WRESTLING 20 YEARS AGO PODCAST

Listen to our February 1997 WCW podcast, reviewing Piper's antics in Alcatraz and his title match with Hogan. 

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In 1994 the WWF ran with a main event of Roddy Piper against Jerry Lawler at the King Of The Ring pay per view, ahead of both the King Of The Ring finale and Bret Hart’s first WWF title defence of his reign against Diesel. The match felt hideously out of place at a time when the WWF were simultaneously pushing the idea of the “New Generation”, but save a bit of time on Raw and the match itself it largely didn’t take up much time, and the then 40-year-old Piper disappeared, not to be seen on a wrestling show for another 18 months.  

Piper, on his day a tremendous promo, still probably had a place in wrestling in the 1990s – but the demands for him as an in-ring act were pretty low. When the WWF bought him back at the beginning of 1996 to fill in for President Gorilla Monsoon his role was exactly that – delivering a barmy promo while they were building a cage on February’s pay per view, then playing mediator between the jarringly respectful Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart ahead of their match at Wrestlemania. Following the suspension of Razor Ramon, Piper was bought onto the Wrestlemania card to oppose Goldust in a crazy match that involved a car chase and Goldust being stripped down to a full set of women’s underwear before he won the match. Once again, after the match Piper basically disappeared.  

It was all indicative of someone who was quite content with his place in the wrestling world. In the aftermath of Hulk Hogan’s arrival in WCW two years prior, Vince McMahon amidst his disappointment had spoken of his desire for Hogan to become the WWF’s Babe Ruth. I’m not well versed enough in Baseball to stretch that analogy much further, but Piper certainly would’ve fit into the category of a legendary main eventer that could be bought back sparingly as a special attraction. But, as had slowly been coming a pattern recently, money was beginning to talk, and loyalty was beginning to mean less and less if the price from Altanta was right. Within weeks of Mr Perfect walking out on the WWF mid-angle to sign a deal with WCW, Piper followed. 

Piper’s arrival was a surprise to just about everyone, walking out at the conclusion of the Halloween Havoc pay per view, after the NWO had dispatched of Randy Savage in an angle so decisive that it was designed, if need be, to write Savage off permanently if he didn’t sign a new contract. The promo – designed to begin the setup for Hogan vs Piper – went so long the show actually went off the air before they'd finished. Piper’s digs at Hogan were that Piper was just as important as Hogan was during the boom, even going as far to name-check Wrestlemania. Quite where the angle was supposed to finish it’s not sure, but despite Hogan’s efforts to hurry things along it just fizzled out as we ran out of time.  

Piper’s arrival came at an interesting time for WCW. In the midst of what could only be described as a “growing” phase of the NWO angle. As the group expanded from three at the end of August to a dozen by the end of November – the WCW had really struggled to find any kind of opposition as the New World Order dominated proceedings. With Savage gone, Flair injured and Sting undergoing a change of character initially designed to write him off so he could tape a movie and miss some dates to rebalance his contractual obligations – there wasn’t really an opposition to speak of. And Roddy Piper had no real plans of changing that.  

But, as much as I wanted to hate the angle, to hate WCW's misuse of resources (time on television, money and the guys who – full time – could be put in this spot), it really was hard to dislike Piper. His character on TV was honest, funny, and believable in an era still dominated by larger than life personas. Piper didn't align himself with WCW not, necessarily, because WCW sucked (although there was the implication) but because he didn't need anyone else. Even in the face of an NWO onslaught Piper never cried for help – he took his beating and came back from every one of them.  

It also helped that Piper was presented as and reacted to like the star he was. The announcers talked about him... constantly – every segment, every match the talk was about what Piper might do next, or how he might react to the previous actions of the NWO. Piper seemed bigger than everyone else, in the same way that Sting was walking around in his own universe so was Piper. It helped both of them get over, almost as if neither was guilty by association with what was left of WCW which, given that the Horsemen were busy occupied with themselves, seemed to be being spearheaded by Jim Duggan, of all people.  

Piper's arrival also preceded the heel turn of Eric Bischoff. It should be said that there's very little argument to suggest the turn was completely bungled: from how it was executed (randomly at the end of a Nitro with very little fan fare), to the absence of logic (how Bischoff had been the primary target of the NWO for months), to the justification behind it (Bischoff had something hot and wanted to be a part of it). But, even with all that in mind, it cannot be argued that Bischoff very, very quickly became accustomed to the role and thanks to his seniority on and off screen quickly became one of the best acts within a group that was quickly losing its edge.  

The NWO had gone from a renegade group of three guys to a bloated assembly of a mixed part of WCW's overall roster. The idea was to create NWO as a brand, and despite all of the flaws of that idea there could be no denying that, on a scale WCW wanted, the group had to expand. First it was the Giant (a big, if ultimately flawed turn), then it was fake Sting – which worked for the angle it was built for then quickly became a complete irrelevance. Then Syxx, then Nascar driver Kyle Petty – soon the group was in double figures. When Bischoff declared war on WCW, and gave everyone four weeks to "convert your WCW contracts into NWO ones", then Bagwell turned, then Bubba joined, then Scott Norton joined, then VK Wallstreet joined. All of a sudden being in the NWO wasn't cool anymore, unless your name was Hall or Nash.  

Piper was largely shielded from all of that, mind. There was a segment during the World War 3 pay per view (which had enough NWO problems as it was) where Piper's horrid looking scar from hip surgery was exposed as they made formal him vs World Champion Hogan at Starrcade five weeks later. Another huge beatdown on Piper who had no allies (he didn't ask for them) and kept getting back up (what doesn't kill him...) - Piper was a fucking badass, regardless of the rights and wrongs of how he was presented. And, come Starrcade, there was a real belief he could topple the World Champ. 

You'll notice I keep referring to Hogan as the World Champion – he was, that's not the issue, but you would've blindly assumed that any Piper vs Hogan match at WCW's biggest show of the year (in whas was being called "The Match Of the Decade" no less) would be for WCW's (or the NWO's) biggest prize. While WCW could correctly argue they never outright said it, the implication of the matchup was that Piper vs Hogan was for the title... but it wasn't.  

Which, of course, meant that Piper could beat Hogan – which he did. The crowd suitably popped for what should’ve been a title change and a match between two guys long past their best (and wrestled like it too) got through unscathed thanks to the tenure of both guys and, to WCW’s credit, how hard they’d promoted the match. But the problem with promoting a big match is that for it to matter or, more importantly, the next one to matter, it needs big consequences.  And while the big mistake WCW made was not promoting a match of such magnitude without the biggest title on the line, it was followed by something perhaps even worse.  

The next night on Nitro they had Bischoff and Hogan come out and pretend that Hogan won – straight up. And while you might think that delusional heel isn’t exactly the worst trait, the big mistake in the context was them not being called out on their bullshit. Or, at least, not doing it to anywhere near the degree that they should’ve. Art imitating life, people were scared to stand-up to Bischoff and Hogan, treated the match and the result like it didn't matter. And it *did matter* - Starrcade did just under 380,000 buys, Nitro the next evening did a 3.6 rating – most of those people didn't see the pay per view. 

And for a while that was it, Piper went away while WCW started (sorta) promoting and NWO-only pay per view and Hogan, Bischoff and everyone else went on like Roddy Piper wasn't the World Champion in all but name.  

Of course, though, this is Hulk Hogan, and whether he was saying it or not Hulk Hogan the person knew that - as they were building in the storyline prior to the Starrcade match – he still hadn't beaten Roddy Piper. Whether they were saying it or not, the record books would ultimately read Roddy Piper def. Hulk Hogan – and much like they would later do with The Ultimate Warrior and would attempt to do with Yokozuna – Hulk Hogan wanted all of his wins back.  

Which set the stage for the rematch. It was announced that Hogan and Piper would face-off at Superbrawl in February for the World Title. Except Piper didn't want to, he arrived with his child Colton in tow, to announce his retirement from in ring competition. The whole thing, somewhat hokey, went with Bischoff and Hogan goading Piper before Colton gave Piper the all clear to go after Hogan, Bischoff and the World Title.  

The promos continued to make little sense, hell – on the Nitro before the pay per view they filmed a promo of his in an actual cell inside Alcatraz (the PPV was in San Francisco). Piper lurched between once extreme and another, promising to spend seven days and seven nights inside the Rock before the match, "I'm not here to create the world, I'm hear to destroy Hulkamania". 

And that's how the pay per view started, Piper being lead out of the prison, charging across the courtyard and getting a boat headed for shore. It perhaps could've only been topped had Piper got into a raft he'd made himself out of rain jackets, but still it was a cool if bat-shit crazy way to open the pay per view. Quite frankly, if there was a line about Piper's run in WCW up until this stage the line "cool if bat-shit crazy" would probably sum it up.  

The match, much like the last one, was pretty predictable. Once again the crowd were invested, once again the action was pretty ropey – that didn't matter though. This time the match came to an end with Randy Savage (decked out in black and white) stood at ringside while Piper once again locked in the sleeper hold. Hogan once again collapsed. Hogan once again passed out. Piper, once again, won. Piper, once again, was champion. 

Once again – he wasn't. This one was for the title, but in the annals of fucked finishes, having Randy Savage retrospectively pull Hogan's legs under the bottom ropes ranks as a weak finish in anyone's books. The pop for Piper's win was huge, but Savage's actions so subtle and the angle so swift that it caught every by surprise. In theory, Savage's turn should've been a huge deal but in a slight of hand WCW had, well, overplayed theirs. The ref spotted his "error", restarted the match before Hogan nailed Piper with the knucks that Savage gave him and won the match.  

1996-1997 would be known as time that WCW could do no wrong – and in a lot of ways that was correct. But WCW's lax, lazy attitude to match stipulations and following through on promises would ultimately harm them in the long term. But despite all the reservations you might have about Piper's return, his first 4-5 months with the company were excellent.  

​Listen to our February 1997 WWF podcast, reviewing the angle where Shawn Michaels "lost his smile" and when ECW took over Raw.

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Shawn Loses His Smile – The latest in the ongoing saga of Shawn Michaels saw him come to Raw for "Thursday Raw Thursday" and forfeit his WWF Title. The promo is famous for the line where Shawn says "most of all, I lost my smile" but is otherwise a quite listless effort, Shawn jumps from one emotion to another with very little rhyme or reason (and not in a way that really befit the situation). More pertinently was the crowd reaction – a minute into it they started chanting, quite loudly, for Sid. Not the best. 


You What? - The ongoing feud between Taskmaster and Chris Benoit had a new part, as Sullivan had his own woman by his side – Miss Jacquelyn. Anyway... while the feud was starting to gain traction by osmosis if not just brute force, the minute by minute still continued to make no sense. No more so than a promo that Sullivan cut on February 10th. Well, it would've been a promo, save for the fact Sullivan opened with the line "this isn't a wrestling interview". What followed was a listless shoot – referencing a phone call with "Paul E." (who was was having a busy month in the Monday Night War), before telling how he was having a major part in a ratings success. Much like his marriage with "Nancy" - that was never mentioned and just assumed, they were assuming everyone knew he was booker. 


Raw Goes Extreme – With Raw's expansion to two hours being a late call, they had a Monday that needed a show but the bulk of the crowd in Europe on tour. So they did what they do? What anyone would've done – they called in ECW! Six months removed from a two night angle they had Jerry Lawler call out Paul Heyman and ECW, only for the group to answer the challenge on Raw at the Manhatten Cent the following week.

The whole thing was almost bizarre: opening with the Eliminators hitting their total elimination finisher on a stage hand, we then had a series of ECW matches between ECW guys. It came to a head during the final match when Lawler and Heyman (on commentary) started arguing before having to be pulled apart in a heated and quite shooty segment. As Lawler said: ECW should be very thankful they were being given a platform to promote their PPV on. Quite what the WWF got out of it, beyond a few forgettable matches, is anyone's guess. 


Steinerised – Well, we'll put this one down as one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen. We open Nitro on February 17th with Tony Schiavone saying they'd had reports that the Steiners had been involved in a car accident. Cut to Hall, Nash and Syxx coming out and saying they had video tape footage (shot from inside the car with Syxx's handheld camera), that absolved them of any blame in the incident. Never mind that they were never really suspected until they volunteered the footage, but more pertinently that the footage absolutely put them in it.

The three minute clip, viewable here, is bizarre. The Outsiders spot the Steiners coming out of a petrol station (think you yanks call it a gas station) - and then they just tail them. This is all very becalmed until Nash rams the car into the back of the Steiners' car. There's about 20 seconds of the cars travelling quite quickly side by side down a relatively narrow road, before a shaky-cam jump cut transitions into a stunt car being flipped by a pneumatic ramp at the side of the road (the ramp is hidden well enough) and the car ends up on its back. It was memorable, but it made almost no sense. Why would the Outsiders even volunteer the footage? Why would WCW show it? Where were the police?


ECW Rules – The ECW angle on Raw actually started the week before. With a lot of the WWF crew on tour and unavailable for the final show in February, they partially setup the ECW invasion as a way to fill a two hour show that as of about a month previously didn't exist. Lawler, on commentary, pulled a sign from a fan in the crowd before running down ECW "What athletes do they have? The Blue Meanie? Sandman?" Paul E later phoned in and said he’d accept Lawler’s challenge next week, providing law enforcement would let Lawler into the area (a not particularly well-veiled reference to Lawler’s past legal troubles). 


The Rock – No... not that one – Alcatraz! With Superbrawl in San Francisco, Roddy Piper decided the best course of action was to spend his week at the old Alcatraz prison. Cut to a great, emotional Roddy Promo from inside a cell... I mean, why not? Like most things Piper did, if you try to break it down it all made little sense (how would preparing for a world title match in an old prison be remotely good for him?) - but Piper's delivery saved it. He stayed there for the rest of the week, before Superbrawl opened with a video of him leaving the island. 


The Most Dangerous Man In The World – The WWF signed UFC fighter Ken Shamrock in February 1997 to a $1m a year contract, ending Shamrock's days as an MMA fighter, at least for now. Let's be clear here, as we've documented on the MMA 20 Years Ago Podcast, Shamrock was a big deal at the time, and a PPV draw the likes of which WWF had very few contemporaries. So how do they debut him? On the February 24th Raw we cut to the front row at the Manhatten Center, only to see a puzzled Shamrock with Vince McMahon saying "I beleve that's Ken Shamrock". The rest of the presentation left a lot to be desired too, with Shamrock being made to sit through some truly awful stuff (a Savio Vega match, a women's arm wrestling contest and even being interviewed by Tod Pettengil). Still, they just about got there – Shamrock had arrived in the WWF. 


Rocky Sucks – We opened the special edition of the horrendously named “Thursday Raw Thursday” with a match between Rocky Maivia and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. If you were hoping for a serious dose of nostalgia, you’d perhaps be left wanting after a flat, formulaic match in front of a best half interested crowd. But we did get some early “Rocky sucks” chants out of them, and after an appearance from Honky Tonk Man, Rocky won the title after playing possum and getting the inside cradle on the surprised Helmsley. Rocky winning his first singles title, being presented as an underdog despite being pushed to the hills. Remind you of anyone? 


Something Is Going On – After putting away The Renegade with a super Diamond Cutter, Dallas Page was greeted by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash stood on the entrance way carrying lead pipes. It was reminiscent of arguably the best angle of 1996, except this time the Outsiders were interrupted in the stands by both Sting and (clad in black and white) Randy Savage. The segment ended in a stalemate, but sometimes you can get an angle over with what you don’t do – as Bobby Heenan said: “Something is going on here” – we just didn’t quite know what, yet. 


Sid – I think this goes down as the first WWF title change on Raw (if you can overlook the Diesel title win over Backlund, which happened at a live event but aired – the full nine seconds – on TV). After Michaels forfeited his title, Bret Hart won the four way at In Your House: Final Four over Steve Austin, Vader and Undertaker – earning him the title with an immediate defense against Sid the next night. After a twice abandoned match (thanks to Austin getting involved) they finally closed the show with a surprisingly decent match, and one that far exceeded their outing at In Your House: It's Time in December. Sid busted out a sunset flip and a second rope leg drop, only to win after Austin hit Bret with a chair. We had a new Champion. 


Leader Of The Opposition – It's still fucking Jim Duggan. I swear – with just about everyone, mysteriously, being unsure about where they stood on the NWO group since it formed, the only guy you can point to on the WCW roster who has been unwavering in his pro WCW stance has been Jim Duggan. After a squash victory on Nitro, Duggan cut a promo bemoaning Randy Savage's turn to join the group. With Sting, DDP, the horsemen and others all inconsistent with their treatment of the group (even if Page is now fully against them) - at least good ol' Hacksaw has our back. 


Dark Match – Raw’s move to two hours, which started at the beginning of February, seemed for all the world to a very quick decision, as based on venues the WWF had (and, more crucially, hadn’t) booked for Raw tapings we’re able to cover the new nights they needed. So along with adding in tapings at the Manhatten Center they also did the show on February 3rd from the Toronto Skydome that was clearly originally slated to be a house show. While the attendance was clearly big, the lighting looked like a dingy WWF show from the early 1980s and really made you appreciate the modern lighting of TV shows.


Unpicking The Iceman – February 24th 1997, mark the date in your calendars – some genuine character development from Dean Malenko. While Malenko was proving why he was in the top 5 wrestlers in North America on a weekly basis, it was hard to get into him when his character was non-existant. So, after some fuckery with Eddie Guerrero and Syxx that cost him his Crusierweight Title, Malenko finally got some mic time – and he was pissed off. It wasn't quite the reaction he got on his final night in the ECW arena, but it was progress. 


Chyna – The bulk of it happened on the PPV, but a mention for it here as she did appear on Raw also, jumping over the guardrial and getting a brief attack in before being escorted away. 

Listen to our February 1997 ECW podcast, reviewing Cyberslam.

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It’s been a few months since our last foray into a somewhat major ECW show. Since November to Remember we’ve had the Mass Transit incident, one of the flattest heavyweight title changes in the history of the promotion and a pay per view going from very likely, to quite unlikely, to a sure thing – with a date announced – Sunday April 13th 1997 – “Barely Legal”. With a number of wrestlers tied to short term contracts, for the first time in the better part of two and a half years it felt like ECW had some stability within their roster, which would be important as the company were headed towards the most important show they had ever had.

It also, really, for the first time had given ECW a fixed point of reference. One of ECW’s strengths was their willingness to let things flow; feuds bled into each other, sometimes matches did too. But while some guys like Sabu and Brian Lee were fighting on multiple fronts each of the main acts had their role to play headed into April. If anything, ECW’s biggest challenge at the time wasn’t themselves it was outside forces: not just the pay per view providers imposing a series of (in all honesty) quite reasonable restrictions like having proper background checks on everyone appearing, and all weaponry be approved ahead of it, but also from another source entirely. As the UFC were getting booted out of the state of New York, there were eyeballs on combat both real and simulated in the state, with warnings to ECW that when they toured they should dial back on some of the violent content that they were becoming famous for. As ECW would find out, sometimes the hard way, expanding would mean moving away from some of the things that made them famous.

On television though, it was largely business as usual. Terry Funk had formally returned, and for the first time in about 18 months someone other than Raven or the Sandman spoke of their desire to win the ECW World Heavyweight Title. Quite frankly, the nature and topics of Funk’s promos were presented in such a way that him not winning the title in April felt almost impossible, however much false jeopardy would be presented in the meantime.

The other major change on television was the introduction of Rick Rude. Well… the idea, as ridiculous as it sounds, was to debut Rude under a mask with the idea that nobody would find out it was him until the pay per view in April. ECW was often quite rightly praised for its creatively but sometimes the ideas were monumentally stupid. They had Rude walk out in a turtle neck jumper and jeans along with a wrestling mask. The ruse was basically blown before he got to the ring (as one fan leant in close and was able to see through the mask); but never-mind the fact that Rude has a quite distinct body-type, he’s got a very unique voice. So when the first three words came out of his mouth the crowd exploded and chanted “Rude, Rude, Rude”. Of course, it still took Shane Douglas about two weeks to work out who was who but the whole idea of keeping the identity secret was otherwise dropped.

The other two major notes were the ECW themed Raw that was happening two days following this event. With the WWF half on tour in Europe and Raw having just become two hours it made a lot of sense to get the ECW crew in to essentially fill the show; Shane Douglas was mercifully spared a trip back to Raw! The other was the underground success of the BWO, with the famous blue NWO rip-off shirts were selling (even by ECW standards) very well – with one Observer report in January saying they accounted for 40% of shirt sales. They were a constantly entertaining act, lead by the best superkicker in wrestling – Stevie Richards.
 

The Eliminators (Saturn and Kronus) vs Rob Van Dam and Sabu in a Tables and Ladders Match for the ECW Tag Team Titles
It took me a while to work it out, but ECW’s most important belt is their tag title belt. It’s constantly presented well, it’s often involved in the best match on the show and every team in the division wants it. This was the second part after an equally barmy match at the beginning of the month that ended up involving a ladder and multiple tables. As we’ve come to expect from any match involving Sabu and Van Dam, the pace is relentless, the selling often minimal but the action is usually rather excellent – this was no exception.

In some ways this is some of the really early spots that have become common place in ladder matches (particularly as it might be the first formal ladder match to feature more than two people). We had a spot where Van Dam and Saturn were tussling over the ladder on the apron and Sabu and Kronus ran at them with a double dropkick knocking them to the floor. Later we had Saturn laying on the ladder mid-ring only for Sabu and Van Dam to do a combined slingshot-legdrop/rolling senton onto him.

Otherwise, dare I say it, the usual fare you’ve come to expect from unarguably two of the best tag teams in the business at this point. Sabu did triple jump moonsaults, a triple jump dive into the crowd – and the match rarely slowed down despite some of the ridiculous stunts they were pulling off. In the end there’s a miscommunication between Sabu and Van Dam, the Eliminators fuck up the Total Elimination so hit a second one and they retain their titles. After the match (as had happened before) Sabu shook the hands of both of his opponents, but this time Van Dam didn’t.
 

Segment w/ Pitbulls & Shane Douglas
Joey Styles comes out for what presumably is the intro for the TV show and introduces the Pitbulls – who get a really nice reaction. Pitbull 1 says: “Stop being a ‘Shawn Michaels’ Franchise, and face me”. With that Douglas (complete with Francine and crutches) says he doesn’t give a fuck about Monday Night Raw or ECW, and basically eggs the Pitbulls up to his position. Of course, the whole thing is an inevitable ruse as they get up there and are ambushed by the other members of the triple threat as Pitbull 2 gets put through a table. A basic if effective angle that gets continues the build to the pay per view.
 

Little Guido (w/ Tommy Rich) vs Chris Chetti
Chetti is the first graduate of the ECW House of Hardcore school. Meanwhile, they’ve come up with a bullshit backstory about the Mafia to excuse putting together Rich and Guido… Rich’s promo was dreadful – he’s just not very good. What I don’t really like about Guido is that he’s a small guy trying to wrestle like a bigger guy. Not saying you have to be all high flying but his moveset doesn’t look tough. Anyway, Chetti takes the bulk of the punishment, but when Rich convinces Guido to go to the top rope for a move he obliges – misses – the Chetti roles him up for the shock win. Rich is awful, did I say that?
 

Balls Mahoney vs Big Stevie Cool (w/ Da Blue Guy, Hollywood Nova and 7-11)
I don’t want to inherently group them together because they’re both big guys who the fans like to chant when they’re on the attack, but Balls does seem to have just filled the role formerly played by Hack Myers. This is OK, Richards is still really good but I think he’s at his best when he’s got someone to work off, and Balls is a bit flat given that he’s new. Stevie hits a stunner then wins it with a superkick. Afterwards a woman jumps into the ring wearing a BWO shirt and attempts to pull Stevie’s jean shorts off – she gets escorted away.

 
Axl Rotten vs Spike Dudley
This is more of a front for the match that follows, but these two do manage to get their fair share of stuff in in the time they get. Spike gets in a rolling plancha from the apron and a dive off the top to the outside. After Spike hits his now trademark turnbuckle bulldog the now Dudley brothers team (Buh Buh and D’von joined forces at the previous show) – came out. Spike held them off but was put away by a powerbomb flapjack by Axl. After the match, Buh Buh and D’von (with a bit of help from an additional lift in Axl Rotten) did their new double team moved, Christened the “3-D - Dudley Death Drop” by Joey Styles on commentary.

 
The Dudley Brothers (Buh Buh Ray and D’von – sorta with Axl, who hung around) vs The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa)
So the Gangstas came out and started a brawl with the Dudleys. Buh Buh attemps to splash New Jack through a table in the corner, somehow with his sheer size when he does the splash he bounces off of the table, New Jack slips out then Buh Buh falls through the table as he comes back down. This match is memorable for one thing – they put D’von on a table deep in the crowd, New Jack then gets on the raised platform by the exit and does a big running dive attempting to splash D’von through the table… except he was about three feet short. New Jack, folks! Still, they get New Jack in the ring and he still kicks out, before coming off the turnbuckle straight into a Buh Buh cutter for the win. Unco-ordinated but crazy fun. 
 

Taz (w/ Bill Alfonso) vs Tracy Smothers
A fairly simple squash save for the notoriety that Smothers would go onto gain. He got a fair amount of offense in too, but Taz reversed a waist lock, hit a german suplex, a t-bone suplex then the tazmission for the win.
 

Raven and Brian Lee vs Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer (w/ Beulah)
The stipulation on this match was that if Funk could pin Raven he would get a title shot at the pay per view, which of course meant that Raven got on the mic and offered to lay down for Dreamer to give him his first pin fall ever over Raven. That didn’t happen, and neither did this match either, we brawled in the crowd for a bit before Lee started whacking Funk over the head with a garbage can. Then things got a bit weird…

The basic story they tried to tell was that Funk had been knocked silly, which might have stuck except the fact that Funk was usually a guy who wrestled as if he’d been knocked silly anyway. Still, Dreamer protects Funk from further beating until a prolonged angle sees Funk stretchered out. OK… Stevie comes out and eats a Prmime Time Slam, then Sandman comes out with Tyler (I love how that whole story had no real conclusion) – and then Sandman pins Raven. Because… fuck logic, right?
 

Chris Candido vs Sabu
A puzzling choice of main event – it’s not particularly clear why they had Sabu pull double duty nor why, if they were going to, they didn’t put this on first and the tag in the main event. Still, fair play to Sabu for suffering 20 minutes of punishment earlier in the night and coming out for an equally as barmy match here. There’s a brief moment of calm mid match but otherwise this is your usual crazy Sabu match – complete with Sabu smacking his face on the guardrail after misjudging a suicide dive. This was still a really fun match even if it meant little, Sabu eventually picking up the win with a triple jump leg drop.
 
Score Rating: 7/10
Go Back And Watch: Sabu/Van Dam vs The Eliminators, the Pitbulls angle, The Dudleys/The Gangstas and the main event are all good or noteworthy.