Ring Crew Reviews: WCW World War III 1998 (PT 2) and Bret Hart’s US Title Changes

• Well, there’s probably not a highly logical reason for this review other than that I got sidetracked on YouTube for a few hours watching old Nitro clips and US title matches from Bret after watching WW3 and just reviewed them all.

• Scheduled Card:
1. WCW United States Championship: Bret Hart vs. DDP — 07/20/98 on Nitro.
2. WCW United States Championship: Lex Luger vs. Bret Hart (c) — 08/11/98 on Nitro.
3. WCW United States Championship: Bret Hart vs. Lex Luger (c) — 08/13/98 on Thunder.
4. WCW United States Championship: DDP vs. Bret Hart (c). 10/28/98 on Nitro.
5. WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Bret Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page (c) — 11/22/98 on World War III.
6. No DQ Match for the WCW United States Championship: Bret Hart vs. DDP (c) — 11/30/98 on Nitro.
7. WCW United States Championship: Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart (c) — 02/08/99 on Nitro.
8. No DQ Match for the WWE United States Championship: Bret Hart vs. The Miz (c) — 05/17/2010 on RAW.

• WCW United States Championship: Bret Hart vs. DDP. 07/20/98 on Nitro. Strap is vacant because of Goldberg winning the world belt. Bret attacked DDP backstage earlier in the night backstage to gain the upperhand. They announce Bret but it doesn’t look like DDP is coming out. Finally, he staggers out with taped out ribs and a taped up knee. Bret immediately goes after the ribs and then gets the low blow headbutt. Bret with a boot and stomps him some more. Crowd is not thrilled with this crap. Crowd chants for DDP as Bret gets a headbutt and gouges the eye. Bret with a Russian legsweep and a legdrop. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter and DDP is barely able to get the ropes. Bret stomps him on the head and postures around and then goes back to the Sharpshooter. DDP is losing it and finally has to give up at 2:54. This was what it was. 1/4*

• Post-match DDP is carted out but not before Scott Hall gives him a cheap shot for good measure as the n.W.o comes out to celebrate with Bret.

• WCW United States Championship: Lex Luger vs. Bret Hart (c). 08/11/98 on Nitro. Tenay says that Luger called Bret a “damn liar” earlier tonight and Tony and Brain get all over him about his foul mouth. Tony says they don’t know where Bret’s allegiances lie because he’s friends with Sting and Hogan and both n.W.o groups. Luger decides to wrestle in jeans to show how much he cares. Luger poses first and overpowers Bret to the floor on the lock up. LOOK AT ME! I’M THE TOTAL PACKAGE! I WILL RIP HIM APART! Back in, Bret says he wants a test of strength and Luger wins that one fairly easily before Bret reverses and goes to the hammerlock. Luger elbows out and hits the clothesline and Bret rolls to the floor. He gets the belt and he’s taking a walk. Luger grabs him and brings him back to the ring. More posing from Luger. Luger with a hip toss and an arm drag and goes to the rest hold. Luger continues working the arm with some generic shit. I’ll give Luger this. He sure looks imposing holding your arm in a rest hold. Bret drives him into the corner, gouges the eyes and boots away to boos. 5 minutes in and the commercial starts. We’re back and Bret gets a bodyslam on the concrete in the isle. Luger hooks him like he’s going to small package and Bret kinda falls on him. Weird. Bret flips off a fan in the front row. Back in, Bret steals Hogan’s ear cup and then boots the hell out of him. Bret pounds away in the corner and bites the ear but Luger comes back with rights and boots. Bret ends that flurry with a BLATANTLOWBLOW! Tony: “WHATAMATCHUP!” Tenay says there’s no use going to a DQ because Bret would just keep the title. Bret with a backbreaker for 2. Bret with the headbutt and Russian legsweep. Bret teases the Sharpshooter but instead does the headbutt low blow. Bret works the breadbasket and gets a DDT for 2. Bret chokes and Luger lays around to “sell.” Luger’s a bum. What the hell happened to him? A guaranteed contract? Bret with a snap suplex for 2. The crowd gets behind Luger but Bret works the back and sends Luger into the turnbuckle. Crowd boos but might as well be directed at Luger for his shitty no show. Bret with a backbreaker and comes off the top but Luger gets the boot up. Luger ducks a right hand and gets a couple of atomic drops and some Bionic Elbows. Luger of course shakes off EVERYTHING and forgets selling or laying around tired or whatever. He goes for the sleeper but Bret drives him backward into the ref in the corner. Luger hooks him in the Rack out of nowhere and Bret gives up at 13:38 of aired footage. This was ALL Bret. I mean that’s one of the most egregious carry jobs I’ve EVER seen. **3/4

• WCW United States Championship: Bret Hart vs. Lex Luger (c). 08/13/98 on Thunder. Luger is wearing the same jeans from earlier that week as he couldn’t be bothered to get gear or new jeans. Lock up goes nowhere. Bret grabs a headlock but Luger sends him off and knocks down Bret with a shoulderblock. CAN YOU AFFORD TO PAY ME TO WRESTLE BRET? I DON’T KNOW! Luger now grabs the headlock but Bret rolls him up for 2. They get a break in the corner and Bret pounds him down. Bret with a leg drop for 2. Luger fights back with rights. LEX LUGER WILL NOT BE DENIED! He tries to mount in the corner but the ref distracts him long enough for Bret to Stun Gun him. Bret chokes and poses. Bret with a headbutt low blow and the stomp. Bret chokes some more and drops an elbow across the neck. Tenay says “hell” on camera as Brain and Tony chastise him again and say it’s the second time this week and he won’t get milk before he goes to bed tonight. Didn’t know WCW that adamant about cussing on the air. Bret slingshots him into the ropes and hits some more rights. Bret with a Russian legsweep for 2. Tony keeps criticizing Bret’s covers in a weird fashion. Bret sends Luger across into the corner and Luger begs off. Bret with a backbreaker and goes for an elbow off the second rope but Luger rolls out of the way. Luger reverses a whip and gets the Bionic Elbow a couple of times. Crowd wants the rack but Luger clotheslines him to the floor instead. Brain and Tenay say that was a stupid move by Luger. Bret gets a chair and rolls back in but Luger knocks him down. Luger gets the chair against the ref’s warnings. Bret begs off but the ref grabs the chair and Bret shoves Luger into the ref and the chair. That’s the EXACT SAME SPOT from the match with DDP on WW3. Nice one guys because it went over so well in this match, might as well steal it. Bret gives him a DDT on the chair and tosses the chair. Bret covers and the revived ref counts but Luger kicks out at 2. Bret locks in the Sharpshooter and Luger passes out at 9:44 to make Bret champ again. WHAT? A DDT on a chair didn’t KO him but a Sharpshooter does? DDP can give up but not the Ghost of Lex Luger? That finish sucks even more the second time around. Of course, Luger recovers after the match to “sell.” Luger did shit before his comeback AGAIN. Another broomstick match for Bret but he barely had anything to work with and WCW Bret’s broomstick doesn’t sweep as well as his WWF one. Match was typical TV tripe. *1/4

• WCW United States Championship: DDP vs. Bret Hart (c). This is the night after HH on 10/28/98. This is a “return” match from Bret beating DDP for the vacant title back in July after Goldberg beat Hogan. DDP overpowers on the lock up. Bret slides out of a bodyslam and gets a roll up for 2. DDP grabs a headlock. Bret sends him off but he gets a shoulderblock and after some blocked hiptosses, a swinging neckbreaker for 2 in a spot that would be used at WW3. DDP mounts in the corner but Bret counters with Snake Eyes. Bret with the low blow headbutt. Bret taunts and that allows DDP to come back with rights in the corner but he runs into a boot and gets taken down by a clothesline. MY GOODNESS, WHAT A MOVE! DDP comes back with the discus clothesline and the crowd is into it. DDP with the piledriver facebuster for 2. He heads up top but Bret crotches him and gives him the beast TOP ROPE SUPLEX! Double KO. Delayed cover gets 2. DDP comes back with a small package for 2. Bret heads up top and hits the middle rope elbow for 2. Bret’s pissed and almost attacks the ref. DDP comes back with a jawbreaker and smashes Bret in the corner some. The ref comes to break it up but Bret low blows both of them in a spot borrowed from the HH match with Sting. Bret gets the loaded knucks and revives the ref. Bret swings for DDP but DDP ducks and hits the Diamond Cutter OUT OF NOWHERE (is there another way?) as the crowd EXPLODES. DDP covers for the 3 to win it at 5:16. A collection of reused spots with a hot finish though one borrowed as well from the Luger match. Decent for a 5 minute match with a ref bump. **

• Post-match, Bret lays him and the ref out with knucks and then blasts DDP in the leg with the chair.

• WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Bret Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page (c). This is the WW3 main event on 11/22/98. Bret is of course full blown heel and a cheap heel at that. He’s tough but cheats every step of the way. He’s a Ric Flair/Curt Hennig heel as opposed to a Triple H heel. Bret beat Sting last month to retain the US belt but then lost it to DDP on an episode of Nitro.

• Bret wants to make DDP wait and takes a breather but DDP follows out with a plancha and the ref rings the bell. That’s hardly fair. DDP then sends him into the guard rail a couple of times and then into the stairs. BANG! DDP is fired up. Back in, they slug it out and DDP wins that one and shitcans him again. They brawl into another ring and DDP knocks him out but Bret comes back with a Stun Gun. Back in, Bret chokes in the corner and stomps away. Bret hits a DDT for 2. Brain and crew put over DDP’s performance against Goldberg at HH. The crowd’s attention is drawn toward something not in the ring as DDP gets a small package for 2. Bret comes back with rights and choking. Bret goes to the chinlock and this is pretty weak so far. Hardly deserving of a PPV main event. DDP gets a shoulderblock out. They block some hip tosses and DDP gets a swinging neckbreaker for 2. DDP wants the Cutter but Bret quickly rolls to the floor to counter. I love the way WCW got over the Diamond Cutter so well and EVERYONE treated it as an awe-inspiring finisher that had to be avoided at all costs. Diamond Cutter > RKO and it aint even close. Hell, I’d take the Diamond Cutter over the Stunner. ANYWAY, on the floor, they brawl some more and Bret sends him into the stairs. Tony goes on some weird poetic rant about the weapons at ringside. Tony: “Back they go to the floor… TO THE WRESTLERS ON THE FLOOR… TO THE SAFETY RAIL… TO THE STEPS! TO THE RING POST!” He must have been studying SSBG commentary. The funny thing is that Bret only used one of them and this isn’t even a No DQ match, but this sort of “discretion” from the refs is common during this period. Tony says it’s part of the sport to use all the weapons you can get your hands on. Tony’s drifting into heel territory here as Brain agrees with him. Bret with an inverted atomic drop and more choking. Bret with a Russian legsweep for 2. Bret wants a Tombstone but DDP counters to his own to a big pop. Delayed cover gets 2. Bret ducks a clothesline and goes to DDP’s eyes and hits the backbreaker and drops a leg for 2. Bret with the headbutt low blow. Bret with some Euro uppercuts but DDP sends him into the turnbuckle and gets a belly to belly for 2. DDP with a discus clothesline and the crowd is flat. They just don’t have a lot of interest in this match and this is the freaking main event. DDP with a Tombstone facebuster for 2. Bret gets a Cactus clothesline and they both tumble to the floor. Bret gets the loaded knucks but DDP gets a slingshot clothesline back in for 2. Bret drops the knucks on the impact and the ref gets them. Bret tries a sunset flip but DDP rolls through and locks in the SHARPSHOOTER! WHOA! Didn’t see that coming, although it’s pretty ugly. Bret gets the ropes quickly. DDP chokes in the corner and Bret pulls him in for the low blow and the ref didn’t see it. Crowd still mostly not caring. Bret Hart with the stomp and wraps the leg around the bottom rope. Bret then wraps it around the ringpost and UH ON! COULD IT BE?! THE RING POST FIGURE FOUR! Charles is yelling at him to release it and gets to four before Bret releases the count. HE HAS UNTIL FIVE! Back in, Bret works it over some more and DDP is selling it well. Bret now hooks in the regular Figure Four in the ring. Bret grabs the ropes right in front of the ref for leverage. That’s pretty lazy. Bret continues to dissect the leg and he threatens to jump the rail and fight someone in the front row. DDP’s selling is still good. Bret tries to come down on it again but DDP up kicks him over the ropes and then whips him into the stairs. Crowd is still dormant but fuck em at this point. DDP crotches Bret on the guard rail and manages to STILL sell the leg. DDP clips his knee and now HE wants the RING POST FIGURE FOUR! He releases it at 4 before Robinson can DQ him. DDP gets a chair. Tony: “There’s always room for a chair in a big time title match, now isn’t there?” He’s being serious, again, like a heel. DDP tries to waffle him but Charles Robinson stops him only to get bumped by Bret. Bret not gets his loaded knucks back. The n.W.o ref is out for some reason and DDP shoves him away only to get clocked by Bret. Weak. Bret sinks in the Sharpshooter and the evil ref calls for the bell at 18:21. That finish is so tired. Get out of here with that weak sauce. Bret poses with the belt but the real ref recovers and waves off this crap to a pop. DDP gets the Diamond Cutter and the real 3 to win it at 18:57. Another Dusty finish to end a PPV, but at least this one benefited a face. They started off slow and picked up in a solid battle of leg psychology back and forth but the crowd never cared and that overbooked nonsense drops it down ESPECIALLY in a PPV main event. ***

• No DQ Match for the WCW United States Championship: Bret Hart vs. DDP (c). This is from 11/30/98 on Nitro. Bret fakes an injury to get out of the regular match and then suckers DDP into agreeing to this stip on the same night. Bret’s in street clothes for this and has a huge knee brace on and has an alleged groin injury. DDP with a series of right hands in the corner and brings Bret over for the Ring Post Figure Four but THE GIANT HAS COME OUT! DDP locks it in for about 5 seconds before Giant knocks him loose and press slams him back into the ring. Giant with the ChokeSlam. The fans are less than thrilled with this. DDP is OUT COLD and Bret suggests that Giant give him one more. Crowd chants for DDP as Giant uses the top rope to give him a Tornado ChokeSlam. Bret locks in the Sharpshooter and the ref raises the hand a few times and calls for the bell at 3:08 to make Bret the champ once again. So much for that. Now DDP can’t job but at least they were trying to keep him strong after his match with Goldberg. DUD

• WCW United States Championship: Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart (c). 02/08/99 on Nitro. This came COMPLETELY out of left field as Piper wasn’t even a regular and they just threw him into this match. Tony and crew keep talking about what Scott Steiner just did to Kimberly by “throwing her out of a moving car.” I don’t remember that at all but what else is new. Bret jaws with Piper and says he has a very serious injury and Piper smacks him instead. Piper jumps him in the corner with rights and bites and shitcans him. Tony brings up some Mad TV tie in with Piper and Will Sasso at ringside. Piper sends Bret into the guardrail and then back in mounts in the corner with rights. He tries another but Bret stops him an rakes the eye to come back. Bret tries a boot but Piper trips and looks to try a Sharpshooter but Bret gets the ropes. Piper teases a low blow but the ref convinces him otherwise. Bret takes a breather to nurse his groin injury which Tony claims is fake. They go for a lock up and botch it expecting something else. They both go to right hands and Piper spins around like a Looney Tune and pokes him in the eyes. Bret chokes and has Piper against the ropes. Bret goes down in a heap in an apparent low blow but Piper never kicked him OH I LOVE THAT! YEAH! Even Tony is fooled but Brain smells a rat. The ref starts blaming Piper and in record time a trainer is out to check on Bret. The ref holds off Piper while Bret is checked out. Rather than run a replay, the crew keeps speculating about what happened. Bret finally shakes it off and pounds away Piper and chokes in the corner. IT WAS ALL A RUSE! We take a commercial and now we’re back to more choking from Bret. Bret with a Russian legsweep and the head butt low blow. Bret rakes his eye down the top rope and then pounds Piper’s ribs to take him down. Bret with a backbreaker for 2. Bret pokes the eyes again and clotheslines Piper to the floor. Bret beats up him the isle and now chokes with a camera cable. Bret: “I’LL KILL YOU!” Bret brings in the Mad TV guy and chokes him until Piper sends Bret into the stairs to cut him off. Back in, Piper pulls his hair off and stomps away. Piper with a vertical suplex for 2. Piper with a back suplex for 2. Bret begs off but they slug it out until Piper ducks a shot and hooks in the sleeper. OF COURSE, Bret backs himself into the ref in the corner in a spot I’ve seen too many times in these matches. Double clothesline and both go down. Bret gets the loaded knucks but Piper gets a small package but no ref. Bret waffles him with the knucks a couple of times. Bret revives the ref but Sasso pulls on him long enough for Piper to school him for 3 to win the belt at 10:13. Crowd loves that. Match was shit even if the finish was over. I at least enjoyed Piper cheating with Bret because of his character but Bret’s faked low blow was spot of the match if that tells you anything. *1/2

• No DQ Match for the WWE United States Championship: Bret Hart vs. The Miz (c). 05/17/2010 on RAW. Miz says he doesn’t trust Bret to keep the Hart Dynasty out of it so he hired Regal and Koslov to watch his back. They come out and are promptly jumped by the Hart Dynasty jumping the barricade. DH and Tyson brawl with them to the back. Jericho jumps the barricade and he’s here for Miz as well. But NATALYA HAS COME OUT! Jericho tells her to take it to the back and she smacks him. Miz goes for her but Bret knocks him down but that allows Jericho to give Bret one to the breadbasket. Jericho chokes but DH comes to clothesline him to the floor. Miz lays out DH and now we’re finally one on one. Miz puts Bret in the Sharpshooter but Tyson springboards in with a dropkick. DH in and they hit the Hart Attack to a pop. Bret puts him in the Sharpshooter and Miz taps out at 3:38. All angle but the crowd was into it and Bret’s nostalgia win. This reminds me of Piper’s victory from above in that a quasi-retired face comes out of nowhere to get a shot and actually wins the belt. DUD

The 411: I'm a sucker for title changes and I'm even more nostalgic for old Nitro clips so this is automatically worth the time for me. But the Bret-DDP WW3 match and the Bret-Luger first title change are probably the only matches worth checking out.
Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]