Superstar Sleeze

WCW US Champion Bret Hart vs Sting - WCW Halloween Havoc 1998 Sting feels the hottest he has been since before the Starrcade debacle and he has finally just gone back to the high-energy Sting we know and we love. Of course, just as he is about to get his mojo back he leaves, but understandably so to get his life back in order. At the same time, this feels like the most important Bret has had since the Flair match in January! I shit on the inception of this feud, but they did some great work to heat it up so kudos to them. WCW seems at its healthiest since the first quarter of 1998 with four marquee singles main events and a lot of energy behind each one. I found the match to be a bit disappointing given Sting's resurgence and Hart's general quality of work. Part of it was the crowd was a bit dead and the other part was Sting was not as energetic as in his young days. He sold a lot better and was expressing himself well, but his energy on offense just was not conducive to getting the crowd involved. Bret tried pretty much every heel tactic in the book to get himself booed. From doing chickenshit stalling early to the trick knee to the foreign object and then finally low blow and none of it really worked all that well for this crowd. The crowd did go crazy for the Scorpion Deathlock to end the first heat segment. The crowd was looking for something to cheer for and since this was Sting's farewell, I think it would have been more fitting for Sting to kick some more ass in this match. The foreign object stuff was tough to see. Sting and Bret Hart were gesticulating enough for the live crowd. It all ends with a low blow by Hart. You know besides the one time Michaels called him out on commentary why don't announcers seem to ever realize that Bret Hart only applies lateral presses on covers, he never hooks the leg. It is too each its own, I think the way Bret covers in his lateral press would be hard to kick out. Sting accidentally decks the ref and Bret Hart lays a leg drop on the ref for good measure. Sting hulks up, but again where is the gesticulation, where is the chest beating and hollering Sting. Interact with the crowd let them know you are coming back! Sting superplexes Hart onto the ref's leg in a nasty spot. Sting overshoots on a Stinger Splash and hits his head on the steel turnbuckle. Bret Hart attacks him with the bat and the Sharpshooter is academic. There is too much dead time and not enough energy from Sting to get this to excellent, but it is a pretty good match. Bret Hart was committed to weasly heel character and he is great at portraying the chickenshit heel. I liked the finish a lot especially as one to write Sting out. Now you are heating up Bret Hart and with Hogan gone, he is a great choice for your number one heel. Look at that loaded babyface roster: WCW World Champion Goldberg, the People's Champion DDP, Wolfpac leader Kevin Nash and the returning Ric Flair. Damn the possibilities are endless for your new number one heel that has taken out The Franchise. So Bret Hart gets one more PPV match before he disappears in early 1999. Fuck WCW!

The Warrior shit was brutal. My younger sisters literally fell asleep during all the Warrior stuff. DDP's pyro scared the shit out of all of us and woke us up. I kinda remember drunk Scott Hall antics, but I might be conflating with a different Nitro TV memory. We left early and got to walk next to The Anvil. I think I always knew you were from Boston, but now I am going to start reading all your posts like you sound like one of my cousins with a thick Boston accent, which will make them only even more enjoyable.

Hollywood Hogan vs Bret Hart - WCW Nitro 9/28/98 By far the worst WCW main event shit, I have seen so far and when this bullshit is coupled with Jay Leno in August and the ongoing Warrior bullshit, this is territory killing shit. Shit. Bret Hart has a bad wheel from Wargames, but he is out to get the match he has wanted since Day One in WCW. He does not need your Civil War. He is above Hollywood and Wolfpac. He is overcoming this knee injury to kick Hogan's ass and reclaim his former glory and reclaim his damn pride. And it is all one big swerve on Sting, fuck WCW! I mean I love WCW, but I am calling a spade a spade, this is some world class stupid booking. Hogan dominating Bret Hart because of the leg injury with solid body part work having used the railing to set up the heat segment is great booking. Then you have the clusterfuck finish where Sting & Da Wolfpac need to save him. This is a great way to whet the audience's appetite and build to Hogan/Hart at Starrcade '98. Hogan/Sting has new life and is way hotter than in the early part of 1998 because Sting has gone back to just being Sting instead of trying to play the silent badass. But Fuck Hogan! He dominates Sting. What the fuck, dude! Shine that muthafucka up. Dominating the injured Bret Hart makes sense, but Sting is hot coming off the save and should have had you pinballing. Bret Hart is about to be loaded into the ambulance when the EMTs (Big Poppa Pump & Buff) attack Luger & Konnan. Bret Hart is back out because he won't be denied his piece of Hogan. At least Nitro will go off the air with the faces standing tall. Hogan misses the Legdrop and Sting gets him the Scorpion. OH YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING SHITTING ME!!! Bret Hart DDTs Sting. The crowd boos, but it is just like two weeks ago, I firmly believe they are booing the company not Bret and Hogan. It is all ruse, Bret's knee was not hurt. So Hogan was just play wrestling, but with Sting he was real wrestling. Gimme a break!!! Hollywood Hogan is one of my all-time favorite characters, but he needs to go fucking away. This is he exact moment when Bret Hart was permanently fucked. Poor Sting yet another fucking turn against him. The Jay Leno and Warrior shit were bad, but it almost feels like it is extracurricular because they aren't regulars. Now you are messing with two of your lead babyfaces and basically killed them off for a year at least. Bad, bad, bad booking. This was about the exact time I started watching the WWF again as a kid, right around Judgment Day 1998 to be exact. WWF had been banned in my house after the Dustin/Terri/Pillman bullshit. My mother really hated how they had treated women in late 1997 and the D-X antics did not help. Thus I missed Wrestlemania in Boston, which I didn't even know was happening in Boston at the time, but we got a fancam from my Dad's friend so I saw Austin's victory. Austin never really resonated with me as a kid. I never had anti-authority streak in me and honestly he seemed like a mean bully to me at the time. The NWO was way cooler and the people wanted to hang out with at the time. But after seeing WCW Nitro live in September, I realized how boring WCW had gotten. I started going on WWF.com and after enough urging I got WWF re-established in my household, but only the Saturday morning Livewire at first. By January, we ordered Royal Rumble 1999 and while I was always loyal to WCW, WWF had ensnared my interested. Bullshit like this and the Warrior really pushed me towards WWF.

Fuck, I have no recollection of seeing this live, which is a shame. Damn, Hogan/Warrior has obscured everything in my head. This sounds like a fun, I'll check it out and see if it jogs any memories. Though we did leave around 10pm once we realized Stevie Fucking Ray was going to main event. We walked right next to Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart out of the building, which was pretty cool.

The Disciple was not the only one unconscious during these segments. My two younger sisters fell asleep during the Hogan/Warrior segments when we were there live for this. I remember DDP's pyro scaring the shit out of all of us and waking them up.

I was there live for this Nitro and as an 9 year old even I knew something was up. Kanyon had been doing that with Wrath, correct? Raven being shorter may have caused issues.

WCW Nitro on September 14,1998 had Flair returning to reunite the Four Horsemen and Sting vs Goldberg in the main event. WCW Nitro on September 28, 1998 had the Goldberg/Jericho confrontation and Hogan/Hart for the first time albeit a clusterfuck. WCW Nitro on September 21, 1998 had Raven & Kanyon nearly killing a Villano and Stevie Fucking Ray in the main event. I went to Nitro on the 21st. Sometimes luck just is not on your side.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg vs Sting - WCW Nitro 9/14/98 Watching this match has lent credence to a hypothesis I have had for a while, Goldberg should have been a monster heel. Was he popular? Yes. However, once Sting starts to mount that comeback is when the fans really start to go crazy. Goldberg as a heel would have helped mitigated the effect of his first loss and would have been easier for him to play. In his matches he is a natural heel. However, it works well against cheating scum like Hogan. However, going up against Sting and DDP he will be heeled. Just my two cents, but I thought this match when push came to shove Sting is going to be the babyface and Goldberg the heel. Goldberg did not look weak. It is just natural for people especially Americans to root for the underdog. Easily, the best Sting match of 1998 and one of the few instances of his career where he gets to play ring general. Early on, it all about establishing Goldberg as a force of nature that overwhelms Sting at every turn. Sting tries power and Goldberg pops back up. Sting tries quickness, Goldberg pops up and goes to the ground. Sting tries to contain Goldberg with a headlock and he blocks it. While Sting is putting Goldberg over huge, DDP is making Goldberg on commentary. DDP is fast becoming one of my favorite wrestlers. It all started with the Steve Austin Show appearances and I just thought he was one of the legitimately coolest wrestlers. Talking up Goldberg instead of burying him just continues that trend of showing DDP gets it. You know who does not get it, Hollywood Hogan, but we will get to him soon enough. Goldberg makes the crucial mistake of trying to tombstone Sting. YOU CAN'T TOMBSTONE STING! That's like trying to see Cena or trying to hurt steel. IT CAN'T HAPPEN! Sting reverses it and tombstone Goldberg. The crowd goes from hot to red-hot. Goldberg does a great job selling that he is staggered, but still not out. Two Stinger Splashes and I am starting to get into it. Hey, 1998 Stinger thanks for coming to the party, even if ya a bit tardy. Goldberg tries to explode out of the corner, but eats post. This is a really perfect layout for these two. Sting chopblocks the knee and it is Deathlock time. I love the struggle on the Deathlock and how Sting can't execute it properly, but it is half-on.Will he or won't he? Then Hollywood Hogan comes out and clips Sting. Eye-roll. I am not against interference and overbooking in general, but c'mon it actually has to build to something. We all know we are not getting Sting/Hogan or Goldberg/Hogan again so fuck off, dude. The crowd goes from molten to zero heat. It is incredible how little heat the spear and Jackhammer get. Tony has to say the boos are directed at Hogan. No, they are directed at WCW for fucking up a great match with pointless overbooking. Oh yeah, at one point, an injured Bret Hart comes out to save Hogan's attack. Great the 50 turns of Bret Hart in one year. This is getting sadder and sadder. So many interesting matches and angles and instead we get Hogan/Warrior and Bret Hart not being able to make his mind. We still never got Hogan vs Hart on PPV. Enough complaining, great match and great work by Sting in a real down year for him. ***1/2

WCW US Champion Lex Luger vs Bret Hart - WCW Thunder 8/13/98 What is about the month of August and Lex Luger. He can win the big ones, but he can't hold onto them. This year he wins the US Title and immediately turns around and dumps it back to Bret Hart. It is too bad this did not lead to a rubber match on PPV. This one felt more like a standard Bret Hart match with Luger letting him take the majority of the match. I liked Bret cheating early and when Luger retaliates he goes overboard prompting the ref trying to pull him off and hotshot. Bret works his usual match from on top and is just so good on offense. Luger is one of the better sellers on the roster. Bret seems a bit more focused than usual on taking out Luger air supply targeting his throat. Luger's comeback is a little too abrupt and prompts Bret to grab a chair. Bret shoves Luger into the ref and a DDT on the chair gets two. The Sharpshooter gets the job done. Bret submits to Torture Rack and Luger passes out to Sharpshooter. Submission rubber match at the PPV only seems logical. Oh, WCW! Good stuff from these two, but nothing that is great. I wish they had more direction than "Is Bret really with NWO Hollywood" and "Wolfpac vs Hollywood hate each other, well they do, don't you know!" ***

WCW US Champion Bret Hart vs Lex Luger - WCW Nitro 8/10/98 1998 has not been kind to either of these men. Bret Hart has been horribly misused, but at least he has been used. My main man, Lexy Flexy has basically disappeared after February. First he was shoehorned into the horrible and interminable Steiner vs Steiner feud. Then he made the horrible career decision of joining directionless and pointless NWO Wolfpac. He was in pointless tag title matches for months and just generally not used. It was a real waste of the in-ring lead babyface of WCW in 1997. This match actually feels like a pretty big deal for both guys. Unfortunately, I did not see the full match and missed what seems to be a pretty sizeable chunk of the middle. From what I saw this at very least was a good Bret Hart broomstick match, but I think from other reviews I have read that Luger pushes Bret past that mark. Bret Hart and Scott Hall had taken out Luger in the back last week in another beatdown in the never ending Civil War that was not going anywhere. Early on, Luger establishes the power game and Bret Hart establishes the coward game. Bret takes control with some eyerakes as the match goes to commercial. The part 2 does not sync up and I get teleported to the middle of Bret Hart's heat segment. I loved how Tony and Bobby fawned over Bret's suplex technique. It was a legitimately good suplex and loved that commentary pointed that out and why it was a good suplex. Bret Hart is really a good singles heel, I wish he had a longer run as one. He holds Luger in such contempt and is so smug that you really want Luger to take it to him. Luger is very good at verbally selling and taking turnbuckles hard. Luger is underrated in his quickness and explosiveness in the ring. Unfortunately his clotheslines fucking suck. His flying forearm is pretty sweet and he should have just done that. I liked the teased Bret Hart foreign object finish only for Luger to sneak behind with the Torture Rack to win the US title to a pretty nice pop. Bret Hart will get his rematch at Thunder that very week. We all know Luger has problems with quick turnaround rematches, will he survive with his title reign intact?

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan vs Goldberg - WCW Nitro 7/6/98 Did WCW giving this away on TV affect the monstrous crowd reactions throughout this match? Did it affect how Goldberg was perceived? Did it affect how momentous this all felt? One of those nights from my childhood I will never forget being stuck in some motel near Old Orchard Beach and constantly badgering my Dad to make sure it would have TNT. That's cool. On TV or PPV, it does not matter, what matters is that Hollywood Hogan and Goldberg clashed in front of red hot Georgia Dome. What fucked everything up came after, Goldberg having absolutely zero direction until about October and really not until Nash lifted the belt off him. I would argue DDP was treated like the number one babyface through summer into the fall. I would say that actually having Goldberg win was too much too soon for Goldberg. I would have gone with DDP personally and his similar, but yet very different than Steve Austin's connection to the blue collar man. Credit where credit is due, WCW was ballsy putting the title on Goldberg. With a reputation of relying on Hogan and his cronies, it was ballsy to put the title on Goldberg and while they never fully trusted him, it was still quite the risk. There was a match? Oh yes... I was actually a little disappointed by this. Don't get me wrong, the crowd was electric, which is most of the entertainment of this match, but having seen Hogan be pretty entertaining against limited babyfaces, I thought a younger babyface may help things. It did, but Goldberg was so green that it did not yield a great match. Hogan stooging for Goldberg early especially losing the test of strength was pretty cool. Hogan trying to cheat with the belt and low blow, but Goldberg powering through was fun. The main problem was the ending. Yes, Hogan gave him three leg drops, but they were not the Hogan Leg Drops with all the pomp and circumstance. Imagine if he went into full Hulk-Up mode and hit those leg drops. I did not get the feeling the crowd was buying the Leg Drop as a finish, which is crazy because it is the ATOMIC LEG DROP! Then to compound a bad situation, Hennig, Malone and DDP stroll to the ring and Malone's lame Diamond Cutter upstages Goldberg kicking out of three leg drops, which should have been HUGE! Goldberg spear and jackhammer was great. Hogan was clearly carrying the action and did a fine job, but the Hogan finish was not well executed at all. Still the monster pop for the victory was super cool. It definitely feels like WCW had kicked out of its slump, but it turns out this was just a hope spot.

Sting vs. The Giant - WCW Great American Bash 1998 Surprisingly, The Giant was one of the better booked wrestlers of 1998 for WCW. He had his issue with Nash, had his neck broken, came back and then proceeded to try new ways to exact revenge. At first, it was teaming with Piper against Hogan & Nash and then finding a tag partner to rob Nash of the tag titles. It did not feel super heated from the promos I watched because nothing was super focused, but hey match-to-match it was pretty good. Giant joining NWO Hollywood makes sense from a babyface:heel ratio perspective more than anything else, but hey he hates Nash so that makes sense! Sting joining the Wolfpac is just the lamest thing ever. Sting is just not cool. Best Sting match of the year as he actually wrestled like a normal wrestler you know trying to execute exciting offense and selling well. Giant is just an athletic freak of nature. Watching him yesterday move around at Survivor Series last night and then watching him rock it 16 years earlier was incredible. He started by rushing into the corner and laying out on the corner for Sting to kick him around. Stinger Splash eats a big boot. Giant's heat segment is actually pretty good. Sting's finish stretch was actually exciting and fun. He dropkicks the knee, but cant get the Scorpion Deathlock because Giant is just too big. Three Scorpion DeathDrops with teases of Giant chokeslam and had my house rocking on Thanksgiving with my Dad and Mom getting into it. Just a touch better than DDP match as they keep it short and sweet. ***

The most surprising thing to me has been how good Hogan is as a working heel in early 1998. If he was paired against somebody worth a damn (like DDP or a healthier Savage), I think he could have had a helluva match that was on par with anything from the WWF (well except Austin vs Dude Love from Over The Edge). I am really disappointed we never got the match Chad proposed for GAB 98: Hogan vs DDP. I would have gone crazy for that as a kid and now too!

Hollywood Hogan & Bret Hart vs Randy Savage & Roddy Piper - WCW Great American Bash 1998 WCW has lost any sort of direction as Hogan is fighting his two least interesting opponents of the six different matches/feuds he has on his plate. Hogan has the Nash/Wolfpac, Savage, Piper, Hart (frenemy), DDP and Goldberg all gunning for him in one form or another within a month of this PPV. I don't mind running everything through Hogan, but they need to use him to spin matches off of him and creating a buzz for that. Instead we have Nash & Wolfpac spinning their wheels until Hogan finally leaves in October, Bret Hart as Brutus Beefcake's more proficient twin, and Goldberg wrestling squashes as champion. I will say DDP was minted as a main eventer thanks to Hogan so I don't begrudge him that. Still, c'mon Hogan/Piper and Hogan/Savage is so played out at this point. Savage being the catalyst for causing the NWO Civil War is fine, but they needed to transfer the heat to Nash now for the fresh match, but egos got in the way. Piper just needs to go away. The match is surprisingly fun, but it has a throwaway Nitro main event feel. Hogan was great in the babyface shine stooging for Piper and Savage. It is painful seeing Savage basically wrestle on one leg. You could see how much more he wanted to give. Piper was just awful and seemed blown up like two minutes into the match. Hogan did the best he could with two lame opponents (one literally and one figuratively). Brother Bruti hits Piper with the title belt as he is running the ropes. Hart is great in heat segment and Hogan is also great at cheating. I love them riling up Savage on the apron. It was definitely the most exciting part of the match. Savage sliding the chair onto Piper's abdomen when Hart goes down for his trademark headbutt was genius.Savage gets the tag and Hogan cowers and the crowd goes wild. Savage just can't move like he needs to capitalize on the heat. Savage goes up top for the elbow, but Piper is whipped into the ropes and Savage falls and wrenches his knee. The announcer blow this call so bad. Hart applies the Sharpshooter to give NWO Hollywood the victory. Hart is sure working towards the match with Hogan, eye-roll. If they replaced Piper with someone worth a damn, this would have been decent. Hogan is actually a pretty good worker in 1998, he is just working with shit usually see Apathetic Sting, Injured Savage and Shitty Piper. I'd love to see him against DDP or Luger this year. Instead we have shitty celebrity matches and the fucking Ultimate Warrior to finish his year.Maybe the Goldberg match will be good. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Randy Savage vs Roddy Piper - WCW Great American Bash 1998 The last match should have been main event of a Nitro and this singles match should have stemmed from all the confusion at Slamboree 1998. Hogan & Hart vs Wolfpac (Nash & Luger) would have made a lot more sense or even Hogan vs DDP World Title match would have been incredible. If only I could have booked WCW 1998 and people listened to me, it would have been a field day. First order of business, fire Roddy Piper, a shitty promo and even shittier wrestler. Piper does not want to fight Savage after his knee has been destroyed. Savage hits the world's worst clothesline and hits the elbow and fucks up his knee. We at least get one last random act of violence towards a ref as Lil Naitch takes a great bump off a bump. I'd love a wrestler crib Savage's random act of violence against refs character. Piper applies the figure-4 and Savage never comes back. Team Madness never happened...Team Madness never happened...Team Madness Never Happened. Piper needs to go the fuck away too!

They aren't / don't? We've entered interesting times where the live audiences don't really represent the WWE Universe as a whole. Even live crowds for TV tapings are much different than live crowds for house shows. It's tough to navigate it all. I think RAW/PPV have a lot of smart marks and internet nerds at them at least in Boston, who were in the 20s/30s and a good deal of families. The house show I attended was almost all families. I think there is a pretty big nerd contingent in the Northeast and Chicago. I have not clue who attends the shit in the West Coast because it seems like no one gives a fuck. I usually prefer Southern crowds because they are hot and usually cheer accordingly. A wrestler intentionally trying to get over with the audience to ride Daniel Bryan's coattails as a hipster would be reviled by everyone. Imagine some low-rent nothing happening midcarder growing out a beard and his hair and trying to rip off Daniel Bryan. Then have the Authority (too bad they are gone) give him their stamp of approval. Corporate sponsored underdog. You can't beat him so you create your own. That would have been awesome!

Bonus points if she constantly yammers about microaggressions. SMW kinda did this with Tammy loving Hilary early on. I actually really like this idea. Of course, the key is to pair this with the appropriate babyface female to establish people don't hate you because you are a woman it is because you are an asshole. It would be a delicate balancing act, but I think it would work well. Also how great would it be if she had a pretty boy as her charge and was just objectifying and using him for his body. Good shit, brutha.

"At the end of the day, someone has to make a comeback, who is that going to be?" - Kevin Nash on why faces and heels need to exist. New Japan has always sort of had neutral characters. Who was the face/heel in the Three Musketeers matches before Chono's heel turn. Then again New Japan relied more on invading forces (Vader, Tenryu and Takada) kinda like the Bullet Club hmmm... Heels can work. Nobody likes a chickenshit. If everyone was not worried about being a badass and showed a bit of ass that would get people riled up, but that person would need to get his heat back on promos and win occasionally. Also, I think if you had a really over babyface and someone did something really violent to him that could get over. It worked for Ambrose and Rollins, but if Rollins got real visceral about it that would have really helped. More cowards and more violence, violent cowards would be a real plus! Also I think something that come close to tapping into, but have not gone all the way on is the sense of entitlement versus deserving it. Like when Tebow had the crazy winning streak, I think a lot of the backlash came from the fact that people did not think he deserved it. In a similar vein, wrestling fans do not think Cena or Orton earned their position. It is a dangerous line to cross, but I do not know how to fashion a character out of it yet. Also Heath Slater should be pushed to the moon because he would be the best old school big bumping chump heel of the modern era.

Just watched the whole thing today in one sitting and was pretty underwhelmed and I didn't even get it for free! The opening promo should have been done on a previous RAW to really drive home the point that The Authority will be gone and if they win then everyone else besides Cena is gone. I hate, hate lopsided stipulations so adding that Zigs, Show, Ryback and Rowan would have been out of a job would have helped the build immensely. Way too much Matadores shit in the match. They are so terribly bland and are totally exposed next to the Usos who are just so much better at being a fun, high-energy tag team. Mizdow is over without doing much of anything is awesome. The post-match was genius. Mizdow has made Miz watchable that does an award of some sort. I didn't hate the women's elimination match as most. Paige took some great bumps and showed great intensity. Summer Rae's chickenshit character was amusing. Alicia Fox is incredible and hope she gets a run against Nikki. Bray Wyatt has just fucked Dean Ambrose and he did not even let him put lipstick on first. This feud has been so boring and pointless. It is just typical WWE booking hey we have two over characters lets just put them together randomly. Wait, let's make it PERSONAL, first. Who gives a fuck if still does not explain anything Bray Wyatt has done? How hard would it have been to have Wyatt try to recruit Ambrose have him reject Wyatt. "Ooooooo Dean, you can't fight the Authority alone, let me help you." Then Wyatt gets pissed and screws him at Hell In A Cell. Jesus, this is not fucking rocket science. Instead it is let me save you from your daddy issues by attacking you and screwing with your match. What a moron. The match is fine by typical WWE standards. It is a lot of ebb and flow where shit is always happening, but nothing is really happening. They are going to have a TLC match. Who cares? I was actually looking forward to Nikki/AJ because Nikki has gotten pretty good. Brie is now a heel, hilarious! Nikki/Fox should be most excellent. This is my theory regarding the main event, which I was totally spoiler free (well I knew Sting was returning, but that is it). Watching it live and for the first time, this is a really exciting and dramatic match, but on various rewatches it will lose a lot of its luster. The reason the match was over like rover was because the outcome actually felt like it mattered. You had a sense of urgency and motivation that does not exist in other matches especially stuff like Ambrose/Wyatt. Hunter/Steph really, really added to the drama and Cena was a great cheerleader and you felt that energy. I loved, loved Show KOing Herny at the start. Such a perfect opening. Team Cena with an early fastbreak to pop the crowd and really have Hunter and Steph sweating. Ryback getting eliminated so early and so ho-hum really, really bothered me for a while. My brother helped me try to see past it, but it really seemed to piss away a lot of heat for a guy I really like. Rusev had an awesome showing and I knew they would protect him and was not disappointed on that front. Harper and Rowan just did not do it for me. I am glad crowd was excited, but I didn't it was anything but average big man work. So Big Show KOing Cena out of nowhere. I agree that it was done spur of the moment (I have not watched RAW) and makes sense based on past history. But just like everyone was complaining about old man Sting hogging the spotlight. I say fuck the Big Show. I don't care about Cena/Show part 1,024. I know Cena can FU Show and win why do I need to see it again. Ryback had just as good of motives as Show. He cast his lot with Cena because he thought it would be the winning side. If he saw a hurt Cena and Ziggler, he could have made the same decision and Shellshocked Cena. Ryback would have gone over huge. Just switch Ryback and Show that would be so much better. Cena getting KO'd and pinned was very shocking. As soon it was 3-on-1, Ziggler was a lock to win, but he was perfect in this situation to ragdoll for the heels, be super over with the crowd and never give up. His selling is a little too off/on and he definitely dies too much, but overall it was pretty gripping to watch. Sting debuting was pretty cool and HHH is not the worst option, but just seems lame like there is no real connection. I'd like to see Sting go against someone a younger on the roster. Poor Rollins, he is becoming like the new Edge, but I think he is a lot better than that. I was hoping he would be a more old school heel like a Flair or Bock, but it seems he is more Edge-ified by the day. The main event is WWE doing what it does best: interesting spots and angles in the context of wrestling match where there are consequences. I don't agree with all the decision. I am especially annoyed with the handling of Ryback, but I want to see WWE more of this. What made this match great was first and foremost was that outcome felt like it had a real consequence and that made the action more dramatic and entertaining. There was no move or spot that was all that unique, but it was the context that made these moves and spots more exciting. The second was most of the wrestlers were treated as individuals with unique motivations and roles. I don't agree with all the decisions and I think MOTYC talk is way overblown., but I like to see WWE move more in this direction.

Is it WCW management's fault for Sting flopping as champion or should Sting take personal responsibility? Does anyone else exist on the WCW roster besides Hogan and Savage? Hogan and Savage are feuding, sort of, well they fight each other, then tag, has anything happened these two months after Souled Out in WCW? You decide in the latest edition of Riding Space Mountain. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/11/dropping-ball-wcw-february-march-1998.html

This is exactly the topic I wanted to discuss. I am glad I am not alone in at least contemplating Sting is more at fault than is historically presented. Sting just seemed so apathetic in the ring. It looked like he rather be anywhere else. His weird stand up, never fall down, staggered selling was annoying. His lack of emotion did not come off as cool badass, but just kind of sad. His one decent spot was the Stinger Splash to the railing to set up yet another one of his shitty heat segments. He could not even no-sell anymore properly.He would sometimes just sort of stand up and no sell, but not in a way to rile the crowd up. People go after Hogan for plodding, but Sting made Hogan look like Rey Fucking Misterio the way he was moving. The only argument I can see to explain for how Sting was acting was that he was trying to reinvent his wrestling style to match the new darker, edgier gimmick. He just does not portray silent asskicker. Sting just is not that person. I mean this as a compliment...Sting is excellent portraying the the overgrown child who is hopped up on sugar. Crow Stinger and Surfer Sting are just way, way too different for someone with limited acting ability to get both characters across. If Sting just literally wrestled the same he did before just in white face paint, he would have been way better off. Sure people would complain that he didn't change, but fuck it is better than shitty matches he was having. It was like white/black facepaint literally sucked all the charisma from his body. Still, this is all speculation, the simplest explanation may have been that he just could not have bothered to care. I have said it before I don't blame WCW one bit by resetting to Hogan. Hogan was clearly still trying in his matches and was invested in making the product work. I don't agree with all his decisions, but give me Hogan's effort over Sting's apathy any day. The Goldberg title switch was ballsy I'll give WCW that.

I heard you missed me. I brought my pencil now give me something to write on. Anybody who has been following the 1998 Match Discussion Archive knows how I have been having some fun rewatching some 1998 WCW and reliving my childhood. This blog post does not just contain match reviews from the surprisingly excellent Souled Out 1998, but also makes the case for how healthy WCW was at the point in history. WCW always could fall back on a strong roster, but in January 1998 they seemed poised to continue to follow their successful 1997 with the same focus on strong long-running stories. The avenging angel Sting was the focus of 1997, it seemed the impending New World Order civil war would carry the company to another banner year. However by bungling a surefire hit storyline, WCW signed their own death warrant. But this blog deals with happier times, Souled Out 1998 when the midcard and main event combined to put on one of the best complete PPVs of the NWO era. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/11/wcw-souled-out-1998.html

This match rules the school and is my pick for the best GHC Tag Team Title match of the decade. The young, upstart juniors weather the storm from the Ace and his punk best friend and then in a shocker give them a run for their money. The turning point where KENTAFuji finally turns the tide is one of the great transitions of all time. It is an immediate shit just got real. It made to be worth so much because how well they had established Misawa's & Ogawa's supremacy. At the beginning, KENTAFuji tried to jumpstart the match and Misawa calmly elbowed his way through trouble into the amazing KENTA FIP segment, which was amazing by all three wrestlers. I loved the cutoff where KENTA whipped Misawa into the railing and he rebounded with a swift kick to his back and then wiped Marufuji out with an elbow. Finally, Marufuji going for the big bombs upon getting the hot tag. He hits one on Misawa, but falling short when Ogawa runs him crotch first into the post. The Marufuji goes on a bit too long, which my complaint that will keep this from the Top Ten. At this point Misawa & Ogawa have owned KENTAFuji and then that double turning point with Marufuji Sliced Bread and KENTA explosive knee on Ogawa. It is such a cool momentum shift. I loved the finish stretch just great action all the way to the awesome climax. Tighten it up a bit and it gets into my Top Ten, but as is a definite Top 15 match. ****3/4

Tenryu was just crushing it in this match besides the worst powerbomb ever. He worked over that cut relentlessly and was just an offense monster. I loved the Northern Lights Bomb on the outside. Tenryu's weird, lame submission hold and Tenzan's weak comeback knock this down a peg for me. One of the few match where I actually thought the strike exchanges added to the drama because of Tenzan bleeding profusely, Tenryu's selling and Tenzan's Zidane headbutt. If Tenzan could have had a better finishing stretch, I could see this as a 2004 MOTYC. As is, it is a great match that will make the bottom ten-ish of my list. ****

Scott Hall w/Madonna's Boyfriend vs Larry Zbyszko w/Dusty Rhodes - WCW Souled Out 1998 Hall is the master of making old guys seem like credible threats. At Slamboree 1997, the Wolfpac put Flair, Piper and Greene over huge and here he made this match so much fun. I loved him starting off cocky and Zbyszko showing him up with some amateur moves. Hall gets more and more frustrated as this goes on. They do a great job building that tension that if Hall can just walloop Larry with a right that the match will be all over. Eventually Larry can't keep it up because of Louie Spicolli (Madonna's Boyfriend is such a great gimmick name) and Hall catches him with a wicked right while he is down. The crowd tells me why Larry may not have been the best choice for this role because there is a pretty big Larry Sucks chant. Then a Hall Sucks chant follows and back to Larry Sucks. This is not some sign-songy bullshit. You see people in the crowd pointing at each other telling to shut up. I was getting into the heat and Hall did a great job manhandling Larry Z. Then of course in the moment everyone wanted to see here comes Big Dust. What a moment! The crowd was jacked for this and everyone was on their feet to see Dusty deliver the Bionic Elbow. Then he hits the Living Legend and Dusty reveals the nWo shirt and I am pissed. Hall should have gone over Larry Z and they should have built to Dusty vs Hall! Tony and Bobby reacting in shock and disgust came off really organic like they were shoot pissed off. It added to the moment, but I think Dusty lacing it up one more time for WCW would have been huge, but maybe he physically just couldn't go. This was a really fun match between Hall and Zbyszko, who both knew their roles well. Hall was great clowning around for Zbyszko, but when it came time to get heat he got mean. You can't ask for much more for a heel exactly what you want. Larry is not the most likelable guy and thus was not a great fit for this role, but he did wrestle a strong babyface performance. Last good Scott Hall match? ***1/2

Juventud Guerrera/Super Calo/Lizmark Jr/Chavo Jr. vs Psicosis/La Parka/Silver King/El Dandy - WCW Souled Out 1998 Perfect opener in getting the crowd energized for the rest of the card. I always thought Super Calo was anything but cool with his silver surfer mask and shades, but he was not half-bad. It may have been that Psicosis was bumping for him. Psicosis was great as usual bumping around for everybody and wish we got more of him. Surprisingly what really grabbed this crowd's attention was a wicked intense chop exchange between Silver King and Lizmark Jr. I know that Silver King is known for working a bit of a stiffer style in Lucha and have always wanted to check more of him out, but Lizmark really surprised. I thought he was easily the second best guy in this match. He was kicking ass in there. Juvy got his 450 splash in, but I was a bit surprised he did not get more time to be featured. I know everybody loves El Dandy, but this match did not showcase his talents. The dive train was fucking excellent and definitely the best part of the match. Chavo really did not do much besides get the win to set up his big push into an angle with Uncle Eddie. Without a doubt, the big star of the match was La Parka. Even though, I have not watched La Parka's new Lucha stuff, I am always so happy to hear how well he is doing because he is always one of my favorites as a child. He just owned this match with all his antics. It was so immediate how much charisma this guy had and the crowd totally latches onto him. I loved him falling flat on his the apron. The corkscrew Asai moonsault was sick. The crowd ate up La Parka's chair rampage. Doing his strut on the chair and then the way he walked away so proud was hilarious. La Parka is the MAN! Very fun spotfest. ***1/2