Ask 411 Wrestling 04.05.06: Scott Hudson, The X Division, And The Main Event of Dream Card Extravaganza II
Posted by Gavin Napier on 04.05.2006
The main event of Dream Card Extravaganza II finally arrives, and we look at Undertaker's win streak and casket matches, X Division Monopoly, and the whereabouts of Chick Donovan, Scott Hudson, and Mortimer Plumtree!
Wrestlemania and subsequent fallout thoughts? Not much, really. I'm surprised at the lack of Bret Hart. Am I convinced that it's all legit now? No. Probably never will be completely convinced. But regardless, here's a quick rundown of my thoughts on Wrestlemania and the night after. Kane and Big Show vs. Carlito and Masters wasn't nearly as good as I expected, and I didn't expect much. Bad match, even worse choice to start the show with unless they just wanted to make everything else look good by comparison. Spirit Squad as tag champs, dethroning two monsters like that? Makes nobody look good in any way. Remember, these are the guys that Shawn Michaels beat up in a 5 on 1 situation. Yet they do what Masters and Carlito couldn't? And you've got two MONSTERS getting beaten by guys that can't handle a single 230 lbs. man on their own? Silly.
Money in the Bank was too short and felt choppy. I guess that's to be expected with a six man ladder match with at least three men who didn't belong there, though. At least they got the winner right. I enjoyed Chris Benoit vs. JBL as much as I enjoyed anything last night. I'm happy that JBL won, which will probably piss off about 80% or more of my audience. Edge vs. Foley? Decent garbage match with one guy I despise and one guy I can't make myself care about anymore.
Booker T vs. Boogeyman is everything that's wrong with the WWE product right now. A guy that can't wrestle, can't talk, and has a shelf life of about another six months tops...gets put over an entertaining, talented guy that's a proven commodity in the ring. Booker T has been shafted time and time again, and their insistence on this whole Boogeyman thing is frustrating and annoying. It's pointless. Shame on them. At the very least, turn it into a Goldust vs. Boogeyman feud to see if Goldy can out-wierd him.
Trish vs. Mickie? The crotch spot was....something. I'm not sure why Trish falling down is being blamed on Mickie, though. Or did I see that wrong? The casket match was as good as any match involving Mark Henry has a right to be, I guess. HBK did his thing, which should surprise nobody at this point. McMahon's vs. HBK and God? Maybe it's just me, but I think it would be hilarious if a rafter fell on one of the McMahon's on their way to the ring just to prove a point. Rey winning was a nice moment, but it would have been nicer if Chavo had immediately DDT'd him on the stage. I'm glad they kept the belt on Cena, too, just to see how he keeps dealing with the split crowd. The pillow fight never happened. Now, questions. Hopefully some answers.
First up, KennyMo.
Ok. What was the CZW XPW Feud? All I know is that somewhere between XPW Damage Inc and CZW TOD 1, Messiah was fired for apparently screwing Lizzy Borden. Then he was somehow attacked in his apartment and became one thumb short. How did this come to be and whhat else happened between CZW and XPW?
The Messiah, aka William Welch, was released from XPW under uncertain circumstances. Some say it was due to an affair with Lizzy Borden, some say due to missed bookings. Whatever the case, he jumped to XPW. Black did send two men to attack Welch, eventually cutting off his thumb as a warning. This is where the bad blood between the two promotions came from. From there it was "shoot" comments on tapings and DVD's, threats of invasions, and a lot of posturing.
Randall Stevens gets away with two questions because I take issue with one of them.
Why was Wrestlemania 16 not called Wrestlemania 16? I think at the time it was pre-hyped as "Wrestlemania 2000", however during the actual show itself it was simply called "Wrestlemania", with no mention of it being the 16th edition. The various banners throughout the building simply said either "Wrestlemania" or "wwf.com", and even the official home video was simply titled Wrestlemania-- there was no numerical suffix. Why is this? Every other Wrestlemania was numbered except for this one. Was Vince McMahon actually thinking of changing the name of his company's biggest show, and by removing the "16" he was trying to shy fans away from its signifigance?
Second, do you think the WWE Hall Of Fame has become too watered-down? I mean come on, Tony Atlas? From all accounts Atlas is one of wrestling's all-time great guys to be around, but to me he's nothing more than a bodybuilder who had a very brief run as a tag champ. His inclusion to the WWE Hall Of Fame is about as deserving as Andre Racicot's Stanley Cup ring. If I were Vince McMahon I'd be more concerned about posthumous inductions for Kerry Von Erich, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith or even Sailor White than I would be for Tony Atlas. Heck, why not induct Iron Mike Sharpe while we're at it?
The Wrestlemania question is pretty easy - they, like everyone else, wanted to cash in on the whole millenium thing. Just the opposite of shying away from signifigance, he wanted to make it seem MORE important. Now, the whole Tony Atlas thing. Tony Atlas was GOOD. Very good. He was, unfortunately, a muscular babyface in the era of Hulk Hogan. He and Rocky Johnson were a very popular tag team and did a great deal to improve the situation of black wrestlers in the WWWF in the late 70's and early 80's. He scored a clean pinfall win over Hulk Hogan in Madison Square Garden, and was immensely popular in the NWA. He did good work in World Class, and was very good in the ring. Tony Atlas has been overlooked as the years have gone by and it's unfortunate. I've got no problem with him being in the Hall of Fame, because he's as far from Mike Sharpe as anybody could be. Remember, it's a WRESTLING hall of fame at this point, not a WWF/E hall of fame. Otherwise, would Verne Gagne be there?
Dan Wojcik has a question about Mr. Taker.
everyone seems to be hot on the Undertaker's Wrestlemania 13-0 win streak, but what is the Dead Man's record in regards to Casket Matches? I seem to remember he lost at least once against Yokozuna.
Dan Wojcik has an answer about Mr. Taker.
I had some time and did my own research and here is what I found: Of the ten known PPV Casket matches that the Undertaker has participated in, he has won 6 of the 10 matches. That is a 6 - 4 ratio for that type of match. I guess I am simply tired of everyone ranting and raving about the Undrtakers unbeaten record for 'Mania and would like to see some take a look at his record for casket matches. Yes, I know 'taker will in all likely hood win at 'Mania against Mark Henry, but it's all about the suspension of disbelief.
Casket Matches
Surivor Series 11/25/92 - Undertaker defeated Kamala
Royal Rumble 1/22/94 -Yokozuna defeated the Undertaker
Summer Slam 8/29/94 - Undertaker defeated Fake Undertaker
Survivor Series 11/23/94 - Undertaker defeated Yokozuna
Summer Slam 8/27/95 - Undertaker defeated Kama
In Your House 12/17/95 - Undertaker defeated King Mabel
In Your House 5/26/96 - Goldust defeats Undertaker
Royal Rumble 1/18/98 - Shawn Michaels defeated Undertaker
Royal Rumble 1/30/05 - Undertaker defeats John Heidenreich
No Mercy 10/9/05 - Cowboy Bob Orton & Randy Orton defeat the Undertaker
Thanks for doing the research for me. You'll never hear me complain about that.
Gabriel Lendof experienced tEh aw3soM3!!~!
I was at an RoH event this past saturday 3/25 in NYC. Its my 1st real taste of RoH. I was wondering if you can explain the whole thing behinds toilet paper and streamers. The fans pelted Jimmy Rave with toilet paper and when the main event came on the same fans threw tons of colored streamers at the ring. Why and what does that mean?
It's all about being smart. In Japan, they throw streamers into the ring to show respect to wrestlers. Well, Ring of Honor fans pride themselves on being smart, and when it comes to wrestling, there's not many things smarter than adopting a Japanese custom. It's just a show of respect for a worker.
Virgil Wade makes my brain bleed.
Besides WCW World Champion David Arquette, what do you think the worst celebrity appearance has been? I personally think watching Jay Leno attempt to escape a chinlock comes to mind.
Yeah, that's about it.
Nick Suave wants to know about something that may or may not have happened.
When WCW first introduced the cruiserweight title, I remember they had a double-elimination tournament (or was it triple-elimination?) to decide the first champion, with guys like Dean Malenko, Devon Storm, Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit etc in the tournament. They showed random matches from the tournament on Saturday Night & Nitro, but I'm sure they never showed the tournament brackets or explained who has advanced to the next rounds or what round they were currently in. So I have a couple of questions for you:
1- Do you have any idea exactly who & how many wrestlers were in the tournament, and how the tournament went (who wrestled each other in the finals, semis, quarter-finals, etc)?
2- I remember Benoit lost to some Japanese wrestler (Ohtani?) in the finals in Japan, and the next week, Dean Malenko beat the champion on the weekend morning show. Why did they even bother giving the belt to the first guy? Or for that matter, why put Benoit in the finals when he was never really a part of the division after that?
The tournament has been dubbed as "mostly fictional" and took place in Japan. Ohtani probably won because it was in Japan, then was promptly shipped to America to job and never be heard from again. As for Benoit, he was probably in the "tournament" because of his success in Japan as Wild Pegasus and in previous J-Cup and Super Junior tournaments in the country.
RJEVH01 gets obscure on me.
What ever happend to Chick Donovan a midcarder from georgia championchip wrestling he was a Ric Flair lookalike?
He was more Luger than Flair, but I get the point. He drifted into retirement sometime in the 90's after doing a short run with WCW, only to get back into the ring in February of this year, losing to Exotic Adrian Street at an indy show.
Now, a word from Captain Jose Granada Guadalupa Chalupa Lopez.
I was reading a question that someone else had about one of the first times they remembered watching wrestling and that got me to thinking. I must have been 8 or 9 and I'm pretty sure it was during the NWO days, I was flipping through and saw Eric Bischoff sitting in the middle of the ring on a Harley. He cut some long promo about something that I just can't remember and I was hoping you could help me out cause it's really been bugging me.
Bischoff sat on a motorcyle in mid-ring with a crown on his head to proclaim himself the "king of wrestling media" or something. It was during WCW's year and a half reign in the ratings and at the height of the nWo's popularity.
Lance Lucas asks about the competition. WWE's, not ours.
Hey, what's up! I have a question that I would like your personal answer and opinion on. Why hasn't TNA given someone else not named Styles, Daniels, or Samoa Joe, a chance to hold the X-Division Championship? I think that "Primetime" Elix Skipper would actually make a pretty good champion. He's athletic, and he has mic skills. Who can forget his title reign in WCW? Also, despite also being one of the most known names when you mention TNA wrestling, why hasn't Monty Brown had a real chance to be NWA Champion? Whenever I ask a wrestling fan who is the first person you think of you hear TNA, they say Monty Brown.
Well, the X Division right now is based around those three guys, and rightfully so. They're turning out fantastic matches right and left and have a chance to be the three marquee guys for TNA for years to come. May as well get fans familiar with them. However, Petey Williams, Chris Sabin, Jerry Lynn, Low Ki, Sean Waltman, Kid Kash, Sonny Siaki, Amazing Red, Kazarian, and Michael Shane have all held the X Title, along with the big three. Not QUITE a monopoly. Elix would make a good champ, though. As for Monty, I think TNA has missed the boat on a couple of title changes. They could have put the strap on Raven and Monty Brown at least twice each for a title change that the fans wanted, but decided not to. I think Monty would be better served as a face, and I think he'll be a superb face champion for them in the future. He's still young and learning the business, but he's learning fast enough that they're either going to have to let him run with the ball or watch him jump ship. I'm hoping for the former, not the latter.
Muffin takes issue with me on music.
Ok, you said this last week that nirvana wasn't worth a damn. While I will admit that they are nowhere near the top of the chain of grunge bands (Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, and Mad Season being the top three), they are without doubt in the top five. The band brought a beatle-esque pop sensibility with a punk attitude. That can't be denied. Respond through the ask411 article or personally, I don't care which. I will defer to you on almost anything wrestling (aside from the montreal screwjob, which we will know who is right on this Sunday), but as for music, I'm going to have to stop you at dissing nirvana.
Here's the thing - the Beatles were overrated, too. Anyway, I never understood the appeal to Nirvana. I was in 9th grade at the time, so I was definitely the target audience. They were part of a movement that inspired kids to skip baths and complain about their dads not loving them enough. When you could make out Nirvana's mostly unintelligible lyrics, they were atrocious. I defer to the most hideous example of "songwriting" in history - "I want to eat your cancer when it turns black." What the hell is that? Not only is it disgusting, it makes no sense whatsoever. If you're for stream of consciousness rambling, more power to you. I'm not. Again, I never understood Nirvana's appeal. At all. I'd much rather listen to Hall and Oates, Al Green, Tom Petty, Soundgarden, or just about anyone else than Cobain's idle rambling. However, that's just my opinion. Your opinion is yours, and you're more than entitled to it. I won't tell you that you're wrong, because opinions can't be wrong..just different. Thanks for sending that in.
Robby Boydstun brings up the Deadman again.
On the "Tombstone" DVD the first ever buried alive match is featured. At the end of the Undertaker vs. Mankind match, a host of superstars came out to bury the Undertaker after the match, ala the Royal Rumble 1994 Casket Match. I was wondering, who was the masked guy that came out to help Mankind right after the match ended and hit Undertaker with a shovel? And how did they get Undertaker to get his hand through the dirt? Was it a fake hand, or did he just stick his hand out through the trapdoor?
That masked man was Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy of Freebirds fame. As for the hand thing? I've no idea. I've always wondered that myself, and don't know how they rigged it up. If anyone knows for sure, let me know.
Undertaker is popular this week. So says Kern.
I seem to remember a couple of years ago I think when 'Taker was in his biker character that he had entrance music that began with little girls dressed in white saying "I'm scared...He's here..." and then the gong and the music, etc. Am I crazy or did he? If he did, it must not have lasted long. What's the deal with this? I thought it was really cool at the time.
That was Judgment Day 2000, my friend, and it was easily the best "return" the Undertaker ever had. You can find the vignette with the creepy little girls on the Titantron from that show all over most p2p networks.
Zach N/A asks about some goosestepping and bumping.
I've heard a few times that JBL was fired from some newsreporter (or something of that sort) job after doing something related to Nazis in Germany. Could you explain exactly what happened to get him fired?
One thing that has always bugged me is when people talk a wrestler down by calling him a 'spot monkey' or a 'spot machine'. This is something I may never understand. How is this a bad thing? Spots are easily my favorite part of wrestling. I'd rather watch Monster's Ball 2 again instead of HBK vs Angle. I mean, don't get me wrong, HBK vs Angle was a phenominal match, but I love huge spots, like Jeff Hardy flipping off of the stage, more than anything else in wrestling. So my question to you is how can anyone justify calling a match bad by calling it a 'spot-fest' or calling a wrestler bad by calling him or her a 'spot monkey'?
On a European tour in Italy, JBL did some "Seig Heil" motions and goosestepped around the ring. He was subsequently released from his duties as a guest financial panelist on MSNBC because of the negative publicity surrounding the event.
As for spotmonkeys and things of that nature? It all boils down to taste. I'd rather see Flair vs. Steamboat or Dr. Death vs. Kobashi than a Jeff Hardy match. I'd rather see most things than a Jeff Hardy match. Spots alone just don't do it for me. But if they do for you, then more power to you. I've long been a proponent of "like what you like" and don't apologize for it. Just because I like something else doesn't make you wrong. Doesn't make me wrong, either. It just means we like different things.
Stephen Fontana returns me to the world of copyrights.
I have a question reguarding WCW theme songs. How was it possible for them to get away with using songs that were blatant rip offs of real songs? For example...Jericho's theme was Even Flow by Pearl Jam almost exactly. And of course there was DDP's Smells like teen spirit by nirvana. I just wanted to know if there was some kind of agreement or something at the time?
While the songs sounded similar enough to be recognizable, they weren't the same. DDP's music? The chords were played backwards. Jericho's? Tweaked here and there to keep them out of trouble. At some point, WCW must have come to an agreement with some bands, though, as evidenced by the temporary use of Crush Em by Megadeth for Goldberg's music, as well as the nWo music containing Jimi Hendrix licks. And really, for all we know, WCW could have been paying for the rights as much as they threw money around.
Brandon Ray doesn't feel like Time is on his side.
I have been a WWE fan since I was 4, and I'm 20 now. Just letting you know I am very loyal to WWE. I watched WCW and watch TNA but WWE has always been #1 for me. Anyways, there is one thing that has really bugged me over the years. It seemed like, at least when I was little, that the pay per view shows were actually 3 hours long, except for the Wrestlemanias which were 4 hours long. But it seems like around 2002 or 2003, that the back of the VHS/DVD box says WWE event is 3 hours long, however, it isn't. I remember one WWE ppv, I can't remember which one, but it was suppose to be 3 hours, however from my calculations, it was only 2 hours and 15 or 20 minutes. I think it was Survivor Series 2003. A good example would be Armageddon 2002, which had the Raw main event of Shawn Michaels defending the title in a Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match against HHH. It had 7 matches, so I figure, each match could have about 25 minutes each if they wanted. Instead, most matches were cut really short. There was a match between Kane and Batista that was a little over 6 minutes long, Big Show vs. Kurt Angle was around 12 minutes, Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero was only about 16 minutes (Great match by the way, we miss you Eddie!), and well you get the point. But that's 3 of the 7 matches and only 24 minutes have been used up. I'm just wondering why WWE does this? Am I wrong and they did this in the past too? Are they just in too big of a rush to realize they have a good amount of time for the event or what?
There's been a definite decrease in the length of most ppv's for the E in years past. Sitting at BW3's here in Huntington, some friends and I were stunned when a pay per view went off the air at about 10:25 PM. At two hours and 25 minutes, that's nothing more than an extra segment tacked on to the end of RAW. WCW was guilty of the same thing, when Nitro was three hours. You'd have a three hour television show, a fifteen minute overrun, and ppv's that were lasting only two and a half hours. TNA, to their credit, usually hits the 2:45 mark or a little more. The reasonsing behind this? Poor planning could be to blame. So can the changing styles in wrestling and fans, which have developed shorter attention spans among fans. They try to fill the spots with segments and interviews and things, but those belong on television, not ppv. It's a frustrating development, especially since they've raised the prices. It's why I just go to BW3's and watch instead of paying for it.
Reinaldo E. HENRY has noticed some fakes laying around.
I've seen several wrestler (ie Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, even Joanie Laurer) have the actual belts they won in their homes. Does the WWE and TNA give every champion their own replica title for their own trophy case, even short term champs like Edge and Rhino?
It's always been my understanding that champions are given replicas. If that's NOT the case, then they're free to purchase a replica for about three hundred bucks like anyone else. It's particularly interesting in the case of guys like Flair, Hogan, and Austin who wore multiple versions of title belts. And if you watch the Iron Sheik shoot interview,you'll see him sitting there with a replica NWA World Title. Why? Because we ALL remember that dominant NWA World Title run that Sheik had. Right?
Mark Hochevar looks to me to put a long-term annoyance to rest.
I have been wondering the anwser to this question for about 6 years now and I can never find it, for that matter I dont ever even hear about it until "Stings Moment of Truth" dvd where he talks about him coming down from a chopper. The Nitro was also a Nitro that was outside. I was also wondering if you know what Nitro that was or if it was a special one and had a name?
Sting dropped from the helicopter on March 16, 1998, in a tag team match. It was Sting and Luger vs. Hogan and Savage. As far as special names? "Spring Breakout" from Panama City, Florida. Hope that helps.
Connor O'Boyle has a "where are they now" thing for me.
I just wanna ask what happen to Scott Hudson in TNA?He was there for the first few PPV then left!Where he go?Also who was Mortimer Plumtree?
Scott Hudson was one of my personal favorite announcers, and vastly underappreciated, imho. He was working for free for a while because he had a job outside of the wrestling industry and wanted to stick around. He was released by WWE after going to Ohio Valley for a while, and didn't do much work after that. He did get involved with Vince Russo's "Ring of Glory" promotion and ministry efforts, and worked as the announcer for them in December of 2005. Mortimer Plumtree is David Webber, a commercial actor who was a huge fan of wrestling and got involved managing on the indy scene and in NWA TNA.
Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for the main event of Dream Card Extravaganza II: Legends Cup.
First, I got some e-mails asking about where certain guys were, namely Chris Jericho. I was also flooded with suggestions for fifth men on the mythical "Team Magic",such as Oz, Spellbinder, Kevin Sullivan, and more. People generally made me laugh with their suggestions, which is cool. Now, as for Mr. Jericho? Jericho, among others, were left out simply because there wasn't enough space and were interchangable parts. I find Jericho as awesome as the next guy, I really do. I miss him and wish he'd come back. But if I ever do this again, Jericho would definitely be a part of Team Canada, and I'd find a way to work a lot more guys into the mix. As it is, we've got a doozy of a main event.
Team WCW - Sting, Rick Rude, Vader, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner
vs.
Team 80's WWF - Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, and Bob Backlund
It's a five-on-five standoff in the middle of the ring, as the teams line up and jaw at each other. Everyone in attendance wonders how long it's going to take for things to explode, and the answer is "not long". Piper jabs Sting in the eyes, and we're off. Vader and Paul Orndorff resume their backstage brawl on the outside of the ring, while Rude and Roberts tear into each other. Scott Steiner and Randy Savage break away and alternate between fits of rage and bursts of wrestling, while Bob Backlund confuses the life out of Rick Steiner with amateur technique. After a solid five minutes of brawling, multiple referees and security gaurds seperate the teams into corners and choose a legal man and we have a real match.
Rick Steiner starts things off with Jake Roberts, and Jake is hard pressed to find a counter to Rick's cannonball-like clotheslines and thunderous powerslams. Rick goofs by barking at the crowd, though, and a kneelift to the ribs puts The Snake in firm control. Lefts and rights, chinlocks and hammerlocks, slams and suplexes all wear Rick down methodically. A shortarm clothesline looks to be the beginning of the end, but Rude has Jake well-scouted and gets the ref's attention. Jake flings Rick into the corner where he takes a four on one assault (Backlund abstains) and tags in Mr. Backlund.
Backlund doesn't get as vicious as his team would like, but when he applies a crossface chickenwing, things look bleak for the initial member of Team WCW. Sting rallies the crowd, and Rick gets a foot on the ropes. Backlund immediately releases the hold, and much to the dismay of Team WWF, helps Rick up. He's thanked with a punch in the mouth and a tag to Vader. Vader manhandles Backlund, brutalizing him with forearms and splashes in the corner until Backlund's mouth and nose are bloodied and he's slumped in a sitting position. Vader feels good, but Backlund has been here before with Billy Graham, among others. He's resiliant, sweeping Vader to the canvas and going for submissions. The power difference is too much, though, as Vader gets to his feet and hits a reverse powerbomb, followed by a big slpash for two. Roberts and Savage come in to try and stop the carnage, but both are sent reeling from the ring by Vader. A thunderous powerbomb ends Backlund's night, scoring the three count and giving Team WCW a five on four advantage.
Orndorff has had enough. He lights Vader up with rights and lefts and actually takes the big man off his feet with a single right hook. Vader is scrambling to regain momentum, but Orndorff's disdain is shining through in every punch and stomp. A big irish whip loosens a turnbuckle and a clothesline puts Vader on the mat. Orndorff signals for the piledriver while the rest of Team WWF cut the ring off. In an impressive showing of strength, Orndorff delivers a piledriver to Vader...then does it again for good measure. The pin is academic, and we're back to even sides.
Rude wants a piece of Orndorff, and that's fine with Mr. Wonderful. The two musclebound men are chipping away at each other with forearms and targeting the neck when possible, but nobody's making any progress. Rude realizes that there's little to no teamwork goin on, so he tags out to Sting, and they hit a double suplex on Orndorff for two. Sting maintains control until he misses a Stinger Splash and Orndorff makes a desperation tag to Piper. Piper jabs and brawls with his younger counterpart, locking in the sleeper in the center of the ring. Sting is fading fast, but his superbabyface recovery powers help him out of it and big elbows to the ribs of Piper break the hold. Just as Sting builds some momentum, though, Piper jabs him in the eye and tags out to Roberts. Roberts DDT's Sting and tries to get the pin using the ropes for leverage, but Sting gets a shoulder up. For the next few minutes, Sting is the victim of double, triple, and quadruple teamings, getting stomped and battered until his facepaint is gone and an eye is swelling shut. Piper misjudges an elbowdrop and Sting crawls to Rude for the HOT TAG~!
Rude is a house of fire, sending Savage, Roberts, and Orndorff from the apron and going to work on Piper. He lands a Rude Awakening neckbreaker for two, a piledriver for two, and a diving knee for two. He irish whips Piper in, and Piper sneaks in a not-so-blind tag to Orndorff. Rude ducks Piper's clothesline and lands one of his own on Orndorff. The two men brawl in mid-ring, but as Rude gets the upper hand, team WWF distracts the ref. Before anyone can realize what's happening, Bob Orton is on the top rope, and in mid-flight with the cast of doom pointed at Rude's skull. Rude ducks, and there's been a horrible miscommunication as the cast meets Orndorff's skull. Rude sends Orton out of the ring, hits the Rude Awakening on Orndorff, and puts Team WCW back in the lead, 4-3.
The advantage is short lived, though, as Savage uses the confusion to blast Rude in the back with the ring bell and drop his top rope elbowsmash for a quick three count, evening things back up.
Sting and the Steiners stare across the ring at Savage, Roberts, and Piper, each team formulating strategy. Scott Steiner enters the ring for team WCW, facing off once again with Randy Savage. Action is fast paced, brutal, and surprisingly clean, with both men showing the form that would lead them to world championships later in their careers. For every tilt-a-whirl slam, there's a double axehandle. For an attempted Frankensteiner, there's a series of right hands. For every guillotine on the top rope, there's a picture perfect dropkick. For every leap to the floor, there's an incredible feat of deceptive strength. Savage and Steiner are in their own worlds, forgetting their partners and everything else, battering each other into exhaustion. Roberts, ever the opportunist, tags Savage against his will. He slips in, tries a DDT on Steiner, only to be pushed away, and watch as Scotty tags in a fresh Sting. Sting is a little overanxious, though, and quickly finds himself in the hole against Roberts. An irish whip to the ropes finds Piper burying a knee in the kidneys of Sting, and Jake capitalizing with a lightning quick DDT to put the recognized captiain of Team WCW out.
Rick volunteers to pick up the fight, hammering away at Roberts with heavy right hands and Steinerlines that send Jake out of the ring. In the early 1990's, the Steiners were called the best team in the world, and now they'd have a chance to prove it. Jake tagged in Piper after rolling in, but Piper met no more success against the Dogfaced Gremlin than did his counterpart. Jake found his way back into the ring, but a top rope bulldog from Rick ended things quickly thereafter. Back to two on two.
Piper and Savage regain some momentum, as Rick's adrenaline wears off. Both Steiners quickly find themselves on the outside, where things get ugly. Piper and Savage demand the ref's full attention, and from under the ring and behind the rails come a flood of bodies. Michaels, Cena, Batista, Hart, Angle, and Edge are all laying the boots to the Steiner Brothers. Scott is rolled back in while everyone resumes their hiding places, and Savage drops an elbow for the elementary pin. Rick looks to be all alone, when a familiar voice comes over the house mic.
"Way juthaminnit, baby! The Duthy Finnish ith MY finnish, and Scotty ain't legal!"
The ref agrees with Dusty and allows Scott back in the match. The flood of WWF/E stars come out again, angry at their oversight in the plan, but are quickly met by Dusty, Nikita, Hawk, Animal, Magnum TA, and Ricky Steamboat. Piper and Savage are furious, but Rick interrupts the arguing with a schoolboy and a hand full of tights on Piper that sends him packing, leaving the Steiners against the Macho Man.
Savage doesn't think, he attacks. With a vengeance. And it's more than Rick can withstand. In less than three minutes, we've come down to a one on one match: Randy Savage vs. Scott Steiner. Before much of anything can happen, Hogan, Hall, and Nash have hit the ring, hellbent on establishing the nWo as the premeire force in wrestling, even post-elimination. A jackknife to Savage, an Outsider's Edge to Steiner, and a legdrop to both have them prone in the ring. WWF and NWA stars are too busy brawling to notice, but...
Flair, Arn, Tully, Barry, Ole, Sid, Benoit, Malenko, Lex, Jarrett, and Mongo are all out as the Horsemen have arrived in force to beat the life out of the nWo. The two weary combatants in the ring are pulling themselves up, only to find Flair, Arn, and Sid staring them down. As one, the three Horsemen turn towards their WWF enemy and strike. Flair directs traffic as Sid powerbombs Savage and Arn lands a spinebuster on him. Scott goes to cover Savage in desperation, but the Horsemen are having none of it. All 10 members of the Four Horsemen launch an attack on Steiner that leaves him bloody and unconscious before they take their exit.
Thirty seconds later, Savage has pulled himself to the top rope and managed to drop the winning elbowdrop, pinning Steiner and bringing the Legends Cup home to Team WWF.
That's that. Hope you enjoyed it...or at least didn't hate it. Read the rules and I'll see you in seven. God bless.
1. If you ask a question that's already been asked, I will refer you to that column instead of answering again. Why? That's what column archives are for. Now, I don't know what's been asked in older columns, so this rule applies only for MY Ask 411 columns.
2. Wrestling questions only, please. I'll allow the occasional exception for a well-written porn or sports question. Anything else may very well be answered by C-list celebrities, or impersonations thereof.
3. 11:59 PM Sunday night through 11:59 PM Tuesday night is a "dead time" on questions. If you send me a question between those times, I will NOT answer it. Not in this week's column, not in next week's column. I may give you a personal, non-column response, but that's no gaurantee. Often, it will be deleted with no response whatsoever. You've been warned. My therapist says I deserve some "me" time, and I'm taking it on those days.
4. If you send me a novel, I'm going to edit it. Don't cry to me if I cut out half of your e-mail that has nothing to do with the question. I love your praise, I love your bashing, I love all feedback. But the volume of e-mail I've gotten has quite literally quadrupled since starting this. I can't feasibly reply to everyone, and I'm sorry. But I do love you all. No, really.
5. I will work my butt off to find the answers for you. But if I honestly can't find the information anywhere, I'll be straight up with you. I'll keep looking and answer you personally and through the column as soon as I DO find the answer. But if you flame me, you get nothing and you'll like it. And hey, if you know something I don't, send it in. I'll give you full credit.
6. I'm going to have to limit you to one question, or at least one topic. Save those other questions for next week. Why am I doing this? Because I got over 70 e-mails this week. There's no way I can answer 100 + questions every single week or I'll be burnt out before this ball even gets rolling. I don't want to do that, so help me help you. One question, or at the very least one topic. Much appreciated.
7. Questions for Ask 411 v3.0 MUST be sent to Necrocide@gmail.com . PLEASE adhere to this. I don't check the hotmail address that this column is linked to. We're having a hard time getting this address set up on the profile, so don't get disgruntled at me if your question goes to the wrong place and you don't get answered. You've been warned.
