Views from the Hawke’s Nest: The Rise & Fall of WCW Disc 3

Here is my review of Discs 1 & 2.

Disc 3

Nitro – April 29, 1996
Ric Flair© vs. The Giant (WCW World Title)
Big Show is in great shape here, but he was green as goose shit. Flair bumped around making the Giant look as powerful as possible. Flair managed to get a thumb to the eyes, but Giant came back quickly and manhandled Flair some more. Giant went for a chokeslam, but Flair held onto the ropes for dear life. Elizabeth and Woman distracted the referee, so Flair gave Giant a low blow. Flair used brass knuckles to know Giant down again. Flair locked in the Figure Four, but Choke just grabbed Flair by the throat and chokeslammed him: 1…2…3!

Big Show couldn’t do much in the ring at this time, but he was such a good athlete that he didn’t look completely incompetent. This was pretty much a squash.
Match Rating: **

Clash of the Champions XXXIII – August 15, 1996
Rey Mysterio Jr.© vs. Dean Malenko [WCW Cruiserweight Title]
Malenko jumps Mysterio before the bell and grounds the high flier. Mysterio quickly escapes and hits a Silverking drop kick and then a baseball slide hurricanrana. Back in the ring, Mysterio hits an Asai moonsault. Malenko rolls to the floor, and Mysterio does the fake out 619. Malenko manages to cut him off with an Alley Oop hotshot. Malenko then hit a brainbuster: 1…2…NO! Malenko started to get the heat after that. Mysterio eventually was able to send Malenko to the floor and hit a somersault plancha and then a moonsault off the guardrail. Mysterio rolled Malenko back to the ring, and Mysterio hit a springboard drokick. Both men made it to the top turnbuckle and Malenko hit a super gutbuster: 1…2…3! But wait, Mysterio’s leg was on the rope. The referee re-starts the match, and Mysterio immediately hits a victory roll: 1…2…3!

This was a good little undercard match, but they were obviously holding back. These two had tremendous chemistry, and you should seek out more of the matches that these two had.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Fall Brawl – September 15, 1996
Team WCW- Sting, Lex Luger, Ric Fair & Arn Anderson vs. Team n.W.o.- Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall & Fake Sting (w/ Ted DiBiase) [Wargames]
The big story here was that Sting seemingly had turned heel and joined the nWo, but it was obviously not Sting, and just a guy dressed up like Sting. However, the other babyfaces weren’t so sure, and they didn’t know if Sting was still on their side.

Scott Hall and Arn Anderson started the match off for 5 minutes on their own. They went back and forth for a while. The crowd was quiet for most of Hall’s offense, but they popped when Anderson hit his spinebuster. Kevin Nash was the next man in. Anderson had Hall beat down for a bit, so he was able to take on Nash for a few seconds 1v1. However, Hall quickly recovered and the Outsiders were able to work over Anderson. Lex Luger was next out and he made a big comeback on the Outsiders. The crowd loved Luger destroying the Outsiders. Anderson finally recovered and the battle became 2v2. Hollywood Hogan was next, but he was quickly outnumbered by Luger and Anderson. The Outsiders recovered and the now regained control of the match. Hogan still looks to be in pretty good shape here. Ric Flair was in next and he wanted Hogan. The two biggest stars of the 80’s went at it. Flair took him down with Brass Knuckles and then took out the Outsiders with low blows. The crowd didn’t care about Flair using heel tactics. Fake Sting then came out for the nWo. The now regained the advantage. The crowd got really deflated during this segment, but then the real Sting came out and the crowd erupted. Sting made a big comeback on the whole now. Sting then walks out on the match, because he is too butthurt that his friends thought he joined the nWo. It’s 4v3 for the nWo again. The fake Sting got Luger in a Scorpion Deathlock and Hogan then locked in a Front Chancery as well on Luger…and the referee calls for the bell! The nWo wins!

This match started out incredibly hot and fun. Once the Fake Sting stuff started though, the match went off a cliff. It recovered slightly when the real Sting came out. Sting leaving the match was the last straw for the fans though. However, I really like what they did with Sting’s character.
Match Rating: **3/4

Souled Out – January 25, 1997
Syxx vs. Eddie Guerrero [US Title/Ladder Match]
This was the infamous pay-per-view where the nWo “ran” the show. Eddie was announced as a “Loser” and as a “Mexican Jumping Bean.” Bischoff was on commentary and referred to Waltman as a one-man rock concert. Shades of Heath Slater. This PPV concept was largely a failure, but I think it was a worthy experiment.

Syxx used karate to get the advantage early. Eddie came back with a backbreaker and then a plancha. Back in the ring, Syxx came back with a diving spinning heel kick. Eric Bischoff then discussed the dangers of concussions, which should at least put the rest the notion that concussions are a “new” issue. Syxx ended up on the apron, and then suplexed Eddie to the floor. Ouch. Syxx followed that up with a somersault plancha. The camera almost missed that spot. Was David Sahadi directing this show? Syxx finally got a ladder and used it to shove Eddie into the ring apron. Syxx got the ladder on the ropes, but Eddie managed to slingshot the ladder into Syxx’s head. Syxx came back and used the ladder to do some damage to Eddie. Syxx was going to use the ladder off the turnbuckle, but Eddie managed to crotch him, and Eddie then superplexed Syxx. Both men climbed the ladder until Syxx just dropkicked Eddie so that both men crashed to the mat. For some reason, Bischoff called that an “inverted side kick” on commentary. They climbed the ladder again. Eddie was knocked off the ladder, but he unintentionally knocked the ladder over with Syxx still on it. They climbed the ladder again. They both grabbed the belt. Eddie used the belt to knock Syxx off the ladder. The belt dropped to the mat too, but Eddie picked it up and was declared the winner.

They did some cool stuff in this match, but this match was super flat. The crowd did not care about this at all.
Match Rating: ***

Uncensored – March 16, 1997
Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko [US Title/No DQ]
This should be quite good. The match was very physical early on. They didn’t do much trading of holds, which is appreciated since it’s somewhat of a grudge match. TO THE BACK, where Rick Steiner was knocked out. The nWo were standing over his body. I believe this was the angle that ended with the reveal that Rick Steiner knocked out Rick Steiner. Back to the ring, Malenko was in control of the match. Eddie came back with a side slam. Eddie started going after Malenko’s left knee. Eddie locked in a STF. They ended up on the floor. Eddie continued to go after Malenko’s knee. Eddie went for a plancha, but Malenko managed to force Eddie into the guardrail. Malenko started go after the newly injured shoulder of Eddie. Eddie came back with a powerbomb, which got a nearfall. Malenko came back and hit a FROG SPLASH. He had the match won, but he pulled Eddie up. Eddie avoided a powerbomb, but he then ate a powerslam. They went back and forth for too long. Eddie hit a tornado DDT, and he then locked in Malenko’s Cloverleaf. Syxx came out with a video camera. He stole the US title. There was a scuffle. Dean ended up with the video camera. He whacked Eddie on the head: 1…2…3

WCW doing nWo angles during the “vanilla midgets’ match” on a PPV is kind of WCW in a nutshell. WCW cut to the angle several times during the match. Then, they of course had to involve Syxx in the finish. With all that being said, this wasn’t the most exciting match. Apparently this match was only 19 minutes, but it felt closer to 30 minutes.
Match Rating: ***1/4

SuperBrawl VIII – February 22, 1998
Chris Jericho© vs. Juventud Guerrera [WCW Cruiserweight Championship Title vs. Mask Match]
Jericho started the match with his belt still around his waist. That didn’t last that long. Juventud sent Jericho to the floor. Jericho pretended to be knocked out. After some stuff in the ring, they ended up on the floor. Juvi caused Jericho to crash into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Jericho got control of the match, and he worked Juvi over for a while. Juvi made a comeback, and he hit a cool springboard dive to the floor. Juvi dropped him with a piledriver, and he then hit a 450 Splash: 1…2…3!

Unfortunately for Juvi, Jericho’s hand was on the ropes despite the three count. Juvi argued with the ref. Jericho clipped Juvi from behind. They traded some nearfalls. Jericho hit a nifty reverse suplex, but Juvi avoided the Lionsault. Juvi avoided the Liontamer once, but Jericho caught him in it on his second attempt. Juvi was forced to tap out. A babyface quitting and losing his mask in one moment? Wow.

This was a solid match. Jericho has never been the most coordinated performer of all time, but he’s pretty much always been enjoyable. Juvi had a lot of talent back in the day. It’s a shame WCW never managed to capitalize on his ability.
Match Rating: ***

SuperBrawl VIII – February 22, 1998

The Steiner Brothers (Rock & Scott Steiner w/ Ted DiBiase)© vs. The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall w/ Dusty Rhodes) [WCW Unified Tag Titles]
I can’t imagine that this match will be all that good.

Scott Hall asked if the fans were there for them. The fans agreed. The Steiners promptly got booed. Steiner still hadn’t achieved his space alien look yet. He looked way too human here. Rick Steiner was running through the Outsiders early on. The crowd went back to liking them. Out of nowhere, Sott attacked Rick and DiBiase. Steiner joined the nWo right here. Hall pinned Rick, but he kicked out. Rick fought back. He hadn’t acknowledged his brother’s betrayal yet. The numbers game won out. Hall failed at one attempt for the Razor’s Edge. He succeeded on the second attempt: 1…2…3

Scott handed the tag titles to the Outsiders after the match.

I don’t know why this is on the DVD, but this was fun to watch (I guess I just answered my own question). I’ll take this moment to mention that Dusty Rhodes being in the nWo was lame.

Bash at the Beach – July 12, 1998
Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan & Dennis Rodman
I have no idea why this match is here, unless it’s just to show how bad of an idea a long celebrity match is. The one positive of this match (and the Leno match) is that DDP looked like a bigger star because of them.

The match started with Malone and Rodman…WCW is the best. The match was all gaga early on. Rodman almost killed him on the first bump he took. Hogan and Rodman managed to cut Malone off. Yes, Malone got worked over instead of Diamond Dallas Page. Rodman was absolutely awful. Malone did not do all that bad of a job in selling. Malone finally managed to tag out to Page. Page tried his best, but the crowd just did not care. Wait…are we getting a SECOND HEAT SEGMENT??!?!?!? Yes, Page was cut off, and he was then worked over. The fuck. This match is long and boring. FINALLY, DDP tagged out. Malone made a comeback. He looked reasonably competent doing it. DDP hit Hogan with a Diamond Cutter. Malone then gave Rodman a Diamond Cutter. Charles Robinson tells Malone to leave the ring so that Brutus Beefcake could hit DDP with a stunner: 1…2…3

Malone was mad and gave Robinson a Diamond Cutter.

This is without a doubt one of the worst matches I have ever sat through. Long and boring is the worst kind of pro wrestling.
Match Rating: DUD

Halloween Havoc – October 25, 1998
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page (WCW World Title)
This was the infamous PPV main event where the PPV cut out on everybody 5 seconds into the match. WCW decided to make this PPV a three and a half hour PPV, but never bothered to tell the PPV companies.
I loved DDP and Goldberg. They were definitely two of my favorites from the nineties. Goldberg came across as the biggest star ever. How did WCW fuck him up!?!?!? Goldberg did a backflip. He then got a cross armbreaker, but DDP made the ropes. DDP managed to make a brief comeback. Goldberg got control though, and he worked Page over. Goldberg got another sloppy armbreaker. Goldberg went for the spear, but Page avoided it. Goldberg crashed and burned to the floor. Page got a nearfall with a diving lariat. DDP followed it up with a leaping DDT. He then called for the Diamond Cutter, but Goldberg killed him with a spear! Goldberg was selling his injured shoulder though. Goldberg just managed to get Page up for the Jackhammer, but Page reversed it into a Diamond Cutter! Page crawled to Goldberg: 1…2…NO!!! Page waited too long to make that the truly great nearfall. Page went for a suplex, but Goldberg reversed it into a Jackhammer: 1…2…3!!!

I love this match. Page infamously planned out the entire match, and he deserves a lot of credit for putting this together. It was so much fun, and they did a lot of clever things in the match. This is almost certainly the best singles match of Goldberg’s career.
Match Rating: ***3/4

Nitro – August 7, 2000

Booker T© vs. Lance Storm (WCW World Title)
This is a pretty random match for this DVD, as Booker had much better matches throughout his WCW tenure (although a majority were with Benoit). Storm never really had a chance to have a great match in his short WCW tenure. I feel like this match is here because these two guys had people pulling for them backstage to get some residuals.

Storm was the Hardcore, Cruiserweight, and US Champion at the time of this match. They were all renamed to Canadian related things. It was a very amusing gimmick. Storm called for the Canadian National Anthem, but Booker T’s music played. The World Champion came out. Mike Awesome was getting over his Fat Chick Thriller gimmick on commentary. Storm hit a springboard plancha to the floor. Storm went for the single leg crab, but Booker avoided it. Booker hit a Scissors Kick and his heel kick: 1…2…NO! Storm went for a top-rope move, but Booker caught him with a powerslam: 1…2…NO! Storm managed to get the single leg crab. Booker managed to get to the ropes. Storm hit a superkick, but Booker hit a spinebuster: 1…2…NO! Booker then hit a missile dropkick: 1…2…NO! Storm is just kicking out of everything here. Booker finally hit the Book End: 1…2…3

Jeff Jarrett attacked Booker T after the match. Jarrett used the Canadian Flag to attack Booker. Storm attacked Jarret for using the flag. They brawled onto the floor. Jarrett accidentally hit Awesome’s “Fat Chick” with a guitar. Awesome chased him into the ring. Booker gave Jarrett the Book End.

This was a fine television match. I don’t understand why it’s on the DVD, but I’d say it’s worth checking out. I can only assume Vince McMahon thought it would be funny for the “Rise & Fall of WCW” DVD to end with Jeff Jarrett beating up Mike Awesome’s “fat chick” and then getting beaten up by Booker T.
Match Rating: **3/4

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to my Twitter or to my email address: [email protected]. Also, feel free to check out my own wrestling website, FreeProWrestling.com. Also, check out my Best of Chikara blog and an archive of all my 411 video reviews.

Over at my own site, we post a legally free wrestling match every weekday. Some of our most popular recent posts include:
Prince Devitt vs. Michael Elgin
AJ Styles vs. Noam Dar
Spanky vs. Petey Williams
CM Punk vs. Spanky from ROH

If you’re interested in some free WCW:
Goldberg vs. Sting
Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko
Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio
Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho
Rey Mysterio vs. Jushin Liger
Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio
Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero vs. Perry Saturn

The 411: Despite the presence of a lot of my favorite wrestlers of all time (Eddie, Mysterio, Jericho), I found Disc 3 to be the weaker of the two discs of matches on this set. That being said, this set is an easy thumbs up overall. It's available at most online retailers (presumably).
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]