a dork until he comes back, instead of chasing him. Malenko puts the boots to him when he does, but a criss cross ends in Jericho delivering a spinebuster. Chris adds a hanging vertical suplex for two, and a snapmare allows him a chinlock. Lionsault gets the champion two, so he works a backbreaker submission hold, but Dean escapes, and side suplexes him for two. Jericho cuts him off with a senton splash for two, and a corner dropkick finds the mark. Jericho bootchokes him, but a corner clothesline misses. That allows Dean a side suplex, but Jericho blocks. Vertical suplex, but Chris counters with an inverted version. Liontamer, but Dean has the ropes before he can get it on, and a victory cradle gets the challenger two. Backslide gets another two, so Chris springboards, knocking Malenko to the outside. Inside, a reversal sequence ends in Jericho trying a side superplex, but Dean toppling him for two. Dean tries a suplex, but Jericho blocks. Dropkick, but Jericho dodges. That allows Chris to try for the Liontamer again, but Dean has the ropes to save things. Jericho responds with a rana off the top, but Dean counters with an exploding gutbuster for two! Leg lariat, but Jericho catches him in the Liontamer! Dean inches toward the ropes, but Chris hooks him in, and Malenko submits at 14:42. This felt like kind of a letdown, but there was good stuff in it. Afterwards, Gene Okerlund comes out to talk to Dean about the loss/rub it in, but Malenko is in no mood for Gene’s badgering, and walks out. ** ¼ (Original rating: **)

Lex Luger v Scott Steiner: Scott attacks before the bell, and hammers on Luger for a bit. Steiner with a belly-to-belly suplex, as Heenan talks about how unbelievable it is to see these two facing off. As opposed to the many, many other times they did, right here in this promotion? I get that they need to get the angle over, but within reason. To the outside, Scott whips him into the guardrail, and he bashes Lex’s hand into the steps out there. Suplex back in from the apron, but Luger reverses to the floor, and gives Scott a trip into the rail to return the favor. Luger with an inverted atomic drop on the way back in, followed by a pair of clotheslines. Powerslam leads to the torture rack, but Steiner mulekicks him to block. That allows Steiner the camel clutch, and the referee somehow misses that literally half of Luger’s body is in the ropes. No matter, Steiner releases the hold and grabs a chair, but Rick Steiner shows up. That distraction allows Lex to tag Scott with a forearm smash, and Luger hooks the leg at 3:55. Not that a long match between these two would have been a good idea at this stage in their careers, but four minutes is a slap in the face to a pay per view audience. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

WCW United States Title Triple Threat Match: Diamond Dallas Page v Chris Benoit v Raven: First fall wins it here. They do some triple lockups to start, to stalemates. They eventually end up spilling out of the ring in one, and Page takes a bump into the steps out there. Benoit takes Raven in to clothesline for two, and a backelbow gets him another two. Page recovers with a clothesline on Benoit, but Raven tries to steal the pin, so DDP dumps him to the outside. He drops Benoit across the top rope for one, so Raven tries hooking Page’s leg, but Benoit baseball slides into him. That puts both challengers on the outside, so Page dives after them with a double plancha! Dallas with a swinging neckbreaker on Raven for two on the way back in, and Chris hits Raven with a snap suplex for two. Page pancake piledrives Raven for two, so Benoit puts the boots to the champion, and then goes up with a flying headbutt drop on Raven, but Page saves at two. Page and Benoit end up slugging it out on the floor, but Raven breaks it up with a dive onto both. He covers Benoit out there for two, and then covers Page for two. I guess this is falls count anywhere, then? Benoit whips Raven into the rail for two, and Page whips Chris into it, as all three start brawling up the aisle. Benoit snap suplexes Page on the ramp, and Raven wants to work together to throw the champ through a piece of the set. The alliance quickly falls apart, however, as Benoit hits Raven with a random kitchen sink, and they brawl over to the internet broadcast position. Raven nails him with a table over there, and chokes him out with a velvet rope (which Heenan initially guesses is ‘a snake’), but a whip through a table gets reversed. Benoit drags him back to the ring, so Raven goes low to buy time, and brings a chair in. Raven tries a drop-toehold onto the chair, but Chris reverses, as a bloody and battered Page crawls down the aisle. Meanwhile, Chris whips Raven into a corner wedged chair for two, and a sleeper looks to finish, but Page makes it in to put one on Benoit! Raven drops down in a double jawbreaker to leave all three men looking up at the lights, and Benoit recovers first with the rolling German suplex on Raven. He gets two alarms in, but Page is up, and grabs Benoit mid move for a double German suplex! This stuff is kind of cliche today, but this was totally wild, state-of-the-art stuff for early 1998. Raven and Benoit form another alliance, and Raven grabs a stop sign to blast Dallas with. He brings a table in next, but Chris turns on him before he can put DDP through it, He takes Raven upstairs to superplex onto the tabled Page, but Dallas recovers, and knocks Benoit over the top. That allows him to Diamond Cut Raven through the table from the top, and with Chris out, Page can cover at 17:11. This was one of the first Triple Threat matches done on this scale, and while you’d think they’d need time to work the kinks out of the format, this was actually better than a lot of the modern versions that have had twenty five years of refinement. This was all action, and felt more like what the match ‘should’ be, with all three guys involved the whole way through, instead of taking turns playing dead. *** (Original rating: *** ¼)

Giant v Kevin Nash: Giant gets JJ Dillon to reinstate the powerbomb for this one. Posturing to start, until Giant gets control. He clotheslines Kevin over the top, and then follows to send him into the post, but Nash reverses. Inside, Nash unloads on him, as Tony claims that he’s one of the ‘most talented’ in the history of the sport. It’s no wonder he lost all credibility by the time WCW shut down. Nash works a sleeper, but Giant starts slugging free, so Nash hits him with a straddling ropechoke. Nash removes the neckbrace before trying a second one, but Giant lifts his boot to block. Nash tries a headbutt, but that backfires, and Giant responds in kind. Giant makes a comeback, and a powerbomb looks to finish, but Brian Adams attacks him with a baseball bat before he can deliver the move, and that’s a DQ at 6:33. For a match backed by a strong, long simmering angle, this sure was boring. Afterwards, Konnan and Vincent join in for a beat down, but Giant fights all four men off to stand tall. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Bret Hart v Curt Hennig: Feeling out process to start, dominated by Hart, as the announcers discuss SummerSlam ‘91. Hart gets the Sharpshooter on early, but Rick Rude decks him to break the hold, allowing Hennig to turn the tide. He works Bret’s leg, and goes for the submission with a figure four, but no dice. Toehold, but Bret won’t quit there either, so Curt drops a leg to the groin to soften him up. Hennig with a bodyslam to set up a dive, but Bret pops up, and knocks him off. Bret makes a comeback, and hooks a small package for two. Russian legsweep gets another two, and a bulldog is worth two. Backbreaker sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Hennig uses the fisherman suplex for two. “I’ve never seen anyone kick out of that move,” declares Heenan. You were literally just discussing SummerSlam ‘91 not ten minutes ago! Hart with a rollup, but Hennig reverses for two. He tries a sunset flip, but Hart rolls through into the Sharpshooter at 13:50. I don’t know what the deal was with this one, as they seemed to be trying to keep the match going, but everything they were trying just wasn’t connecting at all, and this was a massive disappointment compared to their 1991 and 1993 pay per view matches. ¾* (Original rating: ¼*)

WCW World Title Match: Sting v Scott Hall: Hall tries stealing the title belt away before the bell, triggering an attack from the champ, and Scott ends up on the outside. Back in, Hall manages a wristlock, but Sting fights him off with a short-clothesline, and Scott stalls to break the momentum. Reversal sequence ends in Hall chokeslamming him, but he wastes time mocking Giant, and Sting recovers with a one-handed bulldog. Standing dropkick knocks Hall to the outside, and he does some more stalling with Dusty Rhodes out there. Dusty trips Sting up as Hall comes back inside, allowing Scott to clobber the champion with a clothesline for two. Corner clothesline and a fallaway slam get another two, but a criss cross ends in them knocking heads, and Sting ends up collapsing in a headbutt drop to the groin of the challenger. How has no one lifted that spot for themselves yet? Dusty sneaks in with an elbowdrop as the referee counts both downed men (which he somehow misses), and Hall covers for two. Scott unloads with rights, but Sting starts no-selling, and delivers an inverted atomic drop. Stinger splash sets up the Scorpion deathlock, but Rhodes distracts him. That results in the referee getting bumped, and Hall gets hold of brass knux - knocking Sting silly for two. Hall looks for the crucifix powerbomb, but Sting counters with an inverted DDT to retain at 8:29. This was not great, but it felt like they were trying, and the crowd was into it. * (Original rating: DUD)

Main Event: Cage Match: Randy Savage v Hollywood Hulk Hogan: The lights fail to come up for the first minute or so, and even when they do, visibility is terrible here. Did they use smaller mesh this time out, or something? Hulk dominates early on, unloading on Savage. Big boot and a cross corner clothesline connect, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Savage dodges. Savage with a backelbow, and he chokes Hollywood for a bit. Macho tries sending him into the cage, but Hulk blocks, and unloads with the weightlifting belt. Hulk with a bodyslam to set up the legdrop, but Randy rolls out of the way. That allows Macho to get hold of the weight belt to retaliate, and he gets a two count out of it. Into the cage for two, and Hulk is busted open. Macho hammers on the cut, but a charge ends badly when Hogan backdrops him into the cage. That was a pretty wild bump for Savage at this stage. Hulk uses the weight belt again, and a side suplex gets him a two count. Hulk rams him into the cage to draw blood, and he covers for two. The match grinds to a halt as Hulk works him over in dull fashion, and then they spill to the outside for a brawl, with the referee casually opening the door for them. Does he not understand the concept of the match? Macho makes it to the top of the cage for a flying axehandle for two on the way back in, and a bodyslam sets up a flying elbowdrop from the top of the cage, but Disciple runs in to drag Hogan out of harm’s way. Randy climbs down to deal with them both, but Hulk has recovered, and is armed with the belt again. So with Savage outnumbered, Sting flies down from the rafters to back Macho up, only for Savage to turn on him. Randy beats Sting down, and then just walks out on the match for a no-contest at 16:00. Savage was game to take some bumps here, but other than that, this was pretty terrible, and the finish was insultingly bad. -¼* (Original rating: -**)

BUExperience: This wasn’t a bad show, this wasn’t a good show, it was just kind of there. It definitely felt like a big letdown in terms of storytelling, with a lot of the big angles going into this not resolved, or settled in underwhelming matches. 

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