WCW Worldwide 8/22/98

Saturn vs. Mark LaRoux

ER: This must be an early Lash appearance as I don’t remember him being called Mark LaRoux. It’s usually a tough draw when you pull job duty against Saturn, and LaRoux earned his payday here. Saturn, the guy doing high arcing half nelson suplexes at noon on Sundays. Hard clothesline, that suplex, and the best death valley driver in wrestling, this was quick.

Bobby Blaze vs. Brian Adams

ER: This is a full Adams squash, Blaze gets nothing whatsoever, but Blaze makes all of Adams big slams and backbreakers look good. Adams has his big tilt-a-whirl backbreaker which looks good, drops a nice leg, hits a big press slam into a gut buster, all of it looks good. But Blaze is good enough that we could have had an interesting match. Really the best thing about this was Vincent as Adams’ second. That guy was a great hype man and knew how to carry himself with braggadocio, proud to be the bottom rung on the nWo ladder. When Adams went for the press slam Vincent came running around the ring holding both his arms up, like he was sitting on the sidelines when Steph did a no look pass leading to a Klay 3.

Jim Powers vs. Mark Guthrie

ER: Man Mark Guthrie? I had no idea how many randos WCW was using around this time. This must have been right before the next crop of Power Plant guys came through. Guthrie has a real bad dirtbag kid mullet, looking more homemade than styled, the kind of cut that was looking dated in 1995. Powers tries to bring energy to this, hits a nice shoulderblock, decent kneelift, good enough powerslam. This was another short one, kind of a dull couple weeks of WCW syndie TV here. We need a little help on this episode.

Roadblock vs. Mike Sanders

ER: Roadblock heard my plea and answered my prayer! I barely recognized Sanders here, he had a shaved head and wore a plain black singlet. I guess with Sanders and LaRoux showing up here, we ARE in the period were new Plant guys were getting called up. Roadblock works a fun squash, throws a big lariat and hits a big powerslam, misses a huge elbowdrop off the middle rope (really crashing the landing), and he does cool stuff like sticks his knee up in the corner when Sanders tries to ram him. The rope flip moonsault is nice and squishing, always a finisher I love. After the match some dad with a bad mustache is angrily booing Roadblock, but…was he cheering for Mike Sanders? That’s weird. Cheer Roadblock, he’s an awesome big fat guy!

Los Villanos vs. Doc Dean/Manny Fernandez

ER: So, you know by now, this is not THEE Manny Fernandez, but I do like this Manny Fernandez leaning into the camera on his entrance to say “I’m back, baby!” Another fan is doing the “We’re Not Worthy!” bow to the Villanos as they come out, and I now want to meet that man. It’s always going to be a fun watch when you spot a Villanos tag in the wild where you're practically guaranteed their victory. Doc and Manny didn't have ZERO chance, but I'VE never seen either of them pull a win, and we've at minimum seen Villanos beat Disorderly Conduct. So we get to watch a match where the Villanos are showing off their offense and getting to act like the bigger team, like the bullies, and it's a rare treat. Villanos threw a bunch of nice lariats and it's cool seeing them control a team that aren't other luchadors. It's not a total squash as Manny has a brief quick run where he shows off a tight 5 seconds of material, but you want this because it's the Villanos main eventing a taping and cutting off the ring on a couple white guys as the babyfaces. The Doomsday Device crossbody was a great finish, with Manny strongly missing an avalanche chest first, and I thought it was cool that they opted to do their finish on the larger of the two opponents. Nice flex that they earned.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE WCW B-SIDES

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Worldwide 5/30/98

Johnny Attitude vs. Disco Inferno

ER: You wouldn't think you could get farther down the pecking order than Johnny Attitude, but that guy holds wins over The Gambler, Barry Horowitz, and Lenny Lane. That's right, LENNY LANE. Horowitz and Gambler might be lower than luchadors around this time.  Disco is face here and several moms and children in the audience do some disco dancing and I don't remember him as a beloved face in 1998. And you know who I'm wrong about? Johnny Fucking Attitude. He comes off like a 0.9 Bull Pain here, with a hard back elbow and full force running shoulder blocks, big ass powerslam, really cool body shots in the corner (plus he wears black gloves, and wrestling punches look impossibly cool when performed while wearing black gloves). He's a big guy and still makes Disco look good (though Disco worked nice hard stomps to the chest and dug in on contact moves) misses a big elbow off the top and bumps big for a Disco flying shoulderblock and runs face first into a Disco back elbow. Johnny Attitude looked like the queen of the fucking neighborhood in this match, totally turned me into an Attitude fan. Disco plants him with a great piledriver to win, and really this isn't far off from being a Worldwide classic. Maybe Attitude started to suck when he shaved his head bald? Here he had the cool mullet with baldspot, which is infinitely cooler. I believe most of the Attitude I've seen was from 1999, when he had the shaved head, so we might have a lost WCW superworker here...will do future investigation...

Jerry Flynn vs. The Cat

ER: Flynn would have been a bigger deal if he had turned that mullet into a crew cut earlier. Yeah, I know literally one second ago I was saying Johnny Attitude was better with a mullet. But Johnny Attitude wasn't going to be accepted by fans as "a guy", so he might as well have some character, and a mullet is more character than a shaved head. Jerry Flynn was good, a good heel, a good 5 o'clock shadow mug, nice kicks, nice positioning, nice kneedrops, no problem leaning into kicks; Flynn was good and his looked played too much like a Canon Films karate villain in a pre-irony/pre-nostalgia TV world. And this match is a good one. The Cat tried out a couple kick combos and Flynn knew how to make them look good. Cat had a nice springboard and the match ending Feliner looked like something that should end a match. Flynn positioned himself really well for Cat's offense, missed his own offense with aplomb (with a big missed elbowdrop, a nice missed chest-first charge into the corner), and a nice kneedrop to the temple. I wonder how much of Flynn's team with Finlay exists on tape?

Damian/Ciclope vs. High Voltage

ER: Damian is so skinny here it's insane. He's super slender and isn't wearing faceprint, and looks like Pablo Marquez (in build and in general appearance). And this whole match rules. It's surprisingly competitive and they never come up for air, so the fans are into it the entire time. Damien gets a nice run of offense after ducking some Kaos Klotheslines, hits a nice spinning heel kick, gets caught on a crossbody but gets a nice nearfall when Ciclope dropkicks him over. Ciclope lands a nice stiff missile dropkick and it's great seeing HV bumping around for the luchadors and not treating them like flippy Mexicans. But any generosity paid by High Voltage gets paid in full by Damian and Ciclope. We got High Voltage weirdly working a mat game by targeting Ciclope with half crabs and a snug if not charmingly clunky STF. High Voltage stock is going way up with me lately. I always weirdly liked Rage's early 2000s NJPW run, and liked the premise of Kaos tagging with Eaton for a bit, but I've been enjoying them a lot lately. Kaos was even doing cool little things in this match like missing low on back elbows and a lariat, a cool stop-momentum powerslam, all nice. Oh, and we got to see some crazy suplexes, as if Rage was just ad libbing ways to potentially shift a man's spinal column.

At one point Rage lifts up Damian in the most flat out pornographic, tender embrace. He lifts Damian up for what I think is going to be a bearhug, but ends up cradling Damian with both hands clasped under his buttocks. They pause there, in that accidental seeming embrace, making eye contact, Rage refusing to admit that he accidentally started holding him by his butt, cradling him like a lover he's about to lay on a bed. You give me 5 chances to open up a random page of any 70s Viva magazine, and I bet you one of those 5 will reveal a couple holding this same position. Is this the suplex version of that thing where someone misjudges a handshake and ends up punching someone in the boob while someone has a half hug on them? But Rage is gripping under those buns, and - if you want a sweeter visual - and it's almost as if now Damian is Rage's child, pulled sleeping from the backseat of the family auto, asleep after a long day driving back from grandma's. And Rage lifts him out of that backseat, and Damian isn't totally asleep, but he's tired and likes being carried by his father, who he heard adults sometimes address as Mr. Robert Rage. But then, his short but hulking gassed out dad named RAGE just throws him over his head, as far as he can! Yeah, Rage held Damian seemingly accidentally under the buns, and then said "No. I can still make this a suplex!" Maybe even briefly thought, as he was propelling Damian by the buttocks, future merch sales flashed through his head as time stood still, picturing shirts and Slim Jim style commercials where High Voltage yells "Make it into a SUPLEX!"

He tosses Damian FAR with this butt throw, and then, does the exact same thing the exact same way with Ciclope. I played in a few jazz combos in college, and a jokey trope I always heard was that if you play a brown note during a solo, go back to hit that sour note another time or two, make any know it alls in the crowd think that it was your intention to squawk right there and also there. It always felt like the only carny trick I was ever taught. I'd love to think that Robbie Rage was also taught this jazz con, and after chucking Damian across the ring he thought, "Well, better do it again, to this other guy, and also more dangerously close to the ropes." I love this little match! Skinny Damian taking splatty backdrop bumps High Voltage's big springboard Doomsday Device lariat, a tough Kaos press slam and powerslam, and of course, that one special moment we all got to share.

Super Calo vs. William Worthy

ER: Worthy is not a guy I remember at all, and before he was introduced (already in the ring) I just assumed Ice Train's original run went WAY longer than it actually did (before they weirdly brought back Ice Train during the promotion's death years). Worthy is smaller than Train, but muscular, and looks good. He makes Calo look really good, whips himself really fast into a sunset flip and goes over hard and low on the match winning top rope headscissors, also misses a big elbowdrop with great height. I want to see more of Worthy. Also, how many singles matches was Super Calo winning at this point? I had never heard of Worthy before this match but I figured "eh he has a good build and some symbol on his tights, probably a guy who is going to beat Super Calo in a singles match."

Brian Adams vs. Bobby Eaton

ER: This doesn't even go 2 minutes, which is a real damn shame. Because for less than 2 minutes, it was really fun. Eaton throws some big punches, Adams drops a nice legdrop (which Eaton actually shifts to bring the leg closer to his throat), Eaton almost gets his teeth kicked on on a huge Adams big boot (Adams was raising it right as Eaton was ducking and the toe of Adams boot swung up about 2" away from Eaton's swinging down face, could have been realllllllly ugly) and hits a nice powerslam, but that's it! What a drag, feels like it suddenly got the call home, but it's a taped show so who cares how long they run? This could have been so much more, and they cram a lot into a very short runtime, but under two minutes in a main event? Get out of here with that.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE WCW B-SIDES

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Saturday Night 2/13/99

Saturday Night 2/13/99

1. Bobby Blaze vs. Jerry Flynn

This was pretty awesome right here. Both guys threw big suplexes and big chops and this was a pretty great strike-based sprint. Flynn matches are always dependent on how much of a beating his opponents are willing to take, and Blaze is a pudgy guy who will take some kicks, throw some neat suplexes, and that all happens here. Flynn looked like a beast here and I especially loved his spinning kick in the corner. Blaze was a man and took is right on the chin. Loved how Flynn had a habit of just finishing guys with a tight armbar after throwing a suplex.

2. Johnny Swinger vs. Vincent

a 30 second Vince squash!? Swinger couldn't have felt great about himself after taking a 30 second loss to Vincent. That being said, Vincent has been a WCW B-Sides MVP contender on rewatch. I have no clue where he got good, but his late 90s WCW stuff has been killer. Here he uses a really cool single arm DDT into an Americana to get the quick tap.

3. Dave Burkhead vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

I may be the biggest Dave Burkhead fan online . I'm pretty sure he was never involved in any classics, and he didn't have a great look, but he did a lot of small things better than most guys. Here he really made me appreciate taking a drop toe hold as he seems genuinely surprised by it and just does a hard face plant. At first I thought Burkhead was just a lumpy jobber, but now that I've had the privilege of seeing more Burkhead matches than most human beings, I can officially be called a Dave Burkhead fan. Dude was rock solid and always threw cool stuff into his jobber matches. He's like the Barry Houston of the late 90s. I showed this match to my incredulous friends who thought I was lying to them about how awesome Burkhead was, and they were all way down with Burkhead by the end of the match. Dude knew how to put over offense (he took a German suplex and tornado DDT right on the dome).

4. Scotty Riggs vs. Kaz Hayashi

Man Kaz Hayashi is fucking awesome. I remember digging him in 1999, but this guy is looking top 20 in the world from everything I've re-watched so far. Everything he does looks gorgeous and it's so accurate. He does that gorgeous tumbling moonsault from the top rope into the ring, and also over the top to the floor and it looks super graceful. Guys also give Kaz tons of offense in his matches even though he almost always ends up losing. Kaz takes like 70% of this match and it's awesome. Finish was Kaz leaning way into the 5-arm and holy shit Kaz Hayashi was like top 5 in WCW at this point.

5. Lodi vs. Kidman

I...truthfully didn't have much opinion on Lodi before watching this match. I don't remember seeing him wrestle much before the whole Lenny/Lodi thing, and even then I don't remember if he was good, bad, horrendous, awesome, whatever, who knows. But he seemed pretty damn good here. He took a monster bump into the guardrail and threw a really great knee lift (which is a move that a lot of guys do terribly). There was a GREAT spot where Lodi was trying to load one of his gloves in the corner, dropped it, and when he bent down to pick it up Kidman ran up and caught him in his springboard bulldog move. It was one of the greatest examples I've ever seen of "guy occupying himself while other guy sets up convoluted offense". How many times do people just bend at the waist waiting to take a move (looking at YOU Booker T axe kick), and Lodi of all people makes taking a move look entirely logical and makes Kidman look WAY better in the process. Finlay is the best at logically getting into position for opponents' signature offense, but now I'm genuinely looking forward to more Lodi!

6. The Cat vs. Booker T

Booker has aged horribly on this rewatch. I remember really liking him and now I'm starting to think the time I actually really liked Booker was like 3 months at the very beginning of 1998. I remember loving the Martel and Saturn matches from Superbrawl and some of the Benoit series, and now I'm realizing that might be it as far as WCW Booker. Harlem Heat has been dreadful. It's all sorts of sloppy kicks and posing. Cat looks pretty clueless here as well. It's not as bad as it could have been and has some pretty inspired moments (Cat got leveled on a nice short arm lariat) but then it ends in a DQ and it's like Whhhhhhhhhy!?

7. Horace vs. Chris Benoit

So as well as being the biggest Dave Burkhead fan, I'm pretty sure I may be the biggest Horace fan as well. I really dig Horace and this was a pretty good late 90s WCW dream match for me. Horace has some nice stuff in this including a great yakuza kick, a big tope (to one of the guardrail sides of the ring, not even into the entrance ramp side!!), takes all of Benoit's suplexes really well for such a large guy (reacts great to the snap suplex as well, shaking his finger at Benoit afterwards). Matches ends with Vincent running in to break things up, and then Mongo runs out and get this - doesn't look very good.

8. Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Misterio Jr.

Classic late 90s cruiser action, and you really have to be a hardened asshole to hate on this kinda stuff. A lot of nerds nowadays will complain about "he should have sold _____ longer" and blah blah blah but whatever, this was two of the all time great cruiserweights doing tons of cool moves and reversals at a blindingly fast pace and it ruled. Cool flips and a rad Juvi springboard spinning heel kick and rad reversals and pre-shitty Rey tattoos and pre-weird Juvi stories about selling birdseed and gym bag-shitting and whatever. My girlfriend and I loved every second of this and it really brought me back to the days where I wouldn't give a shit about heavyweights and bought all my wrestling tapes based on all the rad cruiser matches on it. 90 stars.

9. Brian Adams/Vince vs. Dean Malenko/Chris Benoit

This was supposed to be Brian Adams vs. Dean Malenko, which sounds kinda shitty on paper. But it was changed pre-match to the tag you see above, which to me sounds completely AWESOME on paper and explains the earlier, shorter Vince match. Seriously, late 90s WCW Vincent is a revelation, just the perfect syndicated TV worker. Really knew how to cater his style to whatever guy he was working and he really may be the great lost late 90s superworker. His work against Malenko here was great, flying into his silly leaping flipping calf kick and once he goes on offense really begins the story of the match (working over Dean's back and building to the Benoit hot tag). He has all sorts of cool forearms and clubbing blows and an amazing elbow drop to Dean's back, with Adams then working it over with a nice tilt-a-whirl slam and just stretches Dean over his knee. Yeah it all gets no sold by the end of the match but the work by nWo was strong and you can't expect much more from a 6 minute Saturday Night tag that ends in a run-in. Personally, I thought Adams and Vince smoked the vanilla midgets in this match.

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Worldwide 2/27 & 3/6/99

2/27/99

Damian vs. Norman Smiley

This was about as awesome as you can get in 200 seconds. Damian - just like the Hak match - got a lot of offense: big tope, some stiff kicks, where have these offense-heavy Damian matches been hiding? And holy lord I forgot how RIDICULOUSLY over the Big Wiggle was. A black man, in the south, simulating anal sex with another man, was by FAR the most over thing on this entire episode. Men in the crowd were jumping up and screaming and fist pumping every time he even TEASED butt sex. Touches his own chest intimately? Every dude in the building screaming. I don't think I could have ever predicted that if I were on the booking committee throwing out ideas.

Dave Burkhead vs. Jerry Flynn

This was fun because Burkhead is a guy doesn't have much offense, so it's nice seeing him against people with cool offense because he just kinda sits there and takes it with his out-of-shape Michael Chiklis body. Flynn is a guy who has a bunch of cool kicks, but his match quality gets better the lower on the totem pole his opponent is. Goldberg isn't going to take stiff kicks. Dave Burkhead though? Flynn laces into Burkhead for the bulk of the match and shows off all the cool kick variations. He hits a nasty spin kick right under Dave's chin, just FUTEN level brual and it was great.

Bobby Eaton vs. Brian Adams

This was allllllmost really good, but it had too much so-so Adams offense, and not enough Eaton. Eaton took some nice bumps and had a momentary comeback that was GREAT when Horace jumped onto the apron for interference and Eaton just whirled around and gave him the big right hand, Horace flew off the apron, but then Adams cut him off for the win.

3/6/99

Scott Armstrong vs. Kidman

This was all about Scott being awesome, and showcasing the two polar opposite sides of one Billy Kidman. Kidman has some of the lightest possible offense, like 0.7 Lance. But then Kidman takes three different awesome insane bumps. A great bumper will rank higher with me than somebody with great offense. But I challenge you to find a wrestler with better bumps, and worse offense. I think Kidman represents the largest gap between those two skills. The bumps are what saved this match, because every piece of offense looked like hot garbage. BUT the massive bump over the top to the floor was gorgeous. Scott was on fire here, trying to make Kidman's offense look credible (best take of the "can't powerbomb Kidman" reverse I've seen, really whipping his head and face right into the mat) so this was very close to being very good.

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