WCW Slamboree 1998 (Version II)

Original Airdate: May 17, 1998

From Worcester, Massachusetts; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan

Opening WCW Television Title Match: Fit Finlay v Chris Benoit: Finlay shakes off a chop by grabbing a side-headlock, but Chris fights to an overhead wristlock. Fit counters to a wristlock of his own, so Benoit turns it into a test-of-strength, ending in a pinfall reversal sequence. Benoit goes for a drop-toehold, but Fit blocks the follow up, and ties Chris up on the canvas. Finally with a snapmare, and they criss cross, ending in Benoit hiptossing him for two. Fit slows it down to break the momentum, so Benoit starts cracking him with chops, and delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Chris tries a kick, but Finlay blocks, and sweeps the leg. That allows the champion a clothesline to send Benoit to the outside, and Fit follows to put the boots to him on the floor. Fit with a bodyslam out there, and he drills Chris with a short-clothesline when Benoit is trying to climb back in. Finlay rolls him in on his own terms, and delivers a double stomp, then ties him up in a reverse chinlock. Chris powers to a vertical base into an electric chair, but Finlay gets to his feet first, and hooks a backslide for two. Chris fights back with chops, so Finlay goes to the eyes, and grounds Benoit in a chinlock. They spill to the outside, where Benoit whacks him with a chair to buy some time, but an attempt at a tope gets blocked when Fit swings the chair. A pretty cringeworthy bump from Benoit there. Inside, Fit delivers a bodyslam for two, and he stays on the back with an elbowdrop. A clothesline follows, and Fit grounds him in another chinlock to try and grind his challenger down. Fit with a corner whip, but the charge in misses, and Benoit capitalizes with the three-alarm rolling German suplex - only for Fit to block after the second one. Finlay looks to follow up, but Chris quickly counters to the crippler crossface! Finlay is immediately in the ropes, but Benoit stays on track with a snap suplex to set up the flying headbutt drop, but Chris gets distracted by Booker T wandering down to ringside. Benoit jaws at him, allowing Finlay to recover with a baseball slide. Inside for the tombstone, but Benoit flashes an inside cradle for two. But that’s all he has left in the tank, and Finlay spikes him with a tombstone at 14:51. A good, hard hitting match, but it was like they were determined to ‘Luger’ Chris Benoit during this period. They did a whole angle where he wants to win his first title… and doesn’t. Then he gets shot after shot at the TV title… and loses every time. No wonder people were bitter about his booking. I didn’t love that Booker got shoehorned into the finish, but ultimately it was continuing to build their angle, so at least it wasn’t wasted booking. ** ¾ (Original rating: ¾*)

Lex Luger v Brian Adams: Lex wins a slugfest at the bell, leaving Adams on the outside. Luger goes after him with an axehandle from the apron, and he works Brian over on the floor. Inside for a powerslam, and Lex calls for the torture rack, but a distraction from Vincent allows Adams to recover with a piledriver. Adams puts the boots to him, and delivers a backbreaker for two. And then Lex just sort of makes a nothing comeback, fighting off another bit of interference, and getting Adams in the rack within seconds at 5:06. Luckily, this was to the point. Perfect use of these guys during this period, as they didn’t need to be going longer than that. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

#1 Contender's 15-Man Battle Royal: The winner gets an immediate shot at Chris Jericho’s WCW Cruiserweight title. We’ve got: Ciclope, Evan Karagias, Damien, El Dandy, El Grio, Juventud Guerrera, Chavo Guerrero Jr, Marty Jannetty, Kidman, Lenny Lane, Psychosis, Silver King, Super Calo, Johnny Swinger, and Villano IV - complete with Jericho doing the ring introductions in hilarious fashion. Oh, and eliminations are either the usual over the top, or via pinfall. It comes down to Ciclope, Guerrera, Kidman, and Psychosis, and Psychosis is first out. Kidman gets dumped by Juventud, but then Guerrera and Ciclope have some very serious words, and Juvi eliminates himself at 8:26. Afterwards, Ciclope removes his mask to reveal Dean Malenko underneath, to the shock of Jericho. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chris Jericho v Dean Malenko: Dean unloads on him with right hands, pounding Jericho into the corner, and stomping a mudhole, as the crowd goes ballistic. Dean with a backdrop, and a dropkick is nicely sold by the champion. Suplex, but Jericho blocks, so Dean opts to just pound the hell out of him instead. Chris ends up on the outside, so Malenko dives at him, and Jericho gets whipped into the guardrail. He rolls Jericho in, but the champ steals the high ground, and nails him on the way. Backelbow, but Dean ducks, so Jericho manages a hotshot. That allows the champion a senton splash, and a hanging vertical suplex gets him a two count. A bodyslam sets up the Lionsault for two, and a reversal sequence ends in Jericho delivering a butterfly backbreaker. Liontamer, but Dean blocks, and Chris grabs the ropes to avoid getting caught in a hold. Jericho goes upstairs for a flying backelbow that gets two, but he loses a slugfest. Jericho tries a superplex to keep control, but Dean counters with an exploding gutbuster, and the Texas cloverleaf crowns a new champion at 7:03. The match itself was not especially great, but as an angle, this whole thing was fantastic, and one of the best of the era. * ½ (Original rating: *)

Bowery Death Match: Raven v Diamond Dallas Page: The announcers openly question the point of Raven’s riot squad, since he’s already locked in a cage with DDP. Well, at least they’re not just blindly accepting it, good for them. Page runs wild on him to start, but Raven manages to send him into a trashcan to shake the attack off. Raven then takes about three hours to find the weapon he wants, but Page nails him before he can finally use it. It was a bull rope, by the way. Really specific, this Raven guy. Page gets the rope and uses it to whip Raven into the cage a few times, and then ties it as a noose, trying to hang Raven from the ceiling of the cage. That leaves Raven down for the count, but Raven beats it at eight, so Page breaks a VCR over his head. For those folks reading who have no idea what that acronym stands for… well, why are you reading a review of a wrestling show from 1998 anyway? Stay in your lane. Raven gets hold of a trashcan to whack Page with, but Dallas beats the count, so Raven nails him with a cookie sheet. Tony trying to get the weapon over as deadly is why they paid him the big bucks. We all made fun of some of the silly things that came out of his mouth in the late 90s, but at least he was trying to get stuff over. I prefer that to the announcers who make fun of stuff like we’ve seen in WWE over the last fifteen years, or so. Raven gets a sleeper on, but Page drops into the corner to escape, bumping the referee in the process. Page with a jawbreaker, and a drop-toehold sends Raven into a chair. The Flock storm down and cut their way into the cage, but Van Hammer shows up to attack them to keep them out of things. Meanwhile, Page unloads on Raven in the corner, but the cage is open, and the riot squad guys come in. They unmask as Kidman and Horace Boulder, which feels like a really dumb reveal. Like, why even bother masking them? They guard Raven regardless. Page fights them off, but Raven drops him with a DDT. Page beats the count, so Raven mulekicks him, and uses a cutter. Page beats the count, so Raven swings with a chair, but it misses. That allows Dallas the Diamond Cutter, and both men are left down. The referee counts, and Page beats it for the win at 14:35. I wasn’t feeling this. Afterwards, the remaining masked riot guy handcuffs the Flock members to the cage, and then unmasks as Mortis. Mortis then unmasks again (remember he was a masked wrestler to begin with), and he beats Raven with a chair, apparently as payback for Raven refusing to let him into the Flock. ½* (Original rating: -* ½)

Freedom of Chavo Guerrero Jr Match: Eddie Guerrero v Ultimo Dragon: If Dragon wins, Chavo is no longer under uncle Eddie's control. They didn’t build up that stipulation at all on TV, oddly. Feeling out process to start, with Dragon able to avoid Eddie’s attempts to trap him in any holds. Dragon starts throwing kicks, so Guerrero cuts him off with a dropkick, and he puts the boots to Dragon in the corner. A criss cross ends in Dragon using a monkey flip, and Eddie bails to regroup. Inside, Dragon gets him in a half-crab, and then shifts it into the Muta-lock. Eddie sneaks into the ropes, and takes a cheap shot on the break, allowing Guerrero a snapmare into a bootrake. Eddie with a clothesline and a vertical suplex for two, so he grounds Dragon in a chinlock. To the outside, Eddie chokes him with a cable, but Chavo objects. Back in, Eddie tries a superplex, but Dragon crotches him on the top rope to block. Dragon knocks him to the outside for a springboard moonsault press on the floor, and in with a rack drop for two. Dragon dives with a flying moonsault for two, and he takes Guerrero up for a rana off the top, but Eddie blocks. That allows Eddie a tornado DDT, but the flying frogsplash misses, and Dragon hooks a magistral cradle for two. Dragon tries another springboard moonsault press, but Eddie blocks, so Dragon turns it into the Dragon sleeper. Eddie reverses, but uses the ropes for leverage, so Chavo breaks it up. Eddie smacks him around, allowing Dragon to recover. He comes at Eddie, but ends up colliding with Chavo, and Eddie capitalizes with a brainbuster. Back up for the flying frogsplash, and Dragon is done at 11:09. Two great workers, but the match just couldn’t get into gear, before finally finding its voice in the last stretch. And then afterwards, Chavo takes a page out of Eddie’s book, and kicks the crap out of Dragon for failing. He’s so brutal, in fact, that Eddie himself intervenes. I was complaining in the lead up to this show that a lot of angles don’t make sense with guys bouncing between heel and babyface sometimes within the same show, but stuff like this is the perfect example of how ‘shades of gray’ works. * ½ (Original rating: *)

WCW United States Title Match: Bill Goldberg v Saturn: Saturn pounds him into the ropes, but a clothesline misses, and Goldberg throws one of his own. Bill with a press-powerslam, followed by a press-drop, and a big clothesline. Saturn wisely rolls out of the ring, but Goldberg gets suckered into a chase, and Saturn clobbers him on the way back in. That allows the challenger to go to work in the corner, but a cross corner whip backfires when Bill rebound with a spinkick. Saturn fights back by sweeping the leg, but Goldberg pops up, and chucks him into the corner for a pounding. Saturn bails again, and while Goldberg follows again, this time Saturn is so battered that there’s no tricks on his part. Goldberg hammers him on the outside, but misses a shot against the post, and slams his own hand into the steel. That allows Saturn a dropkick from the apron, and Saturn rolls him in for a flying spinheel kick for one. A standard spinheel kick sets up a chinlock, but Goldberg immediately gets to a vertical base, and shakes him off. Saturn kicks him in the face and tries again, but Goldberg fights him off with a belly-to-belly suplex. Saturn kicks him in the gut and delivers a swinging neckbreaker to set up another chinlock, and this time he gets some traction. Suplex, but Goldberg counters with a neckbreaker, only to miss an avalanche. That allows Saturn a suplex, and a superkick follows. Saturn with a springboard dropkick, but a second springboard gets countered with a spear, and Goldberg delivers the jackhammer at 7:01. This was right on par with their Spring Stampede match the month before. ** (Original rating: ¾*)

Eric Bischoff v Vince McMahon: Oh, right, this. See, Eric Bischoff went on TV the week before the show and challenged Vince McMahon to show up and fight him at Slamboree. Then, they spent the entire pay per view hyping McMahon's appearance (down to having a limo arrive, and having their security team prepare him a backstage pass with his photo on it), but of course, he doesn't show. Officially, Bischoff wins by forfeit at 0:10, though I'd say McMahon had the last laugh. A waste of time, and a pretty silly and desperate attempt to try and grab some ratings over the resurgent WWF. Kind of fun hearing Michael Buffer introduce Vince in his patented manner, though

Randy Savage v Bret Hart: Speaking of Buffer, he announces Bret as ‘The Hitman: Bret.’ Nicely done. Roddy Piper acts as the special guest referee for this one, and shit, just how many times did Piper referee Bret matches over the year? Hart stalls on the outside, so Roddy rolls him in himself, so Randy goes to work. A backelbow gets Savage two, but Hart fights back, and delivers a legdrop. A vertical suplex leads to a headbutt drop to the groin, and Macho rolls out of the ring to regroup. Hart follows, and tries to use the steps, but Macho dodges, and whips Hart into them. They spill into the crowd, where nothing really happens, and Savage delivers a bodyslam on the floor as they come back over to ringside. Into the ring, Hart starts kicking at the leg to shake Macho off, and he works the part. Hart with a piledriver for two, and a DDT follows for another two. Bret unloads in the corner, and delivers a backbreaker to set up a 2nd rope elbowdrop, but Macho moves. That allows Savage an elbowdrop, and a vertical suplex follows for two. Randy goes upstairs for the flying elbowdrop, but he bangs up his knee on the landing, and it delays his pin attempt - resulting in a two count. Savage looks for a piledriver, but Bret sweeps the leg, and gets him in the Sharpshooter. That draws Miss Elizabeth out, as Randy manages a reversal! That’s one terrible Sharpshooter, too. Hart makes the ropes, as Liz runs in, and gets in Piper’s face over something. Meanwhile, Hart mulekicks Macho, but Savage blocks a shot with knux. Savage steals the weapon away, so WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan shows up, swiping at Randy’s bad leg. That allows Bret to get the Sharpshooter on again, and Savage submits at 16:37. Well, you certainly don’t see that every day. I honestly can’t think of too many times I’ve ever seen Savage submit - whenever he loses to a submission hold, it’s usually because he’s passed out and/or counted down. Two of the all time greats having a terrible match is a sad thing. Gosh, you’d think they’d have some fun with this, considering it’s three close friends out there together in a featured spot. In Savage’s case, he was extremely limited by this point, and in Hart’s, severely lacking motivation. ¾* (Original rating: ¼*)

Main Event: WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Outsiders v Sting and Giant: Scott Hall starts with Sting, and they do a bunch of posturing. Hall delivers a chokeslam, but he wastes time gloating, and Sting recovers with a one-handed bulldog. Sting with a pair of inverted atomic drops into a pair of Stinger Splashes, and it’s Scorpion deathlock time, but Kevin Nash comes in to save. Sting whips them into one another to clean house, and the champs regroup with Dusty Rhodes on the outside. The dust settles on Nash and Giant, and Nash tries for a powerbomb right away, but Giant blocks. Nash gets him into the corner for a bootchoke instead, and a cross corner whip leads to a corner clothesline. Again, but Giant reverses, and uses a big boot on the rebound. Tag to Sting, but he walks into a big boot after getting distracted, and Hall tags in with a fallaway slam for two. The Outsiders work Sting over, until Sting escapes a bearhug from Nash, and makes the hot tag to Giant. Giant runs wild, culminating in hitting Nash with a legdrop for two. Giant decides to go upstairs for a flying splash, but Kevin rolls out of the way. He sets up a powerbomb, but Hall nails his own partner with the title belt, and Giant scores the pin at 14:45. Changing the title was the correct booking, but the match was nothing, and the finish kind of sucked, making Sting and Giant look like goofs. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

BUExperience: There was some really good stuff on this show, but it was completely limited to angles, with the actual wrestling not working at all. It was kind of a given that the big stars weren’t turning in great matches during this period, but even the undercard guys like Jericho, Malenko, Guerrero, Dragon and others turned in really underwhelming performances. 

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