Wcw: Road Wild (1999) Review

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(More customer reviews)My "Blast From WCW's Past" continues here with the final Road Wild event back in 1999. Around this time, Ric Flair was no longer the WCW President & Hollywood Hogan returned to WCW & regained the WCW Championship, went back to wearing the classic red & yellow colors, left the nWo and alligned himself with Sting & Goldberg while Kevin Nash (the last remaining active member of the nWo Wolfpac) turned heel & alligned himself with Sid Vicious & Rick Steiner leading into each member of these alliances facing each other at the event with one person retiring at the end of the night. Stevie Ray left the black & white nWo (eventually leading to the end of that group) to rejoin his brother Booker T to reform Harlem Heat. And Dennis Rodman returned to WCW interested in Randy Savage's valet, Gorgeous George. Also Shane Douglas arrived to WCW & helped form the Revolution group with his former ECW alumni in Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn. And as a side note, this was the last PPV of the Eric Bischoff era of WCW since he would be removed from power right before the Fall Brawl PPV.
Rey Mysterio Jr., Billy Kidman, Eddie Guerrero vs. Vampiro & Insane Clown Posse - The group that would go on to be known as the Filthy Animals go against the group known as the Deadpool. This was a fun opening match as the Filthy Animals always deliver while Vampiro was coming into his own at this point in WCW, I.C.P. weren't slouches either, and Raven playing mind games on the outside. Good opening match and as a side note, this was the last WCW PPV appearence of Raven as he would jump to ECW a short time later.
WCW Tag Team Champions Triad vs. Harlem Heat - Unlike the previous tag team matches where the Triad used the "Freebird" rule where any two members of the group could be active in the match at anytime, DDP was scheduled for another match later in the night so he wasn't available for this match so this was a regular tag team rules match. This was a nice back & forth match that saw DDP's appearence backfire & help Harlem Heat regain the WCW Tag Team Titles they lost 3 years earlier.
The Revolution vs. West Texas Rednecks - Unfortunally, since this was an old VHS tape...the tape was extremely dirty & eaten so I can't comment on this match.
Buff Bagwell vs. Ernest Miller - See above.
No Disqualification Match: WCW United States Champion Chris Benoit vs. Diamond Dallas Page - This feud revolved about Page talking about Benoit's mother? This was a real physical bout as Benoit is as intense as it gets while DDP was heavily in his prime during his WCW run. The "No DQ" rule came into play at various time by Page like shoving the referee around, using a belt as a weapon, and DDP's Triad members getting involved before Benoit overall all odds alone to retain the United States Championship.
Sting vs. Sid Vicious - Sting started off by taking Sid on the outside & over the guardrails before the match got back in the ring where Sid regained his momentum & dominated with his power offense. Sting got a shot here & there but only to eventually overpowered straight to victory. This was just Sting being a body for Sid to get over on in this average match.
Goldberg vs. Rick Steiner - They started off right off the bat punching & kicking each other before Steiner dominated by using Goldberg's own kneebrace against him before Goldberg made his spear/jackhammer comeback for the victory. The match was short & watchable but nothing special.
Dennis Rodman vs. Randy Savage - Rodman started the match off wild & remained that way as both men knocked out various people like referees (four of them) & cameramen along with brawling on the outside, up the ramp onto the entranceway, and even tipping over a portable toilet backstage. George appeared & helped Savage get the win in this was a wild match. As a side note, Savage promised that the driver of the mysterious white Hummer that kept appearing throughout WCW would be bodyguarding George...but you never saw him.
Retirement Match: WCW Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Kevin Nash - If anyone watched the WWE Confidential piece on WCW, you'll remember that Booker T said that, "wrestlers had no intention of "bringing the house down" & just walked through the matches to make sure they got to the bar on time." That quote perfectly described this match. For a main event match in which your fighting for your career, they never left first gear & the entire match just seemed dull. Despite a couple of "Hogan" chants far between, it was dead quiet during this match. Something huge was missing here as the guys just seemed to walk through this match & it was a real bad way to end the show.
In the end, the opening match along with the matches involving the Triad members delivered along with Randy Savage & Dennis Rodman had a wild entertaining brawl but the rest of the card however was watchable to average. This is one PPV I would check out if you have some spare cash to spend or if this is at a real low price.


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The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup (1988) Review

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(More customer reviews)Thanks again to WWE Classics On Demand, I got to watch a classic event in the '88 Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament. For those that don't know, this event wasn't your usual 3-4 hour one day event but a two day tag team tournament with special non-tournament matches each night. This years tournament was more special in that each night was held in a different venue with the first night in Greenville, SC & the second night in Greensboro, NC. Now since this was a two day event & not just one show, WWE showed the VHS presentation of this show that had the selected matches from the first day in Greenville were edited while the selected matches from the second day in Greensboro were shown in full. Also just like the previous year, this tape also included a special treat.
Day One - Greenville, SC:
Jimmy Valant & Mighty Wilbur vs. Ivan Koloff & Dick Murdock - This was nothing noteworthy past how Wilbur was too strong & kept overpowering both men forcing Ivan & Dick to focus on the "weak link" in Valant.
Steve Williams & Ron Simmons vs. Varsity Club - This was a "power vs. wrestling" match as Williams & Simmons relied on their football background with various shoulderblocks & tackles while the Varsity Club tried to rely on their wrestling skills with Kevin Sullivan playing an important factor in the very end.
Italian Stallion & Kendal Windham vs. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard - This was a good showcasing for Kendal as he was able to keep up with Arn Anderson & heavily work over his arm before the Horsemen were able to capitalise on one mistake made by Stallion.
Road Warriors vs. Jive Tones - The Jive Tones were the team of Pez "Shaska" Whatley & Tiger Conway Jr. but this was nothing more than a physically dominat performance by the Warriors.
Fantastics vs. Al Perez & Larry Zbyszko - With the Rock N' Roll Express gone from the NWA at this time, the Fantastics were their perfect replacements as a team since this match was the classic formula of Bobby Fulton being heavily worked over building up for the comeback before being able to squeak away with a victory.
Sting & Lex Luger vs. Ivan Koloff & Dick Murdock - Knowing the history of Luger & Sting today, it's very ironic that this is the first time they teamed together due to various circumstances surrounding their other originally scheduled partners & it should also be noted that Magnum T.A. was their manager. Luger showed his power & athleticism early with both a powerslam & standing dropkick before the team of Koloff & Murdock targeted Sting by choking him with the russian chain & Murdock even attacking sting on the outside with a chair before Sting was able to get a quick reversal for a victory.
Midnight Express vs. Sheepherders - Before they became one of the most famous comedic teams in WWE history by just calling licking people's faces & moving their arms up & down, the Bushwackers were known as heels called the Sheepherders but past that little historical factor...this was way too short, nothing noteworthy, and a complete waste of the ONLY Midnight Express match on this tape.
Prince Of Darkness Death Match: Jimmy Garvin vs. Kevin Sullivan - This was a glorified blindfold match & if you've seen one of these types of matches then you've seen then all because in the act of selling the fact that they "couldn't see", they relied on their managers (Precious for Garvin & Rick Steiner for Sullivan) along with Garvin having the crowd support to direct him to Sullivan...this was nothing special.
Day Two - Greensboro, NC:
Road Warriors vs. Powers Of Pain - Their stiff (and that's putting it lightly) feud continued here between these two alike teams as Animal showcased the superior strength on both Powers Of Pain while Hawk made it clear he wasn't above playing dirty himself by attacked the Barbarian on the floor with the wooden ringside steps. The Powers Of Pain had to double team Hawk to gain an advantage & continued to work him over thoughout the bout before "all hell broke loose" with the referee being in the wrong place at the wrong time coming back to haunt the Warriors in the end.
Bullrope Match: Midnight Rider vs. James J. Dillion - For those who don't already know the story behind the Midnight Rider, it was the typical "masked wrestler" storyline where everyone knows who is under the mask but nobody can prove it. In this case, Dusty Rhodes was suspended from the NWA & if the Rider was to be revealed as Dusty Rhodes when he would be suspended for a year & it should be noted that this wasn't the type of bullrope match where you had to touch the turnbuckles to win the match, it could be won with a regular pinfall or submission. Dillion threw powder to get an early advantage but once Dusty...I mean The Midnight Rider was able to recover, this was a glorified squash match as Dillion was bleeding from being cut open by the cowbell & being beaten on by the Rider. Stay tune afterwards for another heavyset mask man named "The Texan" coming wearing chaps with the initials "D.M." on them to come after Dusty before Steve Williams showed up as well.
Sting & Lex Luger vs. Powers Of Pain - This was a watchable back & forth match between both teams with both having their moments looking strong but nothing really noteworthy.
Fantastics vs. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard - The Fantastics got the early advantage here before the Horsemen had to result to taking advantage on Fulton on the outside. Arn & Tully did what they did best & cut the ring in half & worked over Fulton building to the "hot tag" which pay off when he made the tag to Tommy Rogers before Anderson had to use a very sneaky tactic (with the help of J.J. Dillion) to advance the Horsemen in the tournament.
NWA Champion Ric Flair vs. Nikita Koloff - It should be noted that Barry Windham accompanied Flair to ringside as he joined the Horsemen days earlier before walking to the back leaving Flair alone in this match. Koloff used Flair's own strategy against him by focusing on Flair's leg early on & even using his own figure four against him while also making Flair bleed by throwing him headfirst in the outside ringpost before delivering more punishiment to Flair thoughtout the match with nothing Flair was doing having any effect incuding a thumping series of chops to his chest that was no-sold. I have to be honest in that I'm not a huge fan of Nikita Koloff's wrestling but Flair was able to make him look like a million bucks here as this match was dominated by Koloff with Flair heavily selling the punishment throughout the match with the ending having a heavily emphasis on the golden rule that you have to beat the champion, he doesn't have to beat you. Eventhough it was a heavily one sided match, this developed into a good encounter.
Sting & Lex Luger vs. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard - This was the finals of the tournament & it's very ironic that this was the second year in row that both Luger & Blanchard made it to the final match but this year they are against each other unlike how they were partners last year as Horsemen members. Luger got the better of both Tully & Arn in the very beginning to the point where Arn didn't want to get back in the ring & tried to make a tag on the floor. Sting & Luger dominated early on & Luger used Arn's own "Anderson family" tactics against him by heavily working over his arm before the Horsemen were able to recover due to a missed Stinger splash. Sting was then heavily worked over including a moment when Sting got his second wind & put Tully in the scorpion deathlock before Anderson broke it with an impactful DDT. In the end, Magnum T.A. gave the Horsemen a taste of their own medicine helping his team of Luger & Sting to the victory.
Now just like the presentation the previous year had a special bonus of Magnum T.A. matches, the special bonus on this tape is the Bunkhouse Stampede match from January of that year.
Steel Caged Bunkhouse Stampede Match: Dusty Rhodes vs. Lex Luger vs. Road Warrior Animal vs. Ivan Koloff vs. Arn Anderson vs. Tully Blanchard vs. Barbarian vs. Warlord - For those who don't know what a Bunkhouse Stampede match is, it's a combination of a street fight & a battle royal where you come "dressed as you are with whatever you got" with the object being to eliminate everyone in the ring until your the final survivor. However this one is a special version where your surrounded by a steel cage so you have to eliminate people by throwing them out through the door or pushing them over the top & out of the cage. With this being a multiman match that even Jim Ross admitted was hard to call with a bunch of the guys bleeding heavily, tag teams like the Powers Of Pain working together along with the Horsemen who targeted their former member in Lex Luger, various weapons like boots & weightbelts being used as weapons along with the cage itself. A very unique match but definately something watching.
In the end, I have to say that just like the previous years Crockett Cup presentation that you have to take into concideration a bunch of things such as how limited VHS was back then to how DVD is today along with the fact that this was a two day event so you can't squeeze everything into this tape. However some of the unimportant clipped matched in the beginning could have been sacrificed for either highlights or the complete matches such as the Varsity Club/Fantastics match or the Midnight Express' match against Sting & Luger which I'm sure was way better quality than the only match they had on this tape being the dud (and that's putting it lightly) had against the Sheerherders. I really enjoyed the second day matches that were shown in full while the only clipped match I really saw some value in was the Simmons/Williams vs. Varsity Club match. However I will say that the Bunkhouse Stampede match will make up for the clipped matches so with non of these matches making their way to DVD yet, this is an event I would recommend for a reasonable price if your a fan of the NWA during this time.


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WCW Superbrawl 2000 (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have seen every Superbrawl and this is by far the worst. The Texas Death match between Funk and Flair is a good one, but even they could not save us from the horrible five minute main event, and the lousy tag team strecher match, as well as the sad attempt at cashing in on nostalgia, with the return of Hulk Hogan in the red and yellow.

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WCW Starrcade 1999 - Battle to End Millenium (1999) Review

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(More customer reviews)WCW Starrcade 1999
12/19/1999
Washington, D.C MCI Center
Big Vito and Johnny the Bull defeated Disco Inferno and Lash Leroux
WCW Cruserweight Title Match;
Madusa defeated Evan Karagias to win the cruserweight title
WCW Hardcore Title Match;
Norman Smiley defeated Meng to retain the hardcore title
Revolution(Shane Douglas,Dean Malenko,Perry Saturn, and Asya)defeated Jim Duggan and the Varsity Club(Kevin Sullivan,Mike Rotunda,and Rick Steiner).
Vampiro defeated Steve Williams
Vampiro defeated Oklohoma
Creative Contol and Curt Hennig defeated Harlem Heat and Midnight
Jeff Jarrett defeated Dustin Rhodes in an "bunkhouse brawl match".
D.D.P defeated David Flair in an "crowbar" on an pole match.
Sting defeated Lex Luger
Kevin Nash defeated Sid Vicious in an "powerbomb match".
WCW U.S Title Ladder Match;
Chris Benoit defeated Jeff Jarrett in an ladder match to retain the U.S Title.
WCW No Disqualification,Battle to End the Millenium Match;
Bret Hart defeated Goldberg to retain the W.C.W Title.(This is the famous match where Goldberg kicked Bret Harts head to hard into an concussion and forcing Bret to retire later on).

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WWE: New World Order (nWo) - Back in Black (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)'N W O: Back in Black' chronicles the rise and fall of the New World Order in WCW in the late 90s and its recent resurgence in the WWF in 2002. The 83 minute feature covers the beginnings of the group very well but is incomplete as glosses over A LOT of ground in between.
THE FEATURE:
The actual feature covers the following:
1.A rundown of the WWF careers of Hulk Hogan, Razor Ramon and 'Big Daddy Cool' Diesel.
2.The origins of the 'Monday Night Wars' and the first appearances of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash on WCW Monday Nitro.
3.The formation of the N W O at the Bash at the Beach 1996.
4.The N W O's running roughshod over the WCW roster during the Summer and Fall of 1996 including the parking lot attacks, in-ring attack on the Horsemen and Dungeon of Doom and the Giant's joining the N W O.
5.From there the feature TOTALLY glosses over the rest of the N W O storyline alluding to the tons of members that later joined and completely ignoring the rest of the angle. It also quickly glosses over what the WWF did during this time.
6.The feature picks up in the present with Ric Flair joining the WWF in November, 2001 and talks about how the Flair vs. McMahon feud led to McMahon brining back the N W O at February's No Way Out PPV. The rest of the feature talks about the N W O's short-lived WWF career up to Wrestlemania X-8.
THE DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:
Once again, the WWE is putting that WCW video library to great use with some GREAT extra matches on here. Here are the DVD extras:
1.Scott Hall and Kevin Nash vs. Randy 'Macho Man' Savage, Sting and Lex Luger from Bash at the Beach 1996: The landmark match and promo that started it all Hogan turns heel and joins the Outsiders to form the 'New World Organization.' 16 minutes. 4 stars.
2.Hall, Nash, Hogan and N W O Sting vs. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger and Sting from War Games 1996: The match that started the whole 'Crow Sting' angle. 20 minutes. 4 stars.
3.Kevin Nash vs. Bill Goldberg from Starrcade '98: Landmark match as Nash buries Goldberg, killing his heat and winning streak. 15 minutes. 3 ¾ stars
4.Hogan, Hall and Nash vs. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and The Rock from Raw, 3/11/02. Decent Raw Main Event. 9 minutes. 2 stars.
5. Two WWE video promos, one for the N W O, one promoting the No Way Out 2002 Pay Per View.
6.4 hidden promos including one of the original N W O propaganda promos from '96.
THE CRITICISM:
While the feature is okay, the one limiting thing about it (and this applies to just about ALL WWF/E DVDs) is the hour time limit. There is just SOOOO much more that they can include on this but didn't. The beginning of the feature was just awesome with the chronicling of the 3 men's WWF careers and the origins of the N W O. Everything afterward is ALRIGHT but not that great. I REALLY did not like how they just skipped over everything else that happened in between. To me, this chronicling of the N W O storyline is incomplete for it. They fail to discuss the N W O feuds with Sting, Luger, the Horsemen, Piper and DDP and the split of N W O. Sure as the angle dragged on it sucked, but this 'revisionist' history of the angle is just bad. Some of the other things they could have included:
1.More bonus matches. They could have included more WCW matches including the War Games where the N W O killed the Horsemen. What about the Starrcade '97 match between Hogan and Sting which was the big payoff (though how underwhelming it was') to the N W O angle? What about the celebrity matches with Rodman or Jay Leno? Sure they weren't great matches, but they did big business.
2.More WCW footage, less WWF footage. The bonus promos were almost all WWF produced. The N W O was a WCW ANGLE. The focus should have been on the WCW side. More of the WCW promos should have been included including those t-shirt commercials.
THE VERDICT:
Well, the first half of the feature ruled; the second half did not. The included bonus matches were a great extra although that Rock/Austin match didn't really belong, imho.
Overall, the video, while disappointing, is good for historical value as it is an OKAY recap of one of the biggest money making angles in wrestling history. For that reason this is recommended although the product itself could have been WAY better.
Somewhat Recommended

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WCW Uncensored 2000 (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)Well, let's be brief on this one. Uncensored is pretty good for a WCW PPV. But the attendance, even in a brand-new Florida arena, looks miserable. The chairs clearly are not filled, which is obvious all through the event. Still, Uncensored managed to be the typical plethora of unpredictable mayhem it's cracked up to be. Here are the matches.
CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE: THE ARTIST WITH PAISLEY(C) VS. PSYCHOSIS
Okay action, for the first match of the night, but the ending will make you roll your eyes so far up you'll probably go blind, so I would skip it if I were you. 5/10.
X.S. VS. SCREAMIN' DEMONS
Come on, now. This match belonged on Nitro, and even there it wouldn't have been good. Mercifully short, and we see Stacy Kiebler. So I can live with it. I think. 4/10.
BAM BAM BIGELOW VS. THE WALL
Wow! An actual storyline to a match! A bad one, but still a storyline. The Wall, Bigelow's protege, is destroying men left and right, such as David Flair and Crobar. He does the same to Bigelow tonight. And oh yeah, he also throws Crobar off the scaffolding 15 feet down through the stage, which was the best bump of the night..and the month...and probably the year so far. 6/10.
HARDCORE TITLE: 3 COUNT(CHAMPS) VS. BRIAN KNOBS
How do you make three men hardcore champion at once? Call it incompetent booking. Fortunately, this match was not so, as Knobs put the title back on his waist where it belonged. Actually some pretty decent hardcore spots, if you knew where to look. 5/10.
BOOKER AND KIDMAN WITH TORRIE WILSON VS. THE NEW HARLEM HEAT
Nice match, especially the ending. The New Harlem Heat is just an asinine concept, and a silly team as well. Big T, Stevie Ray's new partner, has definitely not been to Weight Watcher's. The Duchess of York could give him some advice. At least Big Fat Overweight T pulls his considerable load with the rest of the wrestlers. 5/10.
FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE: FIT FINLAY VS. VAMPIRO
I didn't know WCW was allowed to have matches this good. But this one raged through the ring, into the back--the bathrooms, the balcony, the commons area...the arena was a war zone. Not exactly a show-stealer, but it did better than expected. Vampiro deserved a push. 7/10.
TAG TEAM TITLES: THE MAMALUKES WITH DISCO INFERNO(C) VS. HARRIS BROS.
This was actually pretty good too. As good as WCW gets in tag team matches. You knew the match would end the way it did, but in between (the beginning and the middle) it kept you guessing. 7/10.
TEXAS BULLROPE MATCH: DUSTIN RHODES VS. TERRY FUNK
Unique match as well for WCW, and it worked, too. Not only was it funny, with Funk hitting Rhodes with a chicken from the grocery store and bringing out a guy in a chicken suit, but the bumps and cowbell shots were nice as well. Fittingly, Dustin proves the superiority of his family and end the legendary Rhodes-Funk family rivalry. 7/10.
LUMBERJACK CAST MATCH: THE TOTAL PACKAGE WITH ELIZABETH VS. STING
Both men bring out lumberjacks. It's actually a very good match, but the other wrestlers distract from the grace going on in the ring. Ending was a surprise. 7/10.
WORLD TITLE: SID VICIOUS(C) VS. JEFF JARRETT WITH nWo GIRLS
They can NOT be serious. A good match between these two could have brought the PPV up to its real standards, but it seems they weren't smart enough to pull it off. Scott Steiner comes back, and Hulk Hogan saves Vicious' ass big time. At least they didn't make this one main-event, or I seriously would have broken down in tears. 4/10.
APPLE PIE INDIAN STRAP MATCH: HULK HOGAN VS. RIC FLAIR
As they say, the last Hogan-Flair match--and it wasn't bad, either. Both men got busted open to some degree, and it was a little more physical than I'd suspected. Hogan is getting too old to wrestle; so is Flair. At least one of them picks up a decisive victory. (That would of course be Hogan.) Saves the event. 8/10.

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