Nickrj’s rant for WCW Uncensored 1997
Aloha! I just got back from vacation from Hawaii with my family! I had a great time. Along the way I picked up a ton of wrestling tapes. Here is the first one in the midst of WCW’s hot streak. The only reason why it was hot was because of the N.W.O.
Live from the Coliseum in North Charleston, South Carolina on March 16th 1997
Your hosts are Tony, Dusty and Bobby. Tony says that Dennis Rodman is in the building though he’s not in the big 3 team main event tonight.
U.S. Title Match No DQ: Eddy Guererro VS Dean Malenko
This should be a good one. I saw them in another tape I bought and they weren’t too bad but that’s another story. Shovefest to start and a shoulderblock by Eddy. Headlock by Eddy and a shoulderblock by Dean sends Eddy to the outside. Dean pummels Eddy in the corner. Suplex. Eddy turns the tide around to some good heat. Dean drops Eddy onto the top turnbuckle and he hits a back suplex as Tony says there’s something going on backstage and Rick Steiner just got laid out by the N.W.O. Scott Hall says “The Steiners are having bad luck lately.” Half crab by Dean. Over the top rope throw by Dean and he grabs the U.S. title belt and uses it on Eddy. He knows the rules. Clothesline gets two. Rock Bottom like move by Eddy turns the tide around. Dropkick to the right knee and Guerrerro starts working on it. Top rope double axhandle to the knee and another dropkick. Over the top rope somersault on the knee. Leg lock by Eddy into a STF. Backstage Rick Steiner is being loaded onto an ambulance. Eddy continues to work on the leg outside. Dean throws Eddy into the rail though. Eddy continues to work on the leg and he gets the Figure Four inside. Eye poke gets Dean out of it. Uppercut by Eddy. He gets out of a backslide and catches him with a spinning forearm but he misses a somersault. Baseball slide by Eddy though keeps Malenko in trouble. Eddy goes off the top rope and goes rib first into the rail missing Dean. Dean drops him face first onto the rail. Back inside Dean hooks an armbar. Eddy gets a tilt a whirl backbreaker though. Powerbomb and a rollover for 2. Dean gets a low kick in a sequence but Eddy gets a small package for 2. Powerslam by Dean. He goes to the top hits a kneedrop but picks him up on the cover. Powerbomb but Eddy hooks a spinning hurricurana. Powerslam by Dean for 2. Eddy misses a hurricurana but gets an Oklahoma roll for 2. Dragon suplex by Dean for 2. Dean walks into a kick and Eddy hits a spinning DDT from the 2nd rope. Eddy tries the Cloverleaf and hooks it. Syxx comes down to the ring and takes the U.S. title. Eddy grabs him and knocks him off the apron. However Syxx throws his video camera in the ring and Dean nails Eddy with it for the pin at 19:15 and we have a new U.S. champion! Great match ****1/4.
Onoo’s got a camera with him. What’s the deal with cameras here tonight? Wrestling sequence to start. Armdrag by Dragon. They go through another sequence of reversals as Mike Tenay has joined the booth. Dragon gets some stiff kicks in. Leglock by Dragon. Dropkick by Psych for 2. Dragon does a headstand on the top turnbuckle. Enzuguri by Dragon. Camel clutch by Psych. Slam by Psych. He goes to the top and hits a legdrop for 2. Psych then gets a 2nd rope elbow for 2. Tilt a whirl backbreaker by Dragon. Sleeper countered by Psych with a jawbreaker. Back suplex by Dragon. Psych hits a top rope spinning heel kick and he hits a suicide plancha on the outside. Slingshot legdrop onto Dragon on the outside. Psych gets kicked into the top rope and Dragon hits a handspring elbow outside and hits an Asai moonsault. Sonny Onoo heel kicks Psych on the outside. Back inside Dragon hits another moonsault for 2. Psych gets a forward roll for 2. Dragon rolls up for another 2. Psych goes face first to the turnbuckle and Dragon gets a face first suplex. Both miss spinning heel kicks. Slam by Dragon and he goes to the top but Psych catches him. Psych hits a top rope frankensteiner for a pair of two counts. Dragon hits a running powerbomb. He sets him on top again and Dragon gets a DDT from the top. Dragon Suplex gets 3 at 12:45. Wow another great matchup ****.
Gene Okerlund intros DDP. DDP wants to get his hands on Randy Savage but Savage comes out with Elizabeth. Randy shows a porno magazine with Kimberly as the centerfold. Of course Randy just put it there. Kim comes out wearing a spraypainted dress and Randy KO’s DDP with the mike and spraypaints N.W.O on him. Liz spray paint Kim’s dress as well.
I don’t know about the deal between these two but Glacier takes control with some kicks and a backdrop. Mortis gets him with some shots and kicks. Another kick by Glacier and he sends him into the rail from the apron and attacks him out there. Suplex on the floor and he covers for 2 but James pulls him outside. Baseball slide by Mortis. He picks up Glacier and drops him on the apron. Clothesline gets 2. Slingshot legdrop misses and Glacier gets some shots in. Fameasser by Mortis gets 2. Another fameasser but it’s countered by Glacier. Man crowd doesn’t care about Glacier. Flying elbow and he drops him. Weak leap frog and a front kick gets two. Kick by Mortis gets him in the face for 2. Mortis goes to the top but Glacier backs into the ropes. Superplex by Glacier for 2. This kid’s not as bad as I thought. Mortis catches him from the top and gets a Perfect plex for 2. Jawbreaker by Glacier. He goes to the top misses but goes over and gets a spinning cross body for 2. Mortis gets a side kick for 2. James is on the apron and Mortis almost kicks him by mistake. Glacier gets his crowning kick for 3 to only a minor pop at 9:02. Well there were some high flying maneuvers mixed with all the kicking. ** Mortis nails Glacier from behind and a masked man who appears to be Bryan Clarke (Adam Bomb) when he removes the mask and he and Mortis double team Glacier. Chokeslam by Clarke.
Flashback to the “Car accident” that the Steiners had. It was actually caused by the N.W.O.
Riggs has that American Males music with him. Buff gets a low kick to take control and chokes him with the strap. Slam by Bagwell. He goes to the top and Scotty crotches him. Superplex by Riggs and he lashes him with the strap. He does it again on the outside. More choking with the strap. Buff takes control again and he chokes him with the strap. Crowd is getting bored so Buff wakes them up with the fist gesture. Riggs crotches Buff with the strap and hits a dropkick. Riggs touches 1, 2 turnbuckles but tops. Scott starts the 10 punch count but Buff drops him. Buff beats him with the strap now. Buff stalls by posing and talking to the camera. He drops him down to the mat with the strap. Buff touches 1, 2, Riggs stops him. Inverted atomic drop by Buff and he poses again. More lashing with the belt. Dusty says this is brutal and I agree. Buff chokes him with the belt some more. He tries to hang him. Yawn. Crowd is dead now. The ref wakes them up by shoving Buff. Slam by Buff and he goes to the top and misses a somersault. Buff runs into a boot and hits three clotheslines and lashes him with the strap. Powerbomb. He goes to the top and hits a missle dropkick. Riggs touches 1, 2, 3 but Buff hooks the rope. Backdrop over the top by Buff and Riggs hits hard on the apron. Riggs is out and Buff touches 1, 2, 3, 4 at 12:26. Boring. 1/2*
PE sets up a table on the outside and all 4 men brawl with the trash cans and stuff. Sherri gets a shot in. Johnny Grunge uses a toilet seat to his advantage on Stevie Ray as Booker T and Rocco Rock brawl it on the outside. Rocco uses the trash can lids. Booker hits a fameasser and since we have a double screen I’m having trouble following what’s going on. Booker continues to use the trash can lid. Neck breaker by Grunge and he uses a cookie sheet to this match. Grunge uses a trash can and Dusty loses it. He uses the toilet seat. Ray is sent into the audience and T nails Grunge. They use the trash can on Ray’s head. Sherri hits Rock in the head with the trash can lid and she ties him up with a cable. Rock nails Ray on top and uses a pizza pan for 2. Rock is crotched on the top rope. Sherri nails Ray with the trash can by mistake. Rock uses a pie pan to break up the cover. Low blow by Rock. Grunge has the pizza pan again. They are on the outside again. Rock gets a tape player from a woman. T nails the rocket launcher for 2. T misses an ax kick. Ray is set up on the table and they both nail Ray breaking the table. Clothesline by Rock on T. Jeff Jarrett and Mongo come out and Mongo uses a briefcase on Rock. T goes to the top rope and hits the Harlem Hangover for the pin at 13:17. Just an ok brawl **1/4
Television Title Match: Prince Iaukea VS Rey Mysterio Jr.
This is a return match from Superbrawl VII and Tenay is back. Samoan drop by Iaukea to start but Rey blocks a slingshot kneedrop. Stungun by Rey. Cannonball shot gets 2. Rey gets a hurricurana for 2. Prince picks him up but Rey spins him out of the ring. Rey hits a somersault over the top rope. Prince gets a spring powerbomb by using the ropes back in. Baseball slide. Slingboard plancha by Prince and he throws Rey into the rail but misses a back cross body on top of the rail. Rey does a split legged plancha for 2. He goes over Prince in the corner and drops him with a top rope bulldog. Snapmare into a body scissors. Moonsault off the ropes by Rey for 2. Rey gets backdropped onto the apron and Rey gets a top rope sunset flip for 2. Dropkick and Rey goes to the top and misses a senton bomb. Quick legdrop by Prince. German suplex for 2. Powerbomb for 2. Springboard but Rey catches him with a dropkick. Crowd’s not into this one. Low blow by Prince. Double axhandle from the apron. Snapmare and a legdrop for 2. Leapfrog by Rey and they dropkick each other. Rey hits a hurricurana and a victory roll gets 2. Prince almost gets 2 as well. Roll up for another 2. Top rope cannonball by Rey for 2 and the bell rings at 11:57??? I thought it was 15 minutes for a time limit. Was this match clipped? Rey grabs the mike and wants more time. Prince accepts because IT’S UNCENSORED!!
Television Title Match take two: Prince Iaukea VS Rey
Mysterio Jr.
Rey gets a hip toss and kicks him in the head. Rey hits a springboard legdrop for 2. Crowd chants “Boring.” Rey gets a spinning hurricurana and gets another one but Prince rolls him over for 3 at 1:43. Despite the dead crowd this was a good match ***1/4
Promo for Spring Stampede which Tony calls a brand new event as if 1994 didn’t happen.
Triangle Main Event Match: Team N.W.O (Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash) VS Team WCW (Scott Steiner, The Giant, Lex Luger) VS Team Piper (Roddy Piper, Jeff Jarrett, Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael)
Here are the rules for this unusual match. There are 4 rounds. 1st round is 5 minutes and has 1 member from each team. 2nd and 3rd rounds are 2 minutes each with another member from each team in each round. 4th round has no time limit with the remaining members in. Members can be eliminated by Pin, KO, Submission, or Over the top rope throw. The Last man standing wins the match for his team. If Team WCW wins, The N.W.O will return all their titles and will not wrestle in WCW events for 3 years. (In other words they’ll return by the time I move back to Chicago.) If Team N.W.O wins, they may wrestle for any WCW title. If Team Piper wins, Hollywood Hogan will face Roddy Piper in a steel cage match. The fans want to see that but I don’t. And we would see exactly that at Halloween Havoc later that year. BTW WCW is missing Rick Steiner who was injured at the beginning of the show. Onto the match.
1st Round: The participants chosen are Chris Benoit, Scott Hall and The Giant. Giant lets Hall and Benoit go at it with Hall hitting a fallaway slam while he slowly goes to the ring. When he does he nails both his opponents. Noggin knocker and he chops away on both opponents. Huge hiptoss for Benoit. Hall finally takes control but he gets tossed off by Giant. Slam by Giant on Hall. Clothesline in the corner for Benoit. Huge elbow drop for Hall. Benoit chops on Giant but it backfires. Hall now takes control. Sleeper by Hall on Giant but Giant pulls him off. Chokeslam for Benoit!! Claw hold for Hall. Giant misses a blind charge and he goes over the top rope and eliminated. The announcers call it 5 seconds after he’s eliminated. What idiots.
2nd Round: Jeff Jarrett, Randy Savage and Lex Luger are next in joining Hall and Benoit. Turning into a mini battle royal now. Press slam by Luger on Jarrett. Luger is pummeled by Benoit in the corner.
3rd Round: Mongo, Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner are out now. 8 Men are in the ring. Steiner is cleaning up on everyone. Everyone’s pummeling each other now. Nash clotheslines Jarrett out. Sidewalk slam on Scott.
4th Round: Mongo is backdropped over the top rope by Hall. Roddy Piper makes his way down but no Hogan yet. Scott Steiner is kicked out by Nash so Luger is left for WCW. Hogan now comes out with Dennis Rodman. Hogan isn’t coming in the ring as Piper chokes out Savage with a chain on the outside. Hogan is now in. He brawls with Piper outside of the ring. Savage nails Piper though. Piper now chokes out Hogan with a chain. It’s 4 VS 2 VS 1 right now and Rodman pulls the top rope down eliminating Piper. Now it’s 4 VS 1 VS 1. Benoit fights back but he’s caught in the Razor’s Edge by Hall. Benoit is thrown out so Team Piper’s done. Now it’s the entire N.W.O VS Luger. Backdrop by Luger though and he starts cleaning house. Tourture Rack on Savage and he’s gone. Nash is thrown over the top. Torture Rack for Hall and he’s gone. Down to Luger and Hogan. Clothesline by Luger. Luger gets the Rack but Savage comes in and nails Luger with the spraypaint can and Hogan gets the pin at 18:45 to win the match for the N.W.O. Jeez what a farce. *1/4. N.W.O along with Rodman spraypaints Luger before leaving. Then all of a sudden Sting drops down from the ceiling!! He whacks the entire N.W.O except for Hogan and Rodman with a bat. Then he gives it to Hogan as well. This of course would eventually lead to Sting and Hogan at the end of the year at Starrcade. But that’s also another story.
Summary: Well a pretty
darn good show overall. Sting’s dropping down at the end certainly was a
surprise. And there were some good matchers out there as well. Definetlly one
of WCW’s good shows during their hot run. RECOMMENDED