Talk about it here.

I love the MARUS IS GREAT sign, and also the eye rolling that the crack WCW production team zooms in on to black fans watching Bagwell dance. Eaton was a great partner for Benoit at this stage of his career, just as Scorpio was good for Bagwell. This is a really good match, and I'm a little disappointed that it was cut off of the commercial release. Really hot opening 1-2 minutes and a nice finish with Scorpio pinning Benoit after some ridiculous move from the top that I can't even explain.

That finish was INSANE. Scorpio lands with his ENTIRE body weight flush on Benoit's face/head. Just fucking ridiculous.

 

Match itself is really good, but yeah, that finish...

Benoit vs Scorpio again, something we could have seen a ton of in 1996 if WWF hadn't wasted Scorp. I love the idea of Bagwell trying to dance next to Scorpio, he looks like a dork. Really good match, Eaton & Benoit could ahve worked well if Benoit didn't go back to NJ.

Wow! That landing by Scorpio was crazy with him bouncing up. Bagwell's dancing was pretty bad. I don't mind the team with Benoit but it feels like a make shift pairing for Eaton.

Scorpio absolutely kills Benoit (ooh, bad choice of words) with the Tumbleweed legdrop, landing full-force on his head. Hard to watch that now. But everything up to this was very good. Bagwell has turned into a perfectly serviceable worker, and as the perennial FIP of the team he plays his role well. Benoit & Eaton should have gone farther than they did, and I wish some of Eaton's ring smarts had rubbed off on Benoit a little more. Eaton could take any insane bump you'd care to describe but he also knew how to work shtick, heeling, and comedy...things that Benoit never really picked up on, which in retrospect was to his detriment.

^ Great point about what Eaton could've imparted onto Benoit, but I think, even here, it is obvious that Benoit was a super serious worker and wanted nothing to do with that whole "entertainment" side of sports-entertainment. I also agree that, at this point, Bagwell was very serviceable and almost seems eager to bump for whoever he's in the ring with - whether its a relative no name (at the time) like Benoit or a true veteran like Eaton, Bagwell wanted to make the other guy look good. He's an example of a guy that I think gets a bad rep for being cocky/arrogant/prima donna when, really, that was his gimmick and, in the end, he might've played it too convincingly (if you've heard his most recent podcast interviews, he says as much about his time in WWE).

 

Also, again, that finishing move looks absolutely nasty.

Solid, quick tag that sees Eaton & Benoit enter like something out of a Van Damme or Lethal Weapon movie. Bagwell's dancing? Not so much. This was much faster than the in-ring standard for WCW, only really slowing down Bagwell tags in. Scorpio destroys Benoit with a somersault legdrop for the win.

 

***

Really good opening match with a ton of energy. The opening Benoit vs. Scorpio sequence got over huge and then the heels work over Bagwell with some effective stuff. The finish was fun too with Eaton trying ferociously to break up the count and man did that legdrop look absolutely awful coming full force onto Benoit. ***1/4

This match didn't make the VHS tape so I'd never seen it until just recently. Good stuff until Scorpio just squishes Benoit's head with his ass like a cantaloupe in a Troma movie.

They need to dump Eaton's "Chase" knockoff music immediately. Whenever I hear it, I expect to see Corny and Stan coming down with him. How about giving him no ring music whatsoever, just for something different?

 

Benoit and Eaton make a fine one-off team, but you'd think Buff and Scorp would merit better competition after taking the World champions to a draw. Who that would be I'm not sure, but this feels like a "get everyone on the card" match more than anything else.

 

Wow, what an athlete Scorp is. I've never seen a finisher like that in my life before, and I'm not sure Tony and Larry had either.

 

I liked Patrick counting through Bobby's attempt to stop him. Maybe he did that because it was the planned finish, but I wish promotions would tell referees to do it more often in any case, especially when the wrestler trying for the pin is still on top of his opponent even after outside interference supposedly breaks it up.

 

There was an extra energy when Scorp was in there with Benoit, and Tony added to it by referencing their classic at SuperBrawl. It's a shame that there don't appear to be any more singles bouts between the two on the horizon.

 

Normally I'd land all over Larry for appearing to be heartless with "Better him than me" after Tony mentioned Jesse's being in the hospital, but considering what Jesse was dealing with (blood clots), I'd have said the same thing in his place.

 

Tony and Larry continue to be a wonderful team, and Larry still brings the nuts and bolts better than any commentator in the business today. You'd think he'd be a tough listen considering how arrogant he was in the ring, but he's shed that persona almost completely now, although I liked Tony's reference to lingering bad blood between Arn, Larry, and Eaton going back to the last days of the Dangerous Alliance.

 

Line of the Night goes to Larry after Scorp landed on Benoit for the winning fall: "He landed right on his Schiavone!" Was that intentional, or did Larry's brain get ahead of his mouth in the excitement of what he'd just seen? Either way, it was hilarious.

I don't know why I cant stop laughing at the finish. Scorpio lands ass fucking first on Benoit's head. Holy shit! That was clearly painful and dangerous. But it was also hilarious to me too.