What are you watching?

[Big Pete]

A general thread to discuss whatever promotion from whatever year.

 

[Big Pete]

WCW 1996

Decided to give this year a chance as I'm not as familiar with it as I am with 97-01. So far, it's very hokey with the Horseman & The Dungeon of Doom forming an alliance to stop Hulkamania. I could handle this as the PG Corporate Ministry if there was a theme but aside from a hackneyed idea about relationships there really isn't anything there. It's just a group of bad guys who don't like our beloved hero, Hulk Hogan.

Serving as the B story for that feud is the far more interesting Savage/Flair feud. At this point, these guys have faced off more than Orton/Barrett or Sheamus/Del Rio but they may have cottened onto something here with Flair stealing both Elizabeth and Woman from Savage. Unfortunately, this is never really explored and Savage continues to team with Hogan, assuming the role of a bridesmaid.

Then there is the Sting/Luger angle. This angle has been brewing since the first Nitro but has been moving at such a glacial pace that it's difficult to really get into. Basically, Sting is Sting. He's a total boy-scout babyface. Where as Luger is acting very shady, teaming with the evil Jimmy Hart as his manager and doing anything it takes to win. Watching these differences tear the two apart would be fantastic...but I'm about 12 shows in at this point and we're still at around the same point.

However, the real story is all the zany shock tactics Bischoff employed to draw fans in. It seems like every week a new act is debuting and or returning. Names like the Public Enemy, Road Warriors, Konnan, Belfast Brawler, Elizabeth, Woman, Steiner Brothers etc. have been popping up on every second episode and I'm sure there will be more to follow in the coming weeks.

That's been one of the more appealing aspects, the other is watching the development of the undercard in the likes of Eddie, Benoit, Pillman, DDP & Malenko. Unfortunately, it seems like these guys only appear on Nitro once in a blue moon and disappear only to pop up on the Meat and Potatos Saturday Night show. It's exactly what Iafeta said, the biggest problem with WCW was that there was never any consistency. If these wrestlers had have received more focus, than the company would have been better off in the long term. It will be interesting to compare their years in 96 and 97 because I feel like WCW really dropped the ball with them then.

Also, I can see where some members were coming from on the tag team division front. On star-power, I don't think there was a company in North America that could touch their tag division. You could make the argument that ECW booked their division better and had better talents but the star power of Sting/Luger, Road Warriors, Steiner Brothers, Harlem Heat, Nasty Boys, Public Enemy, Blue Bloods, American Males, Faces of Fear etc. trumps it.

I'm still in the early stages and I can't wait to see how the best storyline in wrestling history starts off.

 

[Valheru]

I am currently watching WCW 1999 (up to May at the moment) after watching the 96 – 98 period recently. For me 1999 is a particularly interesting year because the company still had a chance to turn things around, the talent was there and the product wasn’t that bad, the booking of course was atrocious, which had them in a slide by the end of the year that they would never recover from.

The year started with the infamous finger poke of doom and NWO reformation incident. I have seen people argue that the finger poke of doom itself wasn’t a bad idea, it was what happened after that was the problem. After watching it again recently, I have to disagree, I get that they wanted to find a way to screw Goldberg but Nash wasn’t the right person to do it against (at Starrcade) and hot shotting the belt was just craziness. Even after all that they could have redeemed themselves somewhat by having someone such as Benoit, DDP etc. turn on Goldberg to end the show, the bloke they chose... Lex Luger...

Despite all that, I have found that 1999 (the first 4 months at least) was a surprisingly solid product with proper build to the PPVs which was a major weakness in years prior and solid in ring work. The most pleasing aspect (which has been discussed elsewhere here) was the quality of the tag division with the likes of Malenko/Benoit, Raven/Saturn and Mysterio/Kidman. Add the Jersey Triad a bit later on and you have an exciting division.

As for storylines, the aforementioned NWO storyline dominated up until March with Ric Flair and the horseman being the main foe. Ric Flair became “president” of the company on the last episode of nitro in 98 booking himself in title matches at Superbrawl where his son David turned on him and uncensored where he screwed Hogan out of the title in one of the most diabolical examples of booking you will ever see. He won via pinfall in a steel cage match that was a first blood match despite both men bleeding. I am not sure if a double turn was intended but that was the result.

The NWO itself quickly fizzled away due to a number of reasons, injuries chief among them and of course the fact they were stale. Currently (Beginning of May) only Nash and Steiner are healthy and they don’t even associate with each other. DDP emerged as the company’s top heel winning the title at Spring Stampede. Ric Flair is another major heel right amidst his famous ‘crazy’ storyline. I will say his promos have been entertaining to say the least.

April was an interesting month as the desperation of WCW started to shine through. As an example they had DDP defend the title on Nitro against Goldberg which was a really good match and the following week against Sting in the first hour (of 3) where he dropped the title. He then won the title back later that night in a 4 way with Sting, Nash and Goldberg. Hot shotting the title aside it was absolute madness to put the two original matches on free TV.

Pete – mid 1996 was obviously an interesting time and turned the industry on its head but without giving too much away I will say that a lot of stuff was just dropped in July and never mentioned again. I am interested to see what you make of it.

 

[brooksy19]

Are you guys viewing online or DVD?

 

[RHCP]

Watched the Rise and Fall of ECW the other day, it was really interesting.

I wonder where ECW and Heyman would have ended up if he had been working with somebody with a bit more business nous and just focused on the booking, and if the TV deal with TNN hadn't been so shitty.

 

[Big Pete]

Valheru - Awesome response! Here I was thinking I'd be the only nerdy wrestling fan but as per usual you've got me absolutely covered.

I agree with you on the tag division around April-July '99 was among one of WCW's best. It wasn't like WCW put much thought into it, but the performers were all quality and there was a nice list of *** star matches which constantly steal the show.

Then there is Spring Stampede '99 which is right up there with the '94 iteration as one of the best PPVs the company ever put on.

I look forward to the post-war against Hulkamania stuff. I can see a couple of seeds being planted for pay-offs down the line which obviously didn't happen. It will be interesting to see what happens between now and then.

 

[Valheru]

Thanks for the feedback Pete, keep us up to date with your thoughts on WCW 1996. Hopefully this thread can gain some traction as it’s a good way to discuss wrestling history in general. I just want to further highlight the desperation of WCW in mid 1999 by discussing DDP’s title run. He wins the belt at Spring Stampede and all of the following is done on free TV before the next PPV

DDP VS Goldberg
DDP VS Sting where he loses the title and wins it back later that night
DDP VS Ric Flair

All are quality matches by the way and then at the PPV he drops the belt to Nash and Goldberg/Sting is joint main event.

That right there could have been 6 months of quality programming in the main event with a massive payoff against either Goldberg or Sting, yet they gave it all away within a month on free TV. Additionally, Goldberg/Sting was the single biggest drawing feud they had available to them and they gave it away on a throw away show in a meaningless match with one week’s build.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

That's panicy booking to say the least.

I've recently been streaming random episodes of Raw/Nitro and the occassional PPV from 1996 to 2000.

There was never a greater period in wrestling imo

 

[bender]

Thanks for the feedback Pete, keep us up to date with your thoughts on WCW 1996. Hopefully this thread can gain some traction as it?s a good way to discuss wrestling history in general. I just want to further highlight the desperation of WCW in mid 1999 by discussing DDP?s title run. He wins the belt at Spring Stampede and all of the following is done on free TV before the next PPV

DDP VS Goldberg
DDP VS Sting where he loses the title and wins it back later that night
DDP VS Ric Flair

All are quality matches by the way and then at the PPV he drops the belt to Nash and Goldberg/Sting is joint main event.

That right there could have been 6 months of quality programming in the main event with a massive payoff against either Goldberg or Sting, yet they gave it all away within a month on free TV. Additionally, Goldberg/Sting was the single biggest drawing feud they had available to them and they gave it away on a throw away show in a meaningless match with one week?s build.

That is one of the ironic things from back then. I can recall pretty clearly from around that time when one of the big beefs that people had was that WCW would try to draw a crowd reaction by announcing a challenger, for example DDP vs Sting they would tease by challenging them to a match and then say that match was on the PPV, resulting in a let down. There really was so much pressure on both companies at this time, to produce good TV on free to air as well as PPV.

I am not sure how the period of time matches up with the WWE, but i think that this would have been about the time where the WWE had just started their Undertaker v Austin feud (or were just about to). If so, the pressure to provide good weekly tv shows was enourmous, because the WWE was revolutionising the game for the first time by integrating pryotechnics, film and storyline into the show, like it had never been done before.

WCW had a much, much bigger roster, meaning more people got their chances. In fact, i can remember the main event of one of the pay perviews having a main event of Big Poppa Pump v DDP for example. The world champion (who was probably Hogan or Nash) didnt even wrestle at the card. WCW really shared the promotion around even though it often evolved around the NWO storyline.

ECW really was only for hardcore fans and no one took much notice of it. This is not surprising. It, itself was sensational (or so i am told, it wasnt on TV in australia and internet streaming wasnt what it was today which is probably one of the main reasons it struggled to take off) but, the two mainstream organisations were just so good that they never really had a chance. If WCW and WWE were putting on the type of shows that are put out nowadays, and the environement was as it was today, there is no doubt that ECW would have become the number one organisation.

 

[bender]

WCW 1996

Decided to give this year a chance as I'm not as familiar with it as I am with 97-01. So far, it's very hokey with the Horseman & The Dungeon of Doom forming an alliance to stop Hulkamania. I could handle this as the PG Corporate Ministry if there was a theme but aside from a hackneyed idea about relationships there really isn't anything there. It's just a group of bad guys who don't like our beloved hero, Hulk Hogan.

Serving as the B story for that feud is the far more interesting Savage/Flair feud. At this point, these guys have faced off more than Orton/Barrett or Sheamus/Del Rio but they may have cottened onto something here with Flair stealing both Elizabeth and Woman from Savage. Unfortunately, this is never really explored and Savage continues to team with Hogan, assuming the role of a bridesmaid.

Then there is the Sting/Luger angle. This angle has been brewing since the first Nitro but has been moving at such a glacial pace that it's difficult to really get into. Basically, Sting is Sting. He's a total boy-scout babyface. Where as Luger is acting very shady, teaming with the evil Jimmy Hart as his manager and doing anything it takes to win. Watching these differences tear the two apart would be fantastic...but I'm about 12 shows in at this point and we're still at around the same point.

However, the real story is all the zany shock tactics Bischoff employed to draw fans in. It seems like every week a new act is debuting and or returning. Names like the Public Enemy, Road Warriors, Konnan, Belfast Brawler, Elizabeth, Woman, Steiner Brothers etc. have been popping up on every second episode and I'm sure there will be more to follow in the coming weeks.

That's been one of the more appealing aspects, the other is watching the development of the undercard in the likes of Eddie, Benoit, Pillman, DDP & Malenko. Unfortunately, it seems like these guys only appear on Nitro once in a blue moon and disappear only to pop up on the Meat and Potatos Saturday Night show. It's exactly what Iafeta said, the biggest problem with WCW was that there was never any consistency. If these wrestlers had have received more focus, than the company would have been better off in the long term. It will be interesting to compare their years in 96 and 97 because I feel like WCW really dropped the ball with them then.

Also, I can see where some members were coming from on the tag team division front. On star-power, I don't think there was a company in North America that could touch their tag division. You could make the argument that ECW booked their division better and had better talents but the star power of Sting/Luger, Road Warriors, Steiner Brothers, Harlem Heat, Nasty Boys, Public Enemy, Blue Bloods, American Males, Faces of Fear etc. trumps it.

I'm still in the early stages and I can't wait to see how the best storyline in wrestling history starts off.

I never had pay per view and wrestling wasnt on free to air in these days, at least if it was, i never knew about it in these days. You do need to remember if you are watching things through one of the big differences at this time between then and now.

At this piont in time (as hard as it is to believe) wrestling was still not recognised to be "fake". Yes, the WWE had made a mockery of things with its emphasis on gimmicks and the true hardcore fans hated them for this, but the organisations were still trying to sell to the public the idea that the wrestling itself was real. Even though most (not all) knew it was, the idea was that despite the gimmicks you didnt give away a title, the best fighters won it in the ring. This is why those with the win loss reputations were still important. (probably it contributed to the montreal screw job although by then the work aspect was becoming clearer and clearer).

the other massive difference between then and now was the concept of face vs Heel. The WWE was vastly criticised because face never fought face and Heel never fought heel. One of WCW's biggest selling points against WWE was always two fold. First, the actual wrestling was better on WCW with less focus on gimmicks and 'entertainment' (although you have probably noticed that this was starting to change even though they still tried to maintain the sports side). But also, it was a huge selling point that everyone would fight everyone. WWE in the back scenes was ridiculed because, for example, Hulk Hogan had never ever fought Ricky Steamboat.

You do need to remember that these really were different times with different expectations. Again, if i remember correctly, the WCW still had in place the rule that throwing someone over the top rope and onto the arena floor was an automatic disqualification.

I will be interested to see your comments on the NWO introduction. I hope it isnt a let down, because as i have said you really need to understand the freshness of the concept which may not translate second time around.

 

[Big Pete]

Nitro isn't THAT old. Kayfabe was for all intents and purposes dead at this point, yet wrestling was still in the process of evolving. WCW at this stage, was attempting to re-establish itself as a major brand in Professional Wrestling by acquiring the biggest star in North American history - Hulk Hogan.

This did record business for the company but it stagnated the creative development of the company. Situations like the Loose Cannon shtick and the rise of the hardcore style had to take a back-seat to the Dungeon of Doom and the Booty Man, all to satisfy the Hogan vehicle.

Of course, this all changes in a few months time and I can't wait to witness first hand the impact of the nWo but back in April of 96, the product was hokey and outdated.

At least in terms of angles, gimmicks and storylines. The presentation itself is amazing. Bischoff was out of his depth on most aspects of wrestling, but the guy knew how to put forward a gorgeous looking show. Great set, great pyro, cinematography was great outside of the ring...etc. Nitro LOOKS like a great show, even to this day.

The stakes were also a lot higher on Nitro. On Raw, you'd most likely see matches like Shawn Michaels vs. Bart Gunn and that would be your main event. Meanwhile, Nitro are throwing these PPV esque cards at you every week. This is really good at the beginning but it quickly becomes fickle and shallow. The problem is, WCW just doesn't develop their main characters and when the prelim cast is introduced they're featured for a scene or two before being cast aside for the next flavour of the fortnight. This has happened to Benoit, Konnan, Public Enemy the Steiner Brothers - you name it.

I just got through Uncensored and half-way through the build of Slamboree so I feel like I've just gotten past the hump period. It is basically what a lot of people warned me about & hidden gems are very few and far between. Still, I'll trek on because I'm convinced this was a better year creatively than 97.

 

[pennywisealfie]

As for storylines, the aforementioned NWO storyline dominated up until March with Ric Flair and the horseman being the main foe. Ric Flair became ?president? of the company on the last episode of nitro in 98 booking himself in title matches at Superbrawl where his son David turned on him and uncensored where he screwed Hogan out of the title in one of the most diabolical examples of booking you will ever see. He won via pinfall in a steel cage match that was a first blood match despite both men bleeding. I am not sure if a double turn was intended but that was the result.
[/FONT]

LOL I remember this. It was so hilarious. First Blood match and Hogan starts accidently bleeding really early on and Tony Schiavone goes "Mickey J won't be stopping the match for that amount of blood, he is going to have to really bleed!"

 

[pennywisealfie]

I just finished "watching" (or looking at pictures of dudes like Kurrgan while you hear them discussing shit over a phone call) The Montreal Theory. Parts of it are pretty interesting but sometimes its such a massive chore to get through. For those that haven't heard of it its a dvd based on "is the whole montreal screwjob a 100% work?" The DVD is filled mostly with complete no names or "oh yeah i remember him" guys.

Recommended to: Guys that want to hear Kevin Kelly continually ask questions and then answer them. People that are really fascinated by the montreal screwjob. Conspiracy Theorists.

Not Recommended to: People that value their time. People that aren't hardcore wrestling fans.

 

[Iafeta]

WCW 1996

Decided to give this year a chance as I'm not as familiar with it as I am with 97-01. So far, it's very hokey with the Horseman & The Dungeon of Doom forming an alliance to stop Hulkamania. I could handle this as the PG Corporate Ministry if there was a theme but aside from a hackneyed idea about relationships there really isn't anything there. It's just a group of bad guys who don't like our beloved hero, Hulk Hogan.

Serving as the B story for that feud is the far more interesting Savage/Flair feud. At this point, these guys have faced off more than Orton/Barrett or Sheamus/Del Rio but they may have cottened onto something here with Flair stealing both Elizabeth and Woman from Savage. Unfortunately, this is never really explored and Savage continues to team with Hogan, assuming the role of a bridesmaid.

Then there is the Sting/Luger angle. This angle has been brewing since the first Nitro but has been moving at such a glacial pace that it's difficult to really get into. Basically, Sting is Sting. He's a total boy-scout babyface. Where as Luger is acting very shady, teaming with the evil Jimmy Hart as his manager and doing anything it takes to win. Watching these differences tear the two apart would be fantastic...but I'm about 12 shows in at this point and we're still at around the same point.

However, the real story is all the zany shock tactics Bischoff employed to draw fans in. It seems like every week a new act is debuting and or returning. Names like the Public Enemy, Road Warriors, Konnan, Belfast Brawler, Elizabeth, Woman, Steiner Brothers etc. have been popping up on every second episode and I'm sure there will be more to follow in the coming weeks.

That's been one of the more appealing aspects, the other is watching the development of the undercard in the likes of Eddie, Benoit, Pillman, DDP & Malenko. Unfortunately, it seems like these guys only appear on Nitro once in a blue moon and disappear only to pop up on the Meat and Potatos Saturday Night show. It's exactly what Iafeta said, the biggest problem with WCW was that there was never any consistency. If these wrestlers had have received more focus, than the company would have been better off in the long term. It will be interesting to compare their years in 96 and 97 because I feel like WCW really dropped the ball with them then.

Also, I can see where some members were coming from on the tag team division front. On star-power, I don't think there was a company in North America that could touch their tag division. You could make the argument that ECW booked their division better and had better talents but the star power of Sting/Luger, Road Warriors, Steiner Brothers, Harlem Heat, Nasty Boys, Public Enemy, Blue Bloods, American Males, Faces of Fear etc. trumps it.

I'm still in the early stages and I can't wait to see how the best storyline in wrestling history starts off.

I just got Best of Monday Nitro, volume 1... so many great memories. And then, you almost feel the sucking of air from the balloon when they put on that finger poke of doom façade.

Frustrating that DVD in so many ways...

- Jericho's 1004 holds was awesome. Yet it went nowhere. Jericho taking Prince Nackimacki's skirt, the mask of Juvi, his feud with Malenko, taking the you know what on Goldberg's entrance... and they basically did nothing with the guy. He was gold ready to be cashed in.
- The comeback of the Horsemen in Greensboro, which then goes nowhere. Flair beats Bischoff on Boxing Day '98 to gain presidency of WCW... and then his character goes into a looney spin, the Horsemen are supposedly disbanded, and Flair on the back of being a massive face goes heel.
- Bret Hart, the whole booking of this bloke is so illogical its not funny. Why make him ANYONE's lackey? In '99 he cuts a promo in Toronto that I wonder if it has an element of shoot to it, because its so true that if it was a scripted work promo it shows how dumb WCW are. Hart says that basically he hasn't had matches with the likes of Hogan, Goldberg and a few other superstars one on one. How many years did fans talk up 'dream matches', a lot of which involved pitting WWF stars against WCW stars, and a lot of which included the name Bret Hart... yet when WCW got what their opportunity they turned him into a Hogan puppet.
- Sting. I'm sorry, but they took arguably at the time THE most over face in the last 3-4 years of pro wrestling, and through how they booked Starrcade made him look vincible, and the whole story descended into chaos. After a year of OUTSTANDING booking on him.
- The Wolfpack. I like stables that have a 'reason' to them. In many ways the Wolfpack are one of those unsubstantiated lost pebbles of opportunity. Their roster was incredibly over. The fans were baying their blood in hoping the Wolfpack would perhaps take NWO Hollywood apart. They even managed to get Sting involved, which in itself is controversial in that Sting was completely anti NWO. If Sting's there, should their vision have not been to end Hollywood? In which case, why swerve it with the finger poke of doom? Disaster.

Some things on that DVD it showed they did do well. The end of the Flock, then putting Kidman over the following night as a new character, finally being allowed to show his class by winning the cruiserweight championship in a good match. The way they brought the New World Order in was absolute class. Booking Page as a heel World Champion, I don't think WCW truly realised just how popular Page was, and how great a face or a heel he was for them. FINALLY getting him to the top was excellent. The heel he played against Sting was terrific. That night in Greensboro with the reformation of the Horsemen was outstanding.

Man, what should have been. What should have been. One of their issues obviously came with WWF bringing up Austin (a former WCW midcarder) and Rock to become amazingly over. New stars, a bright vision. But they had opportunities themselves. Goldberg was THE new star of '98 in my opinion. But unlike the WWF with the Rock and Austin, Goldberg was disgracefully booked after taking his first loss. Its like they genuinely didn't know what to do with him. The insinuation that came with Miss Elizabeth before the finger poke of doom was lame, and in a way for such a massive fan favourite a little bit... offputting. Jericho, the guy was ready to go. Bret Hart, the fans wanted the dream matches. The Giant, the most impressive big man in the game. They had their opportunities, and seemed so close to doing so, to make some genuine superstars. But unlike the WWF, they missed it up big time. IMO, if you take a centrebet type 2 way poll, of which promotion is likely to be out of business first, WCW in the middle of say '98 would never have been the favourite. How within 9 months they are to me comes from their absolute inability to execute golden opportunities.

 

[Misanthrope]

Watching ROH's Summer of Punk DVD at the moment. Sweet damn, there are some amazing promos and matches in there.

 

[Big Pete]

Just watched the latest HHH doco.

Typical WWE doco. Very well made with plenty of exclusive footage but it was disappointing that certain sections of his career were basically passed over. Very little was said about his feud with Foley, Angle, Austin or HBK yet a ton of focus was poured on the DX reunion and his corporate role.

A fun watch, but don't expect the greatest feature of all time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other shows that I've seen...

ROH Death Before Dishonor XI - Served as the conclusion of the World Championship tournament. Shows like this live and die on match quality and honestly there wasn't a whole lot to write home about. Nothing much in terms of story - Cole confirmed his heel turn and that was about the gist of it.

ECW Living Dangerously 2000 - Another title tournament show, with the ECW TV championship serving as the prize. Unlike ROH, this show was fairly storyline heavy but only the opening segment and finish delivered. In the end, Super Crazy overcomes the odds against Rhino to win the belt, thanks to a little assistance from a one legged Rob Van Dam & pissed off Sandman. Only other match of note was a bull-rope match between Dusty/Corino - very sports-entertainmenty but I thought it was solid given the obvious limitations with Rhodes.

 

[Eddie Lab]

the WWE youtube channel has been releasing a lot of matches and highlights in the past week. Full length matches, debut matches for a bunch of major stars and they are all high quality.

http://www.youtube.com/user/WWEFanNation/videos

 

[Big Pete]

WCW Slamboree Lethal Lottery 1996

Build Up: WCW is in a strange era. On one hand you have Nitro - this live wrestling program that continues to feature big name wrestlers, exciting international talent and surprise appearances. Then you have Saturday Night, which is your steak and potatoes wrestling show which is seemingly stuck in the early 90s. Guess which program has the most influence on PPVs?

So for those who don't know - the premise of the Lethal Lottery is as follows. A bunch of random wrestlers are put into tag teams and enter a tournament which later leads into a battle royal. The purpose of this specific Lottery was to determine a new No. 1 contender for the World Championship. Not the worst idea for a television special, but as a PPV it really is unsatisfactory. It just seems like Sullivan (WCW creative) decided it'd be an easy way to build up Flair/Savage for their inevitable rematch and just didn't care about the rest. This theory is supported by the results of the show but I'll get into that later.

Main event was a thrown together Giant/Sting match. Basically, Giant won the belt from Flair on Nitro. Sting was given a shot, so the Giant choke slammed Luger through a table. Utterly forgettable but didn't expect any less given I didn't even know this was the main event until I watched the show.

Review

Match #1 Lex Luger & Road Warrior Hawk fought Booker T & Road Warrior Animal to a double count out

Everything about this match sucked. First off, the entire build was around watching the Road Warriors go at it for the first time, yet they didn't even tease it let alone pay it off in the match. Then there was Luger. Apparently Lex was so injured he had to no-show Saturday Night but he showed absolutely no effects of this during the match and worked his usual muscle head style. Finish came when both Road Warriors decided they had enough, turned on their partners and the referee called for the bell. The beatdown actually drew a great reaction but the ending was confusion as everyone just walked out like nothing had happened. DUD

Match #2 Public Enemy def. Chris Benoit & Kevin Sullivan
Short but sweet brawl which served it's purpose as an angle. Benoit saves Sullivan from going through the table only to get double-crossed. PE hit their trademark table spot on the outside, then pin Benoit to advance. Didn't belong on PPV but perfectly fine for what it was. *

Match #3 Rick Steiner & Booty Man def. Sgt. Craig Pittman & Scott Steiner via pinfall
Believe it or not but this was easily the best Lethal Lottery match of the night. Like the first match, it was built around two famous tag partners going head to head and...they actually deliver on it! Both Steiners carry this match and it ends up being a neat match. **

Match #4 VK Wallstreet & Jim Duggan def. The Blue Bloods via pinfall
Very short cartoony WWE match. Duggan wins after taping up his fist and hitting Regal. *

Match #5 Dick Slater & Robert Eaton def. Disco Inferno & Alex Wright via pinfall
Pretty sure this was the first time the dancing fools teamed up. Even shorter than the previous match - one of those matches where the heels use a foreign object to win. The US/UK dynamic, especially on the outside of the ring was the only highlight. *

Match #6 Diamond Dallas Page & Barbarian def. Hugh Morrus & Meng via pinfall
Second best lottery match. Page and Barbarian actually teamed up quite well and while there wasn't a whole lot to the match it was decent television fare. **

Match #7 Scott Norton & Ice Train def. Bubba Rogers & Stevie Ray via pinfall
Can barely remember this match. Very short with a pretty ordinary finish - believe it ended via a regulation clothesline? *

Match #8 Ric Flair and Randy Savage def. Eddie Guerrero & Arn Anderson via pinfall
Disappointing match given the build. Only lasted four minutes but was decent while it lasted with Eddie getting a decent showing before all hell broke loose between Savage/Flair. *

Match #9 Cruiserweight Championship Match
Brad Armstrong vs. Dean Malenko (c)
Sort of disappointed by this. Pretty standard Saturday Night match between the two, decent but utterly forgettable. **

Mean Gene comes out with a bunch of hooters girls to announce the second batch of lottery pairings. Typical Okerlund section where he comes off as this really seedy uncle around the girls and they play some silly trick with him by switching their name tags. Ahhh the 90s.

Match #10 Dick Slater & Robert Eaton def. Wallstreet & Duggan via pinfall
The WWE guys turn on one another and the match is over in a flash. *

Public Enemy advanced after Savage attacked Flair on the entrace ramp which caused the referee to count them out.

Match #12 Diamond Dallas Page & Barbarian def. Booty Man & Rick Steiner via pinfall
Page's elbow to break up the pinfall was the finish. Sums up the match really. *

Match #13 WCW US Championship Match
Jushin Liger vs. Konnan (c)
Match of the night although that isn't high praise. Thrown together midcard match without a proper angle or anything to grasp onto so they just executed some flashy ground submissions before having a back and forth finish. Fairly by the numbers from these two but still solid. ***

Match #14 Battle Bowl Battle Royal
Diamond Dallas Page def. Barbarian, Johnny Grunge, Rocco Rock, Robert Eaton, Dick Slater, Scott Norton & Ice Train via pinfall on Barbarian
Not a fan of Battle Royals but this wasn't that bad. Typical Battle Royal match with just a bunch of dudes hitting really bad rehearsed punches until progressively the numbers thin in the ring. Match picked up in the final four where they hit some fun multi-men spots such as Page hitting three consecutive Diamond Cutters. In the end, it came down between the two partners in Barbarian/Page. Good premise but they could have played up the drama a little more I thought. Both men really just get down to business with Barbarian dominating Page until he misses a top rope splash, which allows Page to hit a Diamond Cutter for the 1-2-3.

Match #15 The Giant def. Sting via pinfall
Probably the best match The Giant had up to that point. We've seen The Big Show work this match about a hundred times now, but in 96 the fans were well into it and it was a solid main event. Big part of this match was the presence of Luger/Hart on the outside. Both men were handcuffed together and it of course lead to that foreign object spot where it looks like Luger is trying to stop Hart from hitting the babyface with something, only for it to happen accidently. Bit bleh, given this type of finish had been plaguing Sting matches since at least six months by that point but otherwise a genuine solid match. ***
​

 

[ParraSteve]

Summerslam 89

Hart Foundation / Brain Busters still is one of my favorite tag matches, both 6 man matches are pretty good and Rude carries the warrior to a very good match

 

[Special K]

ROH VS CZW

Joe/Butcher is harder hitting then some UFC fights. Only up to disc 3 of 10 but my memory of this fued was it was fantastic. Danielson showing up in CZW for the first time cutting a promo to be interrupted by Hero(and ROH/CZW) is awesome.

Download it if you have the time. If only the WCW/WWF fued was this good.