A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: August 25th 2014
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £ 19.99
Blu-ray £ 22.99
(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD (3 Discs)
(Also Available on Blu-ray (2 Discs)
What It’s About:
A
three disc (DVD) and two disc (Blu-ray) of a countdown of fifty incidents from
WCW’s illustrious history complied together with the matches and angles which
feature in the countdown. Though the title is somewhat vague allowing WWE to
throw anything they haven’t yet used from WCW’s video library onto the release,
each incident is meant to conform to the said ‘OMG’ moment on the title of the
release.
It
was difficult to rate and place these segments thanks to the category stated by
the release, so the thought process behind it is as follows. The countdown
segments are rated on whether they really correspond to the OMG tag line of the
release title. The segments included on the release will, as usual, be rated as
to their content and quality rather than anything to do with their correlation
to the countdown.
Strengths:
‘Canadian
Hacksaw’ (49) (September 17th 2000) only just manages to scrape the barrel of
acceptable material for this release. Unlike other so called ‘incidents’
included, the moment the patriotic ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan turned his back on
America and sided with Canada was a jaw dropping moment for long time fans even
if newer wrestling fans at the time had no real idea of what it really meant or
who Jim Duggan really was. Talking heads on this segment include both Jim
Duggan and Fit Finlay who suitably berate WCW management for turning Duggan
heel and cutting his hair and shaving off his beard. Whilst Fit Finlay correctly
states that no one brought into the storyline, Jim Duggan carries off the
appearance of a man who can’t bear to think back to an unhappy time in his
career. The segment is nicely complimented with some rarely seen footage from
WWE’s extensive archives of a shaved and groomed ‘Hacksaw’ which is a site to
behold in itself.
‘Warrior’
(48) (August 17th 1998) may have been a terrible mistake by WCW, but the return
to a wrestling ring of The Ultimate Warrior warrants a place in this countdown
thanks to the shock nature of the arrival, even though Hulk Hogan signposted
the comeback with the line, “There’s not a Warrior, I can’t beat” amongst other
names for a wrestler. In a brand new sit down interview, Hulk Hogan reflects
with honest on the period and says that Warrior’s WCW appearance and subsequent
run “didn’t roll out exactly the way they planned it”. That could be an
understatement considering the depth the rot set in at and the pace with which
Hellwig’s presence became monotonous. All credit to WWE for leaving in the
frankness, though it’s not a shock seeing as Vince likes to leave in any
derogative comment about another other promotion but his own, which continues
in the form of Dean Ambrose who rightly states that Warrior’s return was a
“total mess” and that the Halloween Havoc match between Hulk Hogan and The
Ultimate Warrior was “one of the most dreadful matches you will ever watch”
which is then backed up by a reborn Hulk Hogan who admits that it was all his
fault. In a pre-taped interview before his passing, Warrior states; “you have a
platform from history to use and you should use it. But they didn’t”.
‘Bad
Goldberg?’ (43) (June 11th 2000) clinches its place on the countdown thanks to
the shock factor Goldberg turning heel had on the company, though when you
watch the angle in which it occurs again (it’s included on the ‘Goldberg
Ultimate Collection’ release) you can see what’s coming as Goldberg runs Kevin
Nash down like a freight train. Still, it was a genuinely disbelieving moment
after old Bill had been a babyface for his entire WCW run to that point. The
number of talking heads includes Ric Flair who accurately orates that Goldberg
had the “it factor” whilst “he never had a chance to learn the wrestling
business but what he had to do, he pulled it off”. William Regal refers to
Goldberg as the “ultimate in superheroes” before the injudicious nature of the
heel turn is shed light on by Terry Taylor who informs us the decision to turn
Goldberg was based solely on the fact that he’d beaten every heel on the roster
and there was nothing else for him to do. Weighing on the theories of why the
turn failed to succeed, Regal offers up that it was doomed to fail because the
character wasn’t Goldberg and that in fact; he was a really nice guy. Terry
Taylor hands John Cena a convenient excuse as to why he shouldn’t turn heel
with the correct belief that if a talent doesn’t buy into a heel turn or
doesn’t know how to work within those parameters, then it will never work. You
can see John Cena wheeling that out in six months time when his character grows
stale yet again.
‘Caged
Horsemen’ (41) (September 29th 1985) deserves to be higher up the list than it
actually is. The breaking of Dusty Rhodes leg inside a steel cage occurred at a
time when wrestling was still in the grip of kayfabe and situations such as
this rarely occurred, making them even more disturbing when they did. The footage
of the Horsemen decimating ‘The American Dream’ has survived incredibly well
over the years, as has Arn Anderson’s recollection of it when he offers up the
regret of carrying out the act because they could have been killed by the
baying audience. His exertions are no exaggeration as the footage proves.
Though this occurred when the company was still known as Jim Crockett
Promotions, we’ll take it as there’s very little legitimate incidents included
on the countdown.
‘Litigation’
(39) (July 9th 2000) necessitates a long winded explanation of which I will try
to keep as short as possible. The segment focuses on Hulk Hogan’s exit from the
company in the new century thanks to a major disagreement between Hulk Hogan
and new WCW head writer, Vince Russo. The true story is that Hull Hogan, Eric
Bischoff and Vince Russo worked out a way for Hulk Hogan to leave the company
for a few months with the meaning for him to return. In a completely staged
angle, Jeff Jarrett would lay down in the middle of the ring at Bash at the
Beach and Hulk Hogan would act shocked and surprised whilst cutting a promo on
Vince Russo which blamed the writer for the company going downhill. Hulk Hogan
would then cover Jarrett for the victory and the Championship but leave the
company in disgust. The story which would be fed to the fans would be that Hulk
Hogan had legitimate beef with those who ran the company and had left. In his
absence, WCW would crown a new World Champion and then Hulk Hogan would return
a few months later to contest a Champion vs Champion feud to decide the
undisputed WCW World Heavyweight Champion. As you can guess and probably know,
it went awry when Vince Russo cut a scathing and somewhat undeserved shoot
promo on Hogan moments after the bout, calling him a ‘piece of shit’ for which
Hulk Hogan rightly took offence and refused to return, suing Russo for
defamation of character. That is the story and truth behind this angle, which
is warranted in its conclusion thanks to its controversial nature. There are
two different sides to this story, of course, Vince Russo’s and Hulk Hogan’s.
Hogan begins by stating that he had creative control over the finish of all his
matches but never exercised it...yeah right...before stating that the first he
knew of the controversy was when word reached him that Jeff Jarrett was going
to lay down without putting up a fight. The release then cuts to Vince Russo,
who much be back in McMahon’s good books, who states that he was told Hulk
Hogan wasn’t going to do the job and when he relayed the information to Jeff
Jarrett, he’d never seen Double J so angry. There is no reason not to tell the
truth here especially when Hulk Hogan contradicts his story by stating that the
only part of the whole thing that was a shoot, was Vince Russo’s rant. Meaning
that everything else was planned. Despite the contradictory story and lack of
truth here, Russo’s admission that he lost the war thanks to a lawsuit and Hulk
Hogan’s wry smile before having a dig at Russo with the line; “I didn’t have to
do a job in court”, as well as the nature of the story makes it interesting
enough to sit through.
‘The
Debut’ (36) (September 4th 1995) focuses more on the debut of Monday Nitro
rather than Lex Luger’s surprise appearance twenty four hours after competing
for Vince McMahon, which makes it less an incident and more a history lesson,
but it comes around to the real point of the entry soon enough and in a very
rare appearance as a talking head, Lex Luger sheds some light on the situation
for us. It’s good to see Lex again, and looking so well too. Yes, for the
nature of the subject this should be here but WWE should have stopped both The
Miz and Brodus Clay appearing to comment as neither has anything useful to say.
The latter states that Lex Luger jumped ship one week after competing for WWE,
thankfully ‘The Man Made in the USA’ is there to correct his ridiculous mistake
and point out it was just twenty four hours. There’s no reason provided from
Luger as to why he chose to jump ship, though he was going nowhere in WWE,
which would have been nice to hear after twenty years but someone jumping ship
especially whilst still under contract to another organization is always a
legitimate OMG moment and should be included on a release such as this.
‘Robocop’
(32) (May 19th 1990) has to be one of the earliest and most nonsensical actions
WCW ever sanctioned to sell a pay-per view event. The inclusion of Robocop was
utterly ludicrous even though it’s one of the memories of the business I have
as a child, and I’m not the only one who thinks so either. Rightfully, Arn
Anderson refers to the situation as ‘Ridiculous’. For as bad as the idea to
include Robocop was, the main reason this is in the ‘Strength’ category is for
the thoroughly wonderful insights of Jim Ross who does manage to lift this
segment above terrible with his hilarious comments. The first of which states;
“I’ve been told I have no acting skills, but I debate that because I acted like
I cared about Robocop”. What a wonderful ad lib by a man who wasn’t allowed to
do this kind of material when under contract to the WWE. Footage of the steel
cage breaking is feeble, it was obviously rigged as the bars spring off and
look like foam in the process whilst Tony Schiavone who has aged remarkably
options that he’d just come from working for the WWE and thought he’d better
call Vince and get his job back. Arn Anderson end the witty segment talking
about he didn’t know what he was more angry about; the fact that he has to run
away from Robocop, or that it wasn’t even the real Robocop. What would have
been a thoroughly deplorable angle turned out to be one of the funnier and more
enjoyable inclusions on the list. Though on the basis of Robocop supposedly
being an OMG moment, it doesn’t deserve to be here.
‘Who’s
Better Than Kanyon?’ (31) (May 7th 2000) focuses on the disastrous triple
decked steel cage match at Slamboree 2000 in which the late Chris Kanyon took a
nose dive from the summit and went straight through a padded entrance aisle.
Though the footage clearly shows where the aisle has been rigged to break his
fall, it doesn’t make the dive any less death defying and he should be given
credit for willingly offering to make an otherwise rotten bout that much more
interesting. Bill DeMott provides the laughs with the line; “The one-upmanship
was insane. ‘I know, let’s build a three tier cage and whoever takes the best
bump off of it wins!’” Though William Regal tries to take the limelight away
from Kanyon with his belief that after seeing Mick Foley fall from the top of
Hell in a Cell, everything else was just second rate.
‘Ambush’
(29) (October 25th 1986) is another entry that may be at the backend of the
twenties, but deserves a higher placing for its originality at a time when
legitimately vicious attacks weren’t the norm. This one focuses on the
sickening attempt to break Dusty Rhodes’ arm by the Four Horsemen and the
footage of them following Rhodes on his supposed day off, attacking him in a
parking lot and breaking his arm with a tyre iron. Sadly, the inclusion is only
in this category thanks to the excellent footage and not for anything Arn
Anderson says on the incident. Seemingly believing this was real and not an
angle with the comment, “We went too far and probably should have been
arrested”, Anderson conforms to kayfabe to stay in the good books of his
employer. Cody Rhodes is spot on however, by relaying that the intention was
more violent than the act which was censored.
‘Powerbomb’
(26) (June 16th 1996) is the already well documented Kevin Nash Powerbomb on
Eric Bischoff on pay-per view when Hall and Nash were relative newcomers to the
company, leaving WWE for a better offer. Though this has been on countless
releases over the past year and god knows how many before, it justifies an
inclusion as the beginning of what would grow to be the NWO. The talking heads
on the clip say nothing much of note, but you can’t deny it was a very well
acted out attack by all three men.
‘Cruiserweight
Showcase’ (24) (October 26th 1997) richly deserves its place on this list,
though seeing what was rated higher than it, it deserved a bigger placing than
twenty sixth. The Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio spectacle from that year’s
Halloween Havoc is one of the greatest cruiserweight matches ever staged and up
to the point it was staged, WCW’s cruiserweight division was good but never hit
the heights promised. If you’ve never seen this bout then you owe it to
yourself to do so. Arn Anderson correctly opines that both Eddie and Rey were
very special acts and that the bout was the most unbelievable athletic display
anyone could image. Certainly, there was nothing which has topped it since the
present day.
‘N.W.....NO!’
(23) (January 13th 1997) is one of the lesser definitive moments in WCW which
this release should have been based around. Centring around Diamond Dallas Page
rejecting the faction in the form of a Diamond Cutter on Scott Hall, this left
jaws on the floor at time for the simple reason that Page wasn’t a major player
and was treading water in the mid-card defeating no names for a living. That
WCW management had chosen DDP to take centre stage in the feud was a shocking
in itself but showed a will to take a step forward rather than have the usual
suspects in the same old roles. As a talking head, DDP himself bravely states
that was the moment he took off as a talent because he hadn’t resonated with
the fans beforehand. This is a good choice for inclusion and one which may not
have been readily available at the front of audience’s minds.
‘Garbage’
(17) (December 18th 1995) proves to be one of the most truly shocking moments
in the promotion’s history and one of the first shots across the bow of Vince
McMahon and one of the sparks which ignited the Monday Night Wars. Fans of WCW
of the time period will well remember Medusa, formerly Alundra Blaze, binning
the WWE Women’s Championship live on Nitro in a shocking act. Beth Phoenix
states that Medusa was the next step up from female ring valet whilst Michael
Hayes looks slightly disappointed at Blaze when he tells us that “it’s
something you just don’t do”. This may be a true OMG moment but A.J Lee
lightens up proceedings with her distinctive interview style when she turns to
the camera and declares “it just goes to show you what some people will do for
a dollar”. The talking heads on this segment are all frank and honest, none
more so than Paul Heyman who says what everyone else is thinking but too scared
to come out with in that Medusa tarnished the WWE’s Women’s division and title to
the point where Vince McMahon wouldn’t even consider another title for three
years. More than an OMG moment, this was the catalyst for the Montreal Screwjob
two years later.
‘To
Streak? Or Not to Streak?’ (16) (December 27th 1998) looks at the end of Goldberg’s
mammoth undefeated streak at the hands of Kevin Nash. Though it was a wrong
decision on the night to end the most valuable commodity WCW had at the time,
especially to someone who didn’t benefit from the outcome, it’s without a doubt
another legit incident which no one saw coming. The thought process behind
ending the streak is well explored by the talking heads, beginning with Terry
Taylor who announces the small mindedness behind the decree in that Kevin Nash
was part of a booking team which made the decision to defeat Goldberg. The way
Taylor explains it is that Goldberg had no choice in the matter and it was done
just to sooth an ego. Going on to exploit the correct opinion that the result
hurt business whilst footage proves the finale was a weak one and if this was
going to occur then it should have done so clean. By defeating Goldberg by
questionable methods, Kevin Nash got nothing from his victory. Paul Heyman
wades in with the belief the result was a “rip off”, whilst Terry Taylor is on
form with the statement that “talent booking themselves doesn’t work as
everyone wants to win and everyone wants to go on last.”
‘Trailblazer’
(15) (August 2nd 1992) is a truly momentous moment not just in WCW history, but
in wrestling history. The instant Ron Simmons defeated Vader for the WCW World
Heavyweight Championship and became the first African American World
Heavyweight Champion is a glorious moment especially after his time as part of
Doom. It may have been a sudden push but that doesn’t prevent it from being
very special indeed partly because no one saw it coming. The talking heads have
nothing but praise for Ron Simmons as a man and wrestler, with Booker T being
the biggest admirer, announcing his belief though somewhat questionable that
Ron Simmons is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. It’s just a damn
shame it didn’t work out of Ron, he could have been one of the biggest African
American wrestlers to ever step foot in a ring. Regardless of that, it’s
heartening to hear his take on the occasion and that it meant a lot not just to
him but everyone who ever had a dream.
‘The
Decision’ (14) (March 16th 1997) isn’t a true OMG moment but is another
definitive moment in WCW history as Sting chooses WCW over the NWO and
continues his career long face run. Though it isn’t outstanding, the moment is
somewhat definitive as everyone who was anyone was turning to the dark side
just because they thought their career would be advanced by getting in with
Hulk Hogan behind the scenes. Talking head Larry Zbyszko backs up this
assertion with the line “someone had to do that job. It may as well have been
him.” Sting rallied against the machine
and that was why everyone loved him. Terry Taylor puts it best when summing up
Sting’s appeal with the quote; “Sting was the man who didn’t choose money and
fame.” The inclusion is compiled with some excellent footage of the build-up
and the incident in question which fans of the era will love.
‘Piledriver’
(13) (May 7th 1989) could be one of the top three most definitive moments in
WCW history but is maddeningly ranked thirteenth instead of in the top three.
That it’s ranked below such moments as The Giant falling off of a roof, David
Arquette winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and Rick Rude appearing
on WCW and WWE programming at the same time is just bizarre. For those not
familiar, this spotlights Terry Funk’s shocking and heinous attack on Ric Flair
which will always stand as one of the greatest heel turns in the business.
Everything about it was sublime, even Ric Flair’s sell job and taking a month
off of television. William Regal looks like a gleeful child when referring to
the angle as “magical” before following it up with the assertion that everyone
involved played a perfect role. It truly was a flawless moment.
‘Shockmaster’
(10) (August 18th 1993) could possibly be one of the most memorable mistakes
WCW ever opened its doors to. The Shockmaster, aka Fred Ottman better known as
Typhoon of The Natural Disasters, clad in a glittery Darth Vader helmet fell
head first through a wall on live television to the embarrassment of everyone
present including intended partners, Sting and The British Bulldogs. Whoever
thought this would be a wonderful plan for a character needed firing, *cough,
cough, Dusty Rhodes*. The talking heads struggle to keep a straight face whilst
recapping the event with Ric Flair looking genuinely sorrowful with the line “I
felt sorry for him. Fred was a nice guy” whilst brother-in-law Dusty Rhodes has
the outright cheek to try and pass of the cheap and tacky helmet as costing the
company a great deal of money. What complete rubbish. I won’t deny though,
audibly hearing Davey Boy say “He fell flat on his arse” off camera will bring
a smile to your face.
‘World
Champion Actor’ (9) (April 26th 2000) could be the dumbest booking decision
Vince Russo ever made and that includes making himself WCW World Heavyweight
Champion. At least he was part of the company and the writing team could insert
it into the storyline. Making the actor David Arquette WCW World Heavyweight
Champion was just plain dumb. But, another genuine OMG moment because who saw
that coming? Diamond Dallas Page seems reserved when speaking on a storyline
which he played a huge hand in, it’s no surprising as no one wants to admit
something which was partly down to them was rubbish, before touching on the
negative effect it had within the company and the ratings for its television
and pay-per view events. Incredibly, the blinkered Vince Russo has the sheer
gall to say that he still doesn’t see anything wrong with the decision as long
as it got the publicity the company needed via word of mouth. What a complete
dick. The moment didn’t get the company the publicity needed and did get around
via word of mouth when people began telling their friends not to watch the crap
because it had gone drastically down hill. When you see the chain of events
which lead to WCW’s demise put together, it’s not hard to see why they went out
of business. Though the talking heads seem largely ineffective and in some
cases in denial, this deserves a place a proper OMG moment.
‘Cobo
Chaos’ (8) (October 29th 1995) will sit with those who haven’t seen it as a
shocker and those who are still trying to erase it from their memory banks as a
horrible reminder of just how cheesy WCW could be. Looking at the monster truck
match between The Giant and Hulk Hogan on the roof of the arena which lead to
the astonishing moment of the man we know as Big Show falling from the roof of
the arena into the river, though you never see his landing and its clear a
crash mat catches him about ten foot down from the edge of the drop. Hulk Hogan
sells the moment to perfection and it’s really for this part of the segment
which warrants its strengths inclusion. What was to follow was simply dreadful.
With The Giant returning from the fall minutes later and bone dry to boot to
contest a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match which ended in Jimmy Hart
turning heel on Hulk Hogan, the bout ends in a truly hideous visual of The
Giant and The Yeti attempting to squeeze Hulk Hogan to death but actually
looking like they’re dry humping him. I won’t go into too much detail here as
WWE have included this bout on the match section of the release but the talking
heads are a scream with Hulk Hogan pronouncing that he now looks back on that
with remorse and can’t believe he went through with it. It’s William Regal
though who provides the biggest chortle and saves this when it turns into a
calamity with a constant grin and articulation that if you’ve never seen this,
then you’re missing out.
‘Double
Feature’ (7) (November 17th 1997) isn’t an OMG moment as far as anything
spectacular goes but it does warrant a place in remembrance as Rick Rude
returned to the company on the same night as his final appearance on a
pre-taped Raw aired at the exact same time as his return on a live Nitro,
meaning he was on two separate programmes for two separate companies at the
same time. Summer Rae is worthless as a talking head and should be barred from
every future release because she brings it down with her over the top comments
and exaggerations. The segment was crap but the intention to shock came off
brilliantly.
‘Goldberg
Dome’ (5) (July 6th 1998) is the moment Goldberg finally took the step up to
the main event by defeating Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight
Championship in the Georgia Dome in front of WCW’s biggest ever live crowd and
television audience. The footage doesn’t do the moment justice but the
reception Goldberg receives when he pins Hulk Hogan for the title is just
unforgettable even if the match wasn’t. Those watching live at time, as your
Wrestling God was, will remember the feelings that Goldberg couldn’t fail and
Hulk Hogan himself cements this with the line “If you were in the building, you
knew it was going to happen! It was in the air.” Was it too soon? I think it
was, but nonetheless, it was a massive OMG moment and the making of a star.
Paul Heyman’s assertion that it was the greatest moment in WCW history may be
somewhat misguided, though it can’t be far off the truth.
‘I
Quit’ (4) (November 28th 1985) no doubt deserves a place on the release for the
shocking and brutal nature of the steel cage match between Tully Blanchard and
Magnum T.A but I’m not convinced it should be ranked so highly and especially
not above Terry Funk’s heel turn on Ric Flair. A brutal, bloody and brilliant
bout has been well documented on other WWE releases but the footage never gets
any less impressive for its hardcore action especially the spike in the
forehead incident. William Regal adds intrigue to the segment with his shout
that Tully Blanchard was “someone everyone wanted to hit” but doesn’t stray
into any further explanation leaving us to ponder on whether he meant within
his character or in real life. Dusty Rhodes may have something when he
describes the bout as “the most brutal moment of a very brutal age.”
‘Outside
Invasion’ (3) (May 27th 1996) sees the return to World Championship Wrestling
of Scott Hall who once plied his trade in the company as The Diamond Studd.
Though we now know it led to the formation of the NWO, at the time it was a
startling moment as only weeks before Scott Hall had been Razor Ramon in WWE. A
brand new sit-down interview with Scott Hall sheds light on his appearance as
he declares that he was still a WWE guy and fighting for the promotion he had
left. You don’t usually hear this from a talent who jumped from one ship to
another so it’s a refreshing admission to accompany an otherwise piece of
stagnant wrestling history. Hall berates WCW’s programming before he arrived in
the company as where the big boys played but routinely had Sting defeating no
names whilst Diamond Dallas Page backs up Hall’s exclamation that his
appearance was completely kept under wraps and even the talent didn’t know he
was there. Wrestlers appearing for other companies before the internet
telegraphed every exit and entrance was a genuinely shocking piece of
television as is Scott Hall’s admission that he received a law suit from Vince
McMahon the very same day for his Razor Ramon mannerisms.
‘Surprise
Purchase’ (2) (March 25th 2001) for your Wrestling God at least, should have
been number one as the defining moment in the promotion’s history and obviously
WWE thought so to as its the picture which adorns the cover of this release.
Vince McMahon purchasing the company which nearly put him out of business and
on such a worldwide platform was irony of the highest calibre and one of the
most startling moments in the whole of wrestling. The duel telecast and both
Vince and Shane appearing on Turner Network Television in some shape or form
was just unmissable television. But we must not forget that at its heart, it
was also a death of a company which could have put Vince McMahon out of
business completely. The never heard before story is told in at least a little
detail by the various talking heads who were around at the time, including WWE
production trucks being present at the venue when talent turned up and Terry
Taylor uttering, with some level of sadness that it was obvious they were the conquering
army and WCW had finally been vanquished. It’s a somewhat poignant moment on
the release and credit to WWE for including it. Both Ric Flair and Tony
Schiavone relay their happiness at the company falling, with ‘The Nature Boy’
voicing the joyful glee that he knew it was over and was so glad, whilst
Schiavone comes across as someone who was overtly relieved as he tells of what
a terrible place it was to work.
‘Who
is the Third Man?’ (1) (July 7th 1996) takes its rightful place as the standout
OMG incident and to be fair, it was a legitimate shocker and possibly the most
memorable moment wrestling has ever produced. WCW have the right to that claim
at least. With Hulk Hogan joining Hall and Nash to form the NWO, wrestling had
suddenly ran out of heroes and for a short time at least, was better off for
it. Scott Hall is left to relay an unknown tale from the night in question and
tells us that Hulk Hogan had creative control over his contract and whilst
filming a movie on California could have rejected the plan to turn heel. Scott
Hall is glorious in his storytelling, verbalizing that as the pay-per view was
happening Hulk Hogan was still in the air and no one backstage had any idea if
he’d go along with the plan. In the absence of Hogan, the company were going to
turn Sting which has never been disclosed before. Though Scott Hall is right
when he says that it would not have had the same effect, partly because Sting
was already part of the match, because it had to be a former WWE guy so it
looked like an invasion, Hulk Hogan weighs in with his joy at going along with
the plan which is nice to hear from a man who has seen it all and done it all.
Just image if John Cena did this, it would top even Hulk Hogan.
Cactus
Jack vs Big Van Vader (WCW Saturday Night, April 24th 1993) is the bout which
leads to the dreadful angle of Cactus Jack losing his memory and completing a
several week set of vignettes which saw him live on the streets as the defender
of the homeless. Up to this point on the release, it’s the best match included
with those that go before paling in comparison. Certainly not the best brawl
the pair ever contested, but it does provide drama at the right moments which
begins with a gripping hardcore brawl around the Saturday Night set as both men
use the weapons to their advantage, before Cactus displays an impressive feat
of strength by suplexing Vader over the barrier front first. The height Mick
Foley gets on the move is nothing but awe inspiring. Though the bout goes to a
commercial break, there’s no reason for WWE not to leave in the action in
between as it was available to them but that is a minor gripe of an otherwise
respectable effort in which Vader shows just how agile he was for a big man.
The match ending Powerbomb is both vicious and sold well by Mick Foley.
‘Scott
Hall Appears on Nitro’ (Nitro, May 27th 1996) is an excellent promo by the
newest WCW acquisition even if it does fox those in attendance. The real
problem with an otherwise memorable entry is that as Scott Hall talks about ‘Billionaire
Ted’, ‘The Nacho Man’ and ‘Scheme Gene’ and the only way people would
understand what the former Razor Ramon was talking about is if they were
familiar with the cringe worthy skits Vince McMahon put out in the run up to
WrestleMania XII which mocked Ted Turner, Randy Savage and Gene Okerlund
amongst others. As is evident by the confused reaction to Scott Hall’s promo,
many in attendance here weren’t. Nonetheless, it doesn’t the appearance from
shocking many and when Scott Hall looks down the hard camera and declares war
on WCW, you can’t help but get that childish tingle down your spine once again.
‘Eric
Bischoff Has an Answer for The Outsiders’ (The Great American Bash 1996, June
16th 1996) is another short interview but ably handed by Eric who takes a
sporting Jacknife from Kevin Nash at the conclusion. The promo pieces in
between are also well handled by all involved especially Kevin Nash who wasn’t
known as a great microphone guy in the business.
Kevin
Nash and Scott Hall vs Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage (Bash at the Beach
1996, July 7th 1996) is historically necessary on a release about the fifty
incidents in the company’s history and even though the inclusion is more about
the ending and less about the actual bout, the meat and bones is pacy,
entertaining stuff made all the more unforgettable by the momentous Hulk Hogan
heel turn at its death. There aren’t many turns that eighteen years later you
can still turn around and say you didn’t see it coming. That is why it will
always remain one of the greatest wrestling moments in existence.
‘Sting
Chooses WCW’ (Uncensored, March 16th 1997) is, as it says on the tin, Sting
choosing WCW above the NWO and even after all of this time its still a good
piece of television. Granted, it’s not much of angle and lasts about the same
time it would take you to make a cup of coffee but Sting’s descent from the
ceiling is breathtaking and his dismantling of the NWO is swift and greeted
with nothing but cheers.
Goldberg
vs ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan (Nitro, July 6th 1998) is a stature enhancing moment
in Goldberg’s career in which he finally makes the transition for upper-card
player to main event star. The atmosphere in the Georgia Dome is one of the
best I’ve ever seen in nearly thirty years of being a fan and the chant of
‘Goldberg’ drowns out every other sound in the arena, though its nothing
compared to the reaction Goldberg gets when he pins Hulk Hogan for the title
with the Jackhammer. It’s one of the most special moments WCW ever had as far
as star making went and even though the bout isn’t up to much, this was the one
time Goldberg should have ran through Hulk Hogan in ten seconds or less to
heighten his threat to the NWO and the rest of the WCW roster which was massive
anyway.
‘Goldberg
Spears Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart’ (Nitro, March 29th 1999) may not belong on the
countdown but its still a very notable angle when standing alone. Bret Hart
handles a complicated promo very well before taking shots at WWE with his
scathing words. In Canada, Hart gets a heroes welcome as was expected whilst
Goldberg plays the part of the American invader well when answering Hart’s
challenge which ends in a Spear and the slaying of Goldberg thanks to a metal
chest protector. Bret Hart sells the move to near perfection before standing up
and revealing the plate under his shirt which, if thought about, could have
been used before now to thwart the impact by an oncoming Goldberg.
Jeff
Jarrett vs Booker T (Nitro, October 2nd 2000) should also have been omitted
from the countdown but that’s not to say the match isn’t very put together,
because it is. Even though the company was going down the toilet and a hand was
poised over the flush, WCW still had the talent on certain parts of its roster
to put on a good match once in a blue moon. Though the stipulation which sees
four wooden boxes hanging from each corner of the ring with one them containing
the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the first wrestler to find the box
with the title is crowned champion, is a totally ridiculous bout designated a
‘San Francisco 49ers Match’ Booker T and Jeff Jarrett manage to turn it into an
enjoyable hardcore jolly with tension and at least a little drama. Booker T
looks like a true champion and his Book End as Jeff Jarrett comes off of the
ropes is excellent. Jeff Jarrett is also willing to put a new talent over and
though the ending to the bout where the belt falls from the box shows how
little production values the company had towards the end.
Weaknesses:
‘Junkyard
Brawl’ (50) (July 11th 1999) is a great representation of what WWE intended
this release to be. Namely, a collection of ridiculous, uninteresting moments
which long time fans have tried to rid from their memories and hoped would
never see again. As the countdown begins, so does the madness surrounding the
construction of the latest WWE release. The Junkyard Brawl, for those who
aren’t familiar with it, was a large group of WCW stars battling in a junkyard
where the stipulation was that the winner would be the first man to escape the
destination before the place was set on fire. Though William Regal is one of
the only men to talk sense when it comes to this pathetic and ridiculous match,
his stories about only getting out of a car where he took refuge when the
helicopter spotlight came around are a laugh and stating that everyone else
“thought they had something to prove, rolling around in broken glass”, but
they’re the only notable thing about this inclusion. Cody Rhodes makes himself
look completely dumb here by putting forth the false truth that the bout was a
good example of what WCW were capable of and that it put Fit Finlay on the map.
Wrong, he was on the map at least a decade beforehand. This is not an incident
and therefore shouldn’t be here in any shape or form. William Regal ends the
segment on a high with the quote; “Without a doubt, the most ridiculous thing
I’ve ever seen in the industry”.
‘49ers
Match’ (47) October 2nd 2000) carries on the tradition of worthless inclusions
which somewhat bewilder the viewers by not cementing any boundaries as to the
criteria needed to make the cut, seemingly anything by the looks of this, with this
mystifying insertion which sees Booker T vs Jeff Jarrett in a match which had
four boxes suspended above the ring with one containing the WCW world
Heavyweight Championship. You guessed it, the first person to find the box with
the gold in wins the match. A ridiculous concept Vince Russo would wheel out in
another form in TNA. ‘Mene’ Gene Okerlund, who looks his age in 2014, is
unintentionally funny when noting the bewilderment of the audience who were as
confused as the wrestlers before footage of the match crowns off another
preposterous collision when the title falls out of the box before Booker T has
a chance to grab it. If anyone can tell me how this qualifies as an OMG
incident, then I’d love to hear it.
‘King
of the Road’ (46) (March 19th 1995) has footage which has to be seen to be
believed. If you weren’t present for this bout when it aired then prepare
yourself for Dustin Rhodes and the completely forgettable The Blacktop Bully
wrestling in the back of a tractor trailer packed with hay, as the vehicle
speeds down the road with the winner being first to sound a horn at the top of
the truck. For those who have no idea of how ludicrous the company could be at
times, welcome to WCW. It’s laughable that the company would add this to a
collection of incidents which are meant to make you sit on the edge of your
seat and shout ‘Oh My God!’ at the television but around about entry forty six,
you being to realize they actually ran out of material and needed something to
pad out the release. The production values look like something from the
eighties whilst the talking heads are largely absent of anything effective to
say, with one moron making the ridiculous assertion that he could watch it all
day.
‘Russo’
(45) (April 10th 2000) was a monotonous moment when it aired live on Nitro and
still is today, even in momentary clips. Apparently, the OMG factor here stems
from Vince Russo attempting to reset WCW and stripping everyone of their
titles. Wow, I mean hold on guys; it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Michael Hayes
looks back on the moment with a little regret even though he was working for
Vince McMahon at the time and says Russo made a lot of older talent very mad
indeed. It’s true, not just with this angle; he was constant thorn in the side
of the company. Though Michael Hayes is candid with the exact truth that with
Vince Russo the ship sunk faster, the segment can’t be saved because it
shouldn’t be here because it means nothing to history. To add insult to injury,
as the camera pans around the collected WCW roster, you will never have seen a
weaker group of talent in your entire life.
‘Chucky’
(44) (October 12th 1998) is one of those double take moments, as the Chucky
Doll from the ‘Child’s Play’ movies makes an appearance on Nitro to confront
Rick Steiner who was said to have been afraid of the doll as a child. Yeah...I
know. I won’t go into the angle now because just for you lucky people WWE have
decided to include it in its entirety on the main release so you can read about
it elsewhere in this blog, but to say it was completely pitiable is an
understatement. Talking head Billy Kidman is jovial in his criticism of the
angle, rightly so, before relaying to us that the doll got more backstage heat
than anyone of the time because it had more television time than most of the
talent. Correctly labelling the angle as ‘rotten’ Billy Kidman is substituted
for Justin Roberts, who moronically says that if there’s one match you want to
see its Rick Steiner vs Chucky. And to think, this is the booking team TNA entrusted
with its product. Not so much an ‘Oh My God’ moment than an ‘Oh Why God?’
‘La
Parka’ (42) (July 7th 1997) is another useless moment in WCW history as it
chronicles not an incident which will live long in memory, but rather Diamond
Dallas Page dressing up as La Parka and defeating Randy Savage. Had it been the
original La Parka, then maybe it would have stood the test, but a far superior
rated wrestler? Not a chance. Terry Taylor ridiculously describes La Parka as a
‘huge star’ when he was nothing of the sort and whilst the angle may have been
a little surprising at the time but seventeen years later, it fails to bring
about that factor supposedly needed to qualify for an inclusion on the release.
‘Jericho’s
Challenge’ (40) (November 9th 1998) intends to focus on the rivalry between
Chris Jericho and Goldberg, culminating in the supposed OMG moment of Goldberg
spearing Chris Jericho in the aisle, but it spends more time focusing on Chris
Jericho’s rotund and old security guard Ralphus and Y2J’s small rivalry with
Gillberg as portrayed by Duane Gill. Is this really what WWE believe qualifies
as in incident? Because to my mind, a real incident is either an unplanned
happening or one so cleverly devised that it makes you stand up in shock and
awe; this, my fair minions, isn’t anywhere near. Because quite simply the
culmination was expected. Chris Jericho as talking head takes credit for the
angle which is nothing to be proud of, quite simply, in his own words, because
WCW had nothing for him to do but the parts where Chris Jericho touches upon
Goldberg’s legit backstage fury that Gillberg made him a laughing stock is at
least mildly interesting.
‘Helicopter’
(38) (March 15th 1998) isn’t much of an inclusion in neither depth nor length
and highlights one of Sting’s greatest entrances from a helicopter to the
floating ring. That’s it, except the talking head who bores about helicopter
technology and there’s nothing here about how or why or how Sting felt about
it.
‘Forklift
Match’ (37) (August 13th 2000) looks at Judy Bagwell being placed on a forklift
as a prize for the winner of the banal bout between Buff Bagwell and Kanyon.
They really were scraping the bottom of the barrel towards the very end. Cody
Rhodes strikes again with the comment, “Judy Bagwell is a legend” before, to
his credit, adding “for all the wrong reasons.” If my honest opinion is
required then it’s a steaming pile of horse shit which isn’t welcome on this or
any release and I would be very interested to know how it made the cut. If
Bagwell’s mother wasn’t enough to put you off, then the inclusion of actor
David Arquette, who would be responsible for one the most ridiculous moments in
wrestling history, at the ending of the bout is completely brainless.
‘Demolition’
(35) (September 27th 1999) doesn’t hub on one particular occurrence, rather a
collection of them centring around Sycho Sid and his time in the promotion. Not
one talking head has anything positive to say about Vicious, who was well past
his prime if he ever had one, by the time 1999 rolled around. Teddy Long calls
him dumb whilst Michael Hayes points out one of Sid’s biggest flaws on the mic
and not being able to speak just once without getting the words wrong.
Admittedly, it’s mildly amusing as is the footage of a tenth of the Sid vs
Goldberg feud where Goldberg crushes Sid’s car. His reaction is desperately
poor but humorous at the same time, whilst Gene Okerlund keeps the laughs
coming with the quote, “You get what you get”. Had this been replaced with Sid
breaking his leg on live television in one of the most revolting and sickening
moments in WCW history which did deserve an inclusion, then it would have been
another step in the right direction.
‘Electric
Chair’ (34) (October 27th 1991) revolves around the tiresome Chamber of Horrors
match which was the pits and the fake electrocution of Abdullah the Butcher in
the electric chair which was at the centre of the cage match and was used to
win the bout when one team forced one member of the opposing squad into the
electric chair and pulled the lever, electrocuting said person. As he is in so
many other segments here, Jim Ross is the highlight but even his witty comments
which have gotten a lot braver since he was fired by the company last year, can’t
save this travesty. “There’s some stuff in my memory which I purposely suppress
and this is one of them” says Ross and he’s right. Even the footage shows how
stupendously bad the match actually was using lights and sound effects to make
it seem as if Abdullah the Butcher was being electrocuted. For more on the bout
see below. William Regal has a hard time keeping a straight face when
describing the moment as entertaining before the release immediately cuts back
to Jim Ross who utters the phrase; “it was terrible...it was terrible” with all
the respect he can muster. Good old J.R ends the segment with another chuckle,
telling the audience that if they watch the bout they do so at their own risk.
Maybe this does deserve an inclusion for the ‘Oh My God why are they doing
this?’ factor, but WWE do nothing to hype its appearance or why it should be
here.
‘Movie
Magic’ (33) (June 1993) is a complete banal and infuriating few minutes which
look at the utterly repugnant short movies Dusty Rhodes made, filmed, directed
and edited in his second stint as WCW booker. You have to see them, to know how
bad they truly are but don’t worry, across the release there’s plenty of
footage for you to throw up at. Incredibly, talking head Vader relays how much
he enjoyed filming them before Dusty Rhodes gleefully takes the credit for the
content will make you want to scratch out your eyes. Cody Rhodes seems to
believe its something to be proud of when he says that his father has never
treated wrestling like professional wrestling and more like sports
entertainment, god only knows why but to his credit, Dusty Rhodes does admit
their shortcomings by saying they were “pretty honky” but at the time they were
‘Gone With the Wind’ in his mind. The only reason they should be here is for
the shock factor they ever existed.
‘Human
Torch’ (30) (June 11th 2000) may have been a worthy inclusion had it not been
sabotaged fourteen years earlier when it was actually perpetrated. Looking at
the Human Torch Match between Sting and Vampiro at that year’s Great American
Bash event, the segment focuses on Sting being set alight at the very summit of
the titan tron and plunging nearly fifty feet to a crash mat below. In theory,
it’s a stunner of an idea but in practice it never really came off. Anyone
with, let’s say...eyes...can tell the man plunging isn’t Sting but in fact a
stuntman wearing a Sting mask and wig. It kind of kills the moment; otherwise
this would have been a great inclusion. Cody Rhodes sums up the feeling of the
audience with a sigh and “That’s all I can say!” Both Gene Okerlund and Tony
Schiavone completely mark out by talking as if the incident was real. There’s
nothing of value here.
‘Russo
Wins the WCW World Title’ (28) (September 25th 2000) is portrayed as an
accident, when Goldberg spears him through the cage instead of Booker T and
Vince Russo is the first man to touch the floor, but in reality it was a bloody
foolish decision, though only for three days, brought about by a desperate need
to win some support back in the ratings. Though Vince Russo tries to justify
the decision by saying that you have to throw a tyre iron into the works and
change things up otherwise you’d have the same show every week, taking the main
prize away from a top tier talent was completely unacceptable. WWE rarely ever
make dumb decisions to this level and survive week in and week out, it’s no
excuse. Cody Rhodes disappoints me here with the line; “it wasn’t the end of
the world. Wrestling purists act like its sacrilege.” It was and I thought Cody
was savvier than that. Obviously I’m going to have to revise my opinion of him.
Thankfully, Arn Anderson is on the ball and verbalizes his belief on Russo
winning the gold with; “I don’t know if you would call it self deprecating
humour on his part!”An OMG moment? Partly! Had this been a momentous title
change from talent to talent, it would have been worthy.
‘Chest
Protector’ (27) (March 29th 1999) stands as more of a storyline advancement
than an OMG moment, and therefore shouldn’t have even been considered when
compiling this release. There’s a theoretical prize for anyone who can tell me
what’s so OMG about using a chest protector to stop the Spear hurting you, as
anyone with brains would have done this a long time ago had they been permitted
by the company. It’s complete rubbish and it’s a toss up as to what’s more
painful, the inclusion or Natalya’s narration of it.
‘Finger
Poke of Doom’ (25) (January 4th 1999) could be one of the worst endings to a
wrestling match the company ever booked and that’s against some tough
opposition. Basically what we have here is Hulk Hogan poking Kevin Nash, who
then drops to the canvas and allows Hulk Hogan to pin him. In a WCW World
Heavyweight Championship match, this kind of behaviour is just despicable.
Rather than an edge of your seat OMG moment, it serves as more of an ‘Oh My God
why did they ever bother booking that?’ Arn Anderson looks suitably disgusted
when recalling the skirmish and rightly states that the audience come first and
they have a right to be entertained, before voicing that the bout was hyped for
weeks as the match of the century but ended up being a popcorn fart. As Kevin
Nash’s brain child, Chris Jericho is openly critical of Nash and says that he’d
like WWE to interview the man in question because they didn’t book that for any
other reason than they believed it would be a fun thing to do. Kevin Nash is
interviewed but doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with the ending in question.
Moronically, Jimmy Hart tries to stick up for the angle, naturally seeing as it
involved his friend Hulk Hogan, by asking what the pair were meant to do, “have
a twenty minute match and shake hands at the end?” Yes Jimmy, others have. At
least Hulk Hogan has the sense to say it was off base.
‘Lost
in Cleveland’ (22) (April 1993) are the painful set of videos which aired when
Cactus Jack was powerbombed on the concrete by Vader and supposedly lost his
memory. Seeing Cactus being the defender of the homeless somewhere in Cleveland
was painful and they weren’t that well written either for which Dusty Rhodes
has to take the blame seeing he’s the one who penned them. God only knows what
the thought process behind this was but Mick Foley says he thought it was a
ridiculous concept until they offered him a fully paid four weeks off to film
the small episodic videos. The acting in them just repellent but the segment
does end with Foley admitting it was all horrible.
‘Stir
Crazy’ (21) (April 1999) is the wholly forgettable storyline which saw Ric
Flair take over presidency of the company and then go insane with power. This
is another of those segments which has to be seen to be believed, just because
of how nauseating it was. Ending up with Ric Flair in a mental institution and
being carted away by men in white coats, before Flair parties in the asylum
with the inmate the entire this is abhorrent. Thankfully, Arn Anderson’s
comments help turn this in at least right direction when he says that Ric Flair
is genuinely insane and that there are people locked up saner than Ric. It
shouldn’t be on this countdown.
‘Piñata’
(20) (November 15th 1999) looks at the ridiculously stipulated Piñata on a Pole
Match which was a good cruiserweight clash but the stipulation brought it down
to the level of a dumb time filler which meant nothing to anyone. As you can
probably guess, the rules stated that the winner would be the first man to
smash open the piñata and retrieve the contents for which Billy Kidman refers
to as “just horrible”. To add to the outlandish nature of the bout, the piñata
didn’t even stay on its perch and fell mid-way through the bout. The Jim Ross
impersonator is an offense to humanity as he even stoops so low as to mimic
Ross’ collapsed lip as a result of Bells Palsy.
‘Masked
Luchador’ (19) (May 17th 1998) may have been a surprise on the night as Dean
Malenko unveiled himself as Cy-clo-pe at the end of the battle royal and
challenged Chris Jericho for the Cruiserweight title, continuing their feud
which had been on ice since Malenko left the company months before, but all
these years later I doubt anyone can truly call this an OMG moment. For one,
you could just tell who was in the suit as it made sense to carry on the feud
and to make it worse; talking head Dean Malenko describes it as a shocking
moment. Next, please.
‘Parking
Lot Mess’ (18) (July 29th 1996) sees Scott Hall and Kevin Nash invading Nitro
backstage and leaving talent lying. What I will say, is that at the time, it
could have been mistaken for a shocking moment but shouldn’t WCW have really
expected this? After all, Hall and Nash were an invading force, if extra
security isn’t called for at that time then when is it? The footage proves this
fake because if it was a real ambush, Hall and Nash wouldn’t take apart the
defending roster with predetermined wrestling moves and would have used
something more organic and unprofessional looking. The whole things screams of
‘fixed’ and it shows though the talent sell the beating well. To add to the
lunacy and make this moment seem as if it was a shoot, Cody Rhodes, a man who
grew up around wrestling and knew the ins and outs of the industry as a child
says that he remembers phoning Dusty to ask if everyone was ok. Give me a
break.
‘The
Worm’ (12) (March 16th 1997) focuses on Dennis Rodman’s association with WCW
and the NWO. Dennis Rodman was much like Mr. T. He did a good job the first
time he was required to wrestle but quickly outstayed his welcome. Wrestling
had many links to celebrities but here the company try to make out Rodman was
the first. I’ll give them credit for interviewing Dennis Rodman but it goes
nowhere, even Hulk Hogan’s explanation as to how he met Dennis is so brief that
he could have just made it up on the fly. Another segment just included on a
release to prove wrestling has the desired appeal to reach a celebrity
audience.
‘Parody’
(11) (September 1st 1997) first shows us Arn Anderson’s retirement speech
before cutting to a week later when the NWO parody the speech with Kevin Nash
dressed as Arn Anderson. It’s not shocking, it’s not particularly funny and in
no way does it conform to the OMG category of the title. That this moment is
ranked higher than Terry Funk’s heel turn on Ric Flair shows just how little
WWE’s current crop of employees known about the wrestling industry. Anyone who
this is a shocking moment let alone one which trumps 1989’s fine attack
shouldn’t be a wrestling fan. I think it’s time we began to vet these people.
Arn Anderson says that it was the moment he left the wrestling industry but
that’s a plain lie since he’s still working as a road agent today whilst
William Regal has the cheek to call it entertaining.
‘Scaffold’
(6) (November 27th 1986) is an entry which I can see why it exists on the
countdown but doesn’t have the same OMG factor other happenings at the same
time did. What we basically have here is Jim Cornette falling from the
scaffolding after The Road Warriors defeat The Midnight Express in the same
match. It’s a painful fall and once which did him legit damage but this was
completely expected. There’s at least some information about the match provided
by Arn Anderson when he says The Midnight Express didn’t even want to compete
in this bout and that Ray Traylor was meant to catch Cornette but didn’t, but
it’s really not enough to warrant an inclusion.
The
Road Warriors vs The Midnight Express (Starrcade 1986, November 27th 1986) is a
dud, even though the audience seem to display a big fight feel. As if the
notion of a match on scaffolding wasn’t dumb enough, how the company ever
expected anyone to perform is worse. It takes The Midnight Express an age to
get up to the platform where they exchange a banal amount of punches and kicks
with Animal and Hawk because it’s the only thing that can be done. The only
time tension is to be had here is when they hang from the bottom of the
scaffold where Dennis Condrey can be seen talking Hawk through what comes next.
The only reason this bout is included here is to show Jim Cornette falling from
the scaffold in full, but they’d already done that with the clips in the
countdown. There was no need to inflict this upon us.
‘The
Return of Robocop’ (Capital Combat, May 19th 1990) is the complete segment
featured on the countdown in which Robocop saves Sting from a rigged jail cell
which he was put into by The Four Horsemen. When I was a child, this was a
brilliant angle but now I’m older and can see the bogus nature of the angle, it
really hasn’t stood the test of time. Sting’s false imprisonment is hokey and
the bars which Robocop tear apart to free him, after taking an age to get to
‘The Stinger’, are quite obviously rigged and foam. Sting’s reaction will make
you cringe in your seat whilst The Four Horsemen retreating from the
man-machine look weak and feeble. If you must watch this, then do so on your
own. You won’t want anyone else to witness this claptrap.
Sting,
The Steiner Brothers and El Gigante vs Big Van Vader, The Diamond Studd, Cactus
Jack and Abdullah the Butcher (Halloween Havoc 1991, October 27th 1991) is the
preposterous Chamber of Horrors Match which will be etched on your memory
forever and not in a good way. That WCW threw eight men into a very small cage
is ridiculous enough, but then when they compress the space the eight have to
work in even more by landing the electric chair in the middle, there’s no hope
anyone can do anything of consequence. El Gigante, Abdullah the Butcher and The
Diamond Studd are ineffectual whilst Vader, Sting, The Steiner Brothers and
Cactus Jack are restrained by the lack of space. No one does anything of note
and the only point of interest is the disastrous finale where Abdullah the
Butcher gets electrocuted by Cactus Jack because Jack supposedly isn’t watching
what he’s doing. The flashing lights, sound effects and Abdullah doing his best
electrified impression are laughable and embarrassing at the same time. The
less said about the aftermath where he stands up like nothing has happened and
fights his way to the back is just ludicrous.
Dustin
Rhodes vs The Blacktop Bully (Uncensored, March 19th 1995) has to be one of the
most ridiculous match concepts WCW ever came up with. Locking Rhodes and Bully
into a tractor trailer heading down the highway at over fifty miles an hour and
expecting them to contest a gripping encounter is a firing decision for
offenses against wrestling. Dusty Rhodes, we’re looking at you my friend. To
make matters worse, the King of the Road match designation doesn’t even make
sense. How does blowing a horn at the summit of the trailer make you a king of
the road? It’s just ridiculous. Dustin and Bully stumble around the trailer
like two old drunks on Friday night before hitting each other with hay and
moves on hay which they’re forced to sell as if they’ve been dropped on steel.
It’s embarrassing, completely cringe worthy and fifteen minutes of your life
which you could spend doing something worthwhile. Don’t forget, I watch these
things so you don’t have to.
Hulk
Hogan vs The Giant (Halloween Havoc, October 29th 1995) in a Sumo Monster Truck
Match is the first of two encounters the pair have on the night and release.
Both are included here. With the ruling stating the first man to force his
opponents monster tuck out of the circle a predetermined number of times wins
the bout and yes, it is as monotonous as it sounds unless you like sumo
wrestling or monster trucks. The most impressive part of the whole angle is
after the pair contest a brawl on the rooftop which sends The Giant plummeting
from the edge supposedly into the sea of parking lot according to the
commentators. I will admit however, that Hulk Hogan’s monster truck is quite
brilliant. The way they sculpted the WCW World Heavyweight Championship onto
the front and his arms coming down each side is really impressive, sadly,
that’s all that is. Bobby Heenan proves how much he’s lost his knack after
joining WCW with the assertion, “This is exciting!”
Hulk
Hogan vs The Giant (Halloween Havoc, October 29th 1995) is the second and final
contest between the pair which occurs minutes after The Giant’s fall and
wouldn’t you know it, he wanders out as if nothing has happened. He’s neither
bleeding nor wet and Bobby Heenan’s previous assertion that if someone fell
into the river it would take weeks to find them proves utter rubbish. I will
give Bobby Heenan credit though for at least trying to explain The Giant’s
presence by posing the question of whether the roof was layered when the other
commentators just don’t bother to react like they should have done, opining the
simple reason for The Giant not being dead is that he is “more than human”. The
match itself is rotten to the core, and even though he’s fought bigger and
stronger monsters in Andre the Giant, Hogan acts scared which he doesn’t use
his minor acting ability to convey and looks like he’s trying to negotiate a
tricky dump. Slow, plodding and completely uninteresting the bout only comes to
audience’s attentions at the conclusion when Jimmy Hart turns heel on Hogan
before The Giant hugs his opponent and awaits The Yeti. If you’ve ever wanted
to see seven foot plus man wrapped in mummy bandages acting like he’s possessed
then you’ll lap this shit up, if not, you have to see this just for the
hilarity of the moment when The Yeti climbs into the ring and begins to dry
hump Hulk Hogan from behind. It’s so bad; it’s actually watchable if you fast
forward the entirety of the match.
Randy
Savage vs La Parka (Nitro, July 7th 1997) highlights the contest in which
Diamond Dallas Page dresses up as La Parka just to get a victory over Randy
Savage and that is the most interesting things about this slothful outing.
Lasting merely minutes, neither man has a chance to do anything meaningful but
then had the match lasted long than ten minutes, fans would have begun to guess
it was a faux Parka because DDP couldn’t complete the arsenal La Parka brought
with him to the company.
‘NWO
Parody The Four Horsemen’ (Nitro, September 1st 1997) was meant to be funny
when booked by Kevin Nash prior to the event but turns out to be a chore and
deeply tedious. Parodying Arn Anderson’s retirement speech is highly
disrespectful and when Kevin Nash calls ‘Double A’ a man with limited talent
you can’t help but laugh because many said the same thing about Nash. It’s a
tough piece to get through with the failed humour, but the NWO persist
regardless when it would have been better to wrap up the angle early and head
for the bar. I will admit, Sean Waltman is funny as Ric Flair.
‘Chucky
Interrupts Rick Steiner’ (Nitro, October 12th 1998) is a senseless and painful
segment which wouldn’t be believable to a two year old let alone fully grown
men and women who paid good money to see the advancement of The Steiner Brother
feud. In a failed attempt to recreate the Doink the Clown 1993 Survivor Series
moment, Chucky pours out so much crap that you could be forgiven for thinking
his mouth is a garbage shoot and he gets the customary jeers for plugging his
movie on a wrestling show. Rick Steiner looks utterly off his rocker when he
challenges a doll to a fight though those who saw him wrestle in his later
years will know that he stood a better chance of looking decent against someone
who couldn’t fight back than someone who could think for themselves. Though
knowing WCW, Chucky would have probably gone over.
‘Vince
Russo Hits the Reset Button’ (Nitro, April 10th 2000) rolls out as dull,
lifeless and a signpost of where the company would end up less than one year
later. What you’re basically watching is Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff standing
amongst some of the weakest talent roster anywhere in history berating the WWE
for not keeping Vince Russo on, he actually has the cheek to say Vince
McMahon’s writers weren’t in his league when in 2000 WWE’s staff writers
regularly churned out exciting, gripping and must see television opposed to
Russo’s mindless, crappy and illogical product which helped flush the
promotion. When naming the people who left for WWE, the company have notably
edited out Chris Benoit’s name in another pathetic attempt to eradicate him
from history before Vince Russo says that WCW is entering a brand new dawn when
surrounded by wrestlers like Van Hammer, Jeff Jarrett, Virgil and Brian Knobbs
who has a championship draped over his should. It’s long, pointless and a
desperate effort to gain more viewers by trying to add intrigue to the product
by stripping all champions of their gold.
Sting
vs Vampiro (The Great American Bash 2000, June 11th 2000) is the Human Torch
Match which is complete garbage. The pair spends little time in the ring before
Sting gets doused in petrol and they fight up the aisle and to the top of the
titan tron. Vampiro tried to come off as scary and demented but I have a little
tip for him. If you’re trying to carry off the mentally unstable character who
values neither, safety, friend nor family then take off your wedding ring
before go to the ring. It really kills the image. As the pair trades some banal
offence at the very summit of the Titan Tron its clear than when the lights go
out and come back on, Sting has swapped with a stuntman who is wearing a wig
and mask and disguised by the flickering lights, before being set on fire and
plunging from the peak. The amount of fire extinguisher spray they use to cover
the stuntman so people don’t see it’s not the real Sting is ridiculous.
Kevin
Nash vs Jeff Jarrett (The Great American Bash 2000, June 11th 2000) doesn’t
have enough about it to hold anyone’s interest. Both Nash and Jarrett have had
their time in wrestling by this point and have nothing more to offer the
business. Filled with lame distractions including an abundance of interference
from the outside, this match is so hard to get into and so predictable that you
can see where it’s going before it reaches its final destination. It shows Rey
Mysterio without his mask, that’ll annoy him, and you can hear Kevin Nash shout
‘Oh Fuck’ when trapped in a Figure Four which goes on way too long. Goldberg’s
presence at the end is also predictable; when he takes an age to line Jeff
Jarrett up for a spear you know his intended target is Kevin Nash in a not so
surprising heel turn.
Kanyon
vs Buff Bagwell (New Blood Rising, August 13th 2000) in a Judy Bagwell on a
Forklift Match just added to the madness running wild within the company at the
time. Judy Bagwell acts as if she’s cared to be on the forklift on entry which
is a foot off of the ground and easily escapable as are her bonds if she was
that scared, whilst the match is beyond dreary right up until its finale which
does boast some nice near falls, one or two inventive moves from Kanyon and a
great Double Blockbuster on Kanyon and David Arquette who the commentators
maddeningly refer to “One of the legends of the pro wrestling game!” Looking at
this, it’s no wonder Vince McMahon scrapped ideas to rebrand Raw as ‘WCW Raw’
once he purchased the company. On this evidence, it would have sunk the most
successful episodic wrestling show in history and cost McMahon hundreds of
millions of dollars.
Booker
T vs Vince Russo (Nitro, September 25th 2000) is a car crash which takes place
inside WCW’s rip off of the Hell in a Cell structure. In the countdown, Vince
Russo describes his WCW World Heavyweight Championship victory as something
which was needed just to draw more viewers in. If that was the case, there was
no reason whatsoever for Russo to have so much offence and even though the
ending would look like a mistake on Goldberg’s part, spearing Russo through the
cage for the victory, it would have made more sense for Russo to be decimated
by Booker T before winning the bout.
Blu-ray Exclusive Extras:
WCW Slamboree – May
17th 1998
Cruiserweight Battle
Royal
WCW Bash at the Beach –
July 11th 1999
Junkyard Invitational Battle
Royal Match
WCW Monday Nitro –
November 15th 1999
Piñata on a Pole Match
Silver
King vs Juventud Guerrera vs El Dandy vs Psychosis vs Villano V
WCW Slamboree – May 7th
2000
WCW World Heavyweight
Championship Match
Ready to Rumble Cage
Match
David
Arquette vs Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett
WCW Fall Brawl –
September 17th 2000
WCW United States
Championship Match
Lance
Storm vs General Rection
Conclusion:
‘OMG
Vol 2! The Top 50 Incidents in WCW History’ is a release of two halves which
will do different things for different fans. Newer supporters who have no real
knowledge of the company or just how ridiculous they could get at times will
garner a lot from this release whilst stalwarts who have lived through this
once will want to think twice before shelling out big money on this DVD or
Blu-ray as it contains some of the very worst angles the promotion ever came up
with which long time fans will have tried to erase from their memories. With
more bad than good to be had from the two and a bit hour countdown as well as
the matches and angles included in full, WWE would have been better advised to
strip this release of the moments which do belong here and replace them all
with some more of the worst angles World Championship Wrestling ever produced
and labelling it, ‘OMG Vol 2! The 50 Dumbest Moments in WCW History’; it’s not
like they were short of material.
Though
the countdown which makes up the main body of the release runs for a
respectable two hours and thirteen minutes, its largely ineffective thanks to
WWE giving us no indication as to how the incidents in question were chosen or
why. Supposedly, the majority of them were meant to conform to the OMG category
yet at least seventy percent of those chosen for inclusion fall so far short
it’s puzzling why WWE even put them on. It’s possible the company literally did
run out of OMG moments to include after the basics were covered and slung
anything which hadn’t already been released from their video library onto the
media outlet. The company would have been much better served holding a poll on
WWE. Com and allowing us to choose the moments and running order, at least that
way we wouldn’t have had cause to complain about the material. It would have
all seemed a lot more genuine had WWE been able to boast at the beginning of
the release; ‘This compilation was chosen by the WWE Universe.’
On
the subject of was omitted in favour of sheer junk, it doesn’t take a master of
wrestling to come up with at least five inclusions which should have replaced
crap such as the ‘Piñata on a Pole’ or ‘Chucky Interrupts Rick Steiner’
fiascos. Just sitting down to watch the release I managed to come up with a
bucket load including Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan’s WCW debuts, Bret Hart’s
career ending concussion at the hands of Goldberg, the Mike Awesome debut
whilst still recognized as ECW Champion, DX invading WCW, Mr. Perfect slamming
the cage door in the head of Ric Flair and joining the NWO, Chris Benoit
defeating Sid for the Championship and then vacating it to join WWE as well as
Paul Orndorff and Vader’s real life backstage scuffle which was the source of
much discussion and heat at the time, to name just a few. As far as the matches
and angles go, none of us would have moaned had WWE taken some of the worst
angles from the worst moments of the countdown and replaced them with Sting vs
Ric Flair from the final Nitro, Ron Simmons vs Big Van Vader and Terry Funk’s
heel turn in full. I’m sure you can all think up twenty more moments which I
don’t have room for here.
As
is usual with these box set releases, the talking heads vary from interesting
to pitiful. The likes of The Miz, John Cena and Brodus Clay add nothing to the
set as a whole and have fleeting appearances instead of keeping said moments
they do appear confined to those who actually lived through them, whilst people
like Summer Rae and Justin Roberts should never be allowed near a release again.
Then there are the joyous talking heads which elevate some of these moments from
pathetic to lively and rescue certain angles which shouldn’t have been here in
the first place. William Regal provides some brilliant laughs whilst Jim Ross
is the outright highlight with his wit and humour which will make you cry with
laughter. Other talking heads dip in and out of the release, which appears to
have been filmed over one year as Daniel Bryan, Booker T and Kevin Nash have at
least three different hair cuts. To WWE’s credit, there is a lot of truth
surrounding the included segments which the company could have cut completely
to rescue kayfabe.
With
more volumes planned before the end of 2015, most notably ‘OMG Volume 3! The
Top 50 Incidents in ECW History’, the lack of quality surrounding the second
volume is worrying. If WWE bigwigs can’t picks and choose what is good and bad
here, then what makes them think they can make future volumes a success? If
they can get it right next time around then this series of releases can go for
as long as the company need it to. You could have the Top 50 Incidents in Raw
History, Smackdown History, Nitro History, WWE Pay-Per View History, WCW
Pay-Per View History, WrestleMania History, Royal Rumble History, SummerSlam
History and Survivor Series history to name just a few. But the balance has to
be right otherwise what happened here will happen over and over again.
In
the end, WWE have fallen short this time around which is infuriating seeing as
they got it so right with ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, My Name is Paul Heyman’.
Incidents such as this should be memorable enough so as not to forget them
immediately after they happened and have some type of bearing on wrestling
history. Not enough of them do and that makes this release appear as if it’s
just been thrown together without any real thought, to earn a quick dollar for
WWE. The good moments here have largely been seen elsewhere a number of times
which makes them unimportant whilst the rest is largely forgettable.
Because
of its appeal to different fans ‘WWE OMG Vol 2! The Top 50 Incidents in WCW
History’ gets two separate ratings, but honestly, I can’t bring myself to tell
you to spend the full asking price out unless you really are desperate to see
some of the worst wrestling which ever existed. I understand that Freemantle
will have at least some sort of Christmas sale when the holiday season
approaches. You’d be well advised to wait until it’s reduced and buy it then,
especially with better things to spend your hard earned cash on.
Rating For Long Time
Fans: C
Rating For New Fans:
B
Next Time in Review Corner:
WWE
Brothers of Destruction Greatest Matches DVD and Blu-Ray
Onwards
and upwards...
