Not much of a match but Steiner does look like a star. The main component here was was the finish as we get a ref bump, Vampiro emerges from the ring and “drags Sting to hell” and then Steiner puts him in the Recliner to win the US Championship as Madden cheers on. Yippee. *

Great seeing late 80s stars like Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett in the top spots in the New Blood. I know a lot of people like the Big Poppa Pump gimmick, but I'm not a fan. Overpushed and really only good for making himself look good, unintelligible promos and I won't get into the other obvious issues. Sting might as well be sleepwalking in this. I hated thing he started doing around this time where one Stinger Splash wasn't enough and he'd start doing four or five in a row. (That move was way beyond stale anyway -- he had a chance to take stuff like that out of his arsenal a few years back, but we covered that in 1997).

This just encapsulates the vibe of the whole show. Rushed, uninspired, way overbooked. I like the Big Poppa Pump unhinged character but hate seeing him do things like begging off and trying to call timeout here. The finish with Vampiro pulling Sting under the ring was beyond stupid.

 

*1/2

This is the final of the United States title tournament. Steiner bullies Sting back into the corner and unloads on him leaving him crumpled on the floor. Sting ducks a couple of lariats, lands two mediocre looking dropkicks and Scott rolls to the outside. Pescado! Sting throws him back into the ring and comes off the top with a big splash but Steiner gets his knees up. Gorilla press slam and a crappy clothesline for two. Nice release overhead throw. Scotty sits Sting on the top turnbuckles for a belly to belly, however Sting fires back and Steiner crashes backward to the canvas. A pair of clotheslines from Sting, ‘Stinger splash’, he goes for a second, but the referee is too close to the action and Steiner pulls him infront of him and he gets sandwiched between them. Third ‘Stinger splash’ and as he’s about to hit a fourth, Vampiro comes up through the ring, grabs his leg and pulls him ‘straight down to hell’. They re-appear around 30 seconds later and Sting has what looks like costume blood smeared around his mouth. Steiner wakes the official, ‘Steiner recliner’ and Scott Steiner is the new U.S. champion.

 

Garbage. We’re not even a week in to the Bischoff/Russo era and I’m hating all this interference and nonsense in the matches. One match on the PPV to go and I reckon I know how that will end up if the rest of the show is anything to go by. It was obvious the ref bump was coming too just by how close he was to Steiner.