Mega Powers Running Wild!

The legendary 'Macho man' Randy Savage teams up with 'The Immortal' Hulk Hogan to take on Ted Dibiase and Andre The Giant in the first ever WWF Summerslam!

Shawn Micahels vs. Mankind

The Heartbreak Kid defends the WWF Championship against Mankind in a thrilling main event at WWF In Your House: Mind Games.

The Birth of the nWo

From Hulk Hogan's shocking turn at WCW Bash at the Beach 1996 to the addition of Ted Dibiase, THe Giant Syxx and more, relive the very beginning of the New World Order.

Austin 3:16 Says I Just Kicked Your Ass

It's one of the most famous promos of all time; Stone Cold Steve Austin wins the 1996 King of The Ring and serves notice on all the WWF superstars. Check it out in our complete review

Wrestlemania 12 Review

The boyhood dream comes true as Shawn Michaels battles champion Bret 'The Hitman' Hart in a classic 1-hour iron man match. Plus, Diesel vs. Undertaker and more.

WCW Fall Brawl 1996 Review

Was Sting in cahoots with the New World Order? Would Lex Luger be able to get along with the Four Horsemen as they faced the nWo in War Games? Find out in this review

Showing posts with label Hacksaw Duggan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hacksaw Duggan. Show all posts

Friday, 2 December 2022

EVENT REVIEW: WWF UK RAMPAGE 1992

 

WWF UK Rampage 92 Review - VHS Cover

April 19th, 1992
Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England

Despite growing up in the UK, I was only just getting into wrestling when WWF UK Rampage '92 came out, and never got to see it in the years that followed. 

Even once Peacock and the former WWE Network came about, it never really occurred to me to track this one down until I started work on the second Retro Pro Wrestling book, The Complete History of WWE's UK PPVS: 1991 - 2003

So here I am at last, ready to check out what the VHS cover promises to be "2 1/2 hours of explosive video action."

Enjoy the review, and if you'd like to support Retro Pro Wrestling, get yourself a copy of the ebook below (print version coming in January) or read it for free on Kindle Unlimited

Welcome to UK Rampage 

Our show began with a brief and basic introduction featuring clips of some of the superstars we’d see tonight. 

You want Bret Hart? Repo Man? Virgil? Tatanka

You got em! 

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan



From there, we went live to the Sheffield Arena were our hosts, Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon welcomed us to the show and ran down tonight’s card.

Having never seen this show before, I can tell you now that I’m particularly looking forward to Shawn Michaels challenging Macho Man Randy Savage for the world title as well as Bret Hart defending the Intercontinental Championship against Rick Martel.

With the pre-amble out of the way, Monsoon sent us down to ring announcer, Mike McGuirk (remember her?) for our opening contest. 

Tatanka vs. Skinner 

Is it just me, or did Tatanka always look way cooler in those white tights than he did in the trunks he’d wear for most of his career?

WWF UK Rampage '92 - Tatanka battles Skinner



Honestly, I had few expectations for this match, but both Tatanka and Skinner worked their butts off to deliver the best opening contest they were capable of delivering.

After the babyface took control in the early going, Skinner managed to get the upper hand and decimated his opponent before Tatanka picked up the win with a Samoan Drop.

It’s crazy to think that such a move was an effective finisher back in the early 1990s.

That aside, despite not being the best match of all time, this was still an enjoyable way to kick off UK Rampage ‘92.
Your Winner: Tatanka 

Out in the back, Sean Mooney interviewed The Legion of Doom about their upcoming match against the makeshift team of Col. Mustafa and Dino Bravo




Animal ranted and raved about how much they were going to beat their opponents before Hawk waxed poetical about fluid sacs and splintered sphincters.

It was a crazy promo, but I have to admit, the old-school fan in me enjoyed it a lot.

Col. Mustafa and Dino Bravo vs. The Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal)

Prior to the bell, Mustafa, better known to you and me as The Iron Sheik, grabbed the microphone to blast both the United States and the United Kingdom.

WWF UK Rampage '92 - Mike McGuirk holds the mic while Col. Mustafa rants on


From there, he and Bravo entered into a lackluster affair with Hawk & Animal, getting their heads kicked in for the better part of four and half minutes before a flying clothesline from Hawk gave the LOD the predictable win. 

This wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t all that entertaining either.
Your Winners: The Legion of Doom 

As Hawk and Animal celebrated, Gorilla Monsoon told us that we were going to his colleague, Shawn Michaels, who was standing by with Sid Justice.

WWF UK Rampage '92 - Sid Justice cuts a promo on The Undertaker


Monsoon, of course, meant Sean Mooney, who reminded Sid of his boast of being ‘The Master and Ruler of the World.’

Agreeing that he was exactly that, Sid referenced William McGivern’s best-selling novel, The Night of the Juggler, as he talked about picking up The Undertaker by his throat and slamming him to the mat. 

Sid was calculated, intense, and sinister, and it made for an awesome promo. Man, I can’t deny it, I love Sid.

Offering a retort, The Undertaker’s manager Paul Bearer warned Sid that there was no justice in death, before The Dead Man claimed to have followed his upcoming opponent across the sea just to give him a tombstone.

The two would meet next.

Sid Justice (w/ Harvey Wippleman) vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) 

After an introduction from Harvey Wippleman (who first threatened to slap referee Tim White), Sid made his way to the ring ranting about himself and referring to himself as “Sycho Sid” some 4 years before he would officially adopt that moniker. 

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Sid and The Undertaker square off



The match itself was nothing special. The Undertaker was still in his Zombie Mortician character which meant he did very little, and as awesome as Sid might have been, he wasn’t the guy to turn this into a stellar classic.

Still, while it wasn’t the greatest match in the world, Sid Justice vs. The Undertaker was still a spectacle in its own right, and -for nostalgia purposes if nothing else- this writer enjoyed watching it.

The end came when both men battled on the outside but ‘Taker took his sweet ass time getting back in the ring and was counted out.
Your Winner via Countout: Sid Justice

Post-match, The Master and The Ruler of the World rattled The Dead Man with a steel chair, only for ‘Taker to pop back up and plant his foe with a tombstone to the delight of the Sheffield faithful. 

Shawn Michaels is Shocking

With Sensational Sherri hanging from his body, Shawn Michaels told Sean Mooney that his good looks, his physique and his wrestling ability were all shocking, and tonight he was going to shock the world, not because he was the Shockmaster, but because he was going to dethrone Macho Man Randy Savage for the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship.

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Sean Mooney interviews Shawn Michaels and Sensational Sherri



Michaels wasn’t quite the five-star promo he would later become here, but this was nonetheless a strong, confident performance from the future Hall of Famer. 

World Wrestling Federation Championship
WWF Champion Macho Man Randy Savage (w/ Miss. Elizabeth) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Sensational Sherri)


Unless you know absolutely nothing about pro wrestling, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to you when I say that Michaels vs. Savage was the best thing on the card up to this point. 

WWF UK Rampage 92 review - Shawn Michaels takes the fight to Randy Savage


I vaguely recall reading somewhere that one of the reasons Macho jumped ship from the WWF to WCW is that he wanted to work with guys like Michaels and Bret Hart and put them over in the ring, whereas Vince wanted one of the most popular guys in the company to focus on commentary.

 If that’s true, Vince was clearly losing the plot years ago, because if this was even a small taste of what Shawn and Randy could do together, then we missed out on some majorly impressive matches.

Of course, this was helped along a lot by Macho’s former queen, Sensational Sherri, who ran interference on her new boyfriend’s behalf throughout the entire thing and even put the boots in to Savage.

Making her final ever WWF appearance, Miss. Elizabeth also got involved, with all four participants helping build to an exciting finsih where Macho picked up the win thanks to a flying crossbody.
Your Winner and Still WWF Champion: Randy Savage

Post-match, the bad guys attacked, but Sherri inadvertently hurt her man and left him laying as Savage and Liz celebrated.

The Bushwhackers Shag Sheep

For the second time in a row, Gorilla Monsoon told us that we were going to Shawn Michaels. This time, Bobby actually corrected him and reminded him that it would be Sean Mooney we’d be hearing from next.

WWF UK Rampage 92 review - Sean Mooney interviews The Bushwhackers



Mooney introduced The Bushwhackers who embraced what seemed like every single fan in the arena as they made their way to Mooney’s interview platform.

Seriously, Luke and Butch spent so long making their way to Mooney that it made one of The Undertaker's grand Wrestlemania entrances seem like a 100-metre spring by Usain Bolt.

When Mooney asked the New Zealanders how they found England, they insisted that they didn’t find it at all, but rather a plane did.

The misunderstandings continued until the cousins finally admitted that they loved the UK, its people, and even the sheep, claiming that the only downside was that you had to get up real early in the morning to get the attractive sheep.

I could be wrong, but did The Bushwhackers just openly admit to being sheep shaggers?

The Talking is Over

Out in the back, Lord Alfred Hayes caught up with The Mountie and Jimmy Hart.

The promo started in fine fashion as the two nefarious heels both boasted about the UK somehow falling under Mountie’s jurisdiction.

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Lord Alfred Hayes interviews The Mountie and Jimmy Hart


Things took an awkward and uncomfortable turn, however, when Mountie decided to drop some casual racism, implying not only that all black men look alike, but that they were all lazy and only fit for shining shoes.

Offering a reply, Virgil gave an angry interview to Sean Mooney, insisting that there was nothing wrong with shining shoes as it was a hard day’s work for a hard day’s pay.

I can’t argue with that, though I do have to question Virgil’s sanity when he claimed that he was going to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, just like…Frank Bruno.

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Sean Mooney interviews WWF Superstar Virgil



Honestly, in the 30+ years that I’ve been watching wrestling, that’s the first Virgil promo I’ve ever seen and, judging by the quality of it, I’m not surprised that I haven’t seen many more.

The Mountie (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Virgil 

If you were watching this match in the hope of seeing some excellent in-ring action, you’d be sorely disappointed.

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Virgil threatens to knock The Mountie's block off



Indeed, this wasn’t a stellar match, but it was entertaining in its own ridiculously exaggerated sort of way as both men spent most of the time doing the kind of spots that were great for the live crowd but not as fun when watching on TV.

The end came when Mountie jabbed Virgil in the belly with his cattle prod to retain the title.
Your Winner: The Mountie 

Out in the back, Sean Mooney interviewed The Model Rick Martel.

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Sean Mooney interviews The Model Rick Martel



After expressing his disappointment at the lack of class and fashion sense, The Model cut a decent (if strangely out of breath) promo in which he promised to dethrone Bret Hart and become the best-dressed Intercontinental champion ever.

In response, The Hitman was all business as he promised to leave England still with his gold in tact.

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship
WWF Intercontinental Champion Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart vs. Rick ‘The Model’ Martel


I’m not sure if I’m alone in this, but I honestly expected more from this match.

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - The Model Rick Martel gets the better of Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart



Sure, this was two masters of their craft going at it, so it certainly didn’t suck and the action was pretty good, but they moved at such a slow pace that it really took the shine off what could have otherwise been a tremendous contest.

What was more disappointing was that, after being on the receiving end of Mattel’s offense for some time, Bret won the match with a quick small package from out of nowhere, cutting things short just when it was getting good.
Your Winner and Still Intercontinental Champion: Bret Hart

Backstage, Hacksaw Jim Dugan flushed the crapper and left the bathroom stall so that he could talk to Alfred Hayes about his upcoming battle of the titans with Repo Man.

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Hacksaw Jim Duggan promises to beat up Repo Man



He began by encouraging the UK fans to chant “USA” for him and then followed up with the best example I’ve ever seen of managing expectations as he told us that his upcoming bout wasn’t going to be a wrestling match with holds and takedowns but rather a good, old fashioned fight.

The Repo Man vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan 

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Hacksaw Jim Duggan promises vs. Repo Man

Duggan may have wanted the British fans to yell another country’s name, but at least he had the good sense not to bring his trusty US flag to ringside with him.

I’m sure that wouldn’t have gone down well.

Much as Hacksaw has promised, this wasn’t much of a wrestling match and was more about Duggan and Repo Man working the crowd in between bouts of clobberin’ on one another.

After a few minutes of uninteresting action, Repo walloped Hacksaw with his trusty grappling hook thingy and got himself disqualified.
Your Winner via DQ: Jim Duggan 

Post-match, Repo Man choked out his opponent,  Only for Big Jim to make the inevitable comeback and chase Repo off with his 2x4 to the delight of the audience.

Duggan then waited until his music had stopped to demand that it be turned off before leading the crowd in one last chant for a country thousands of miles away.

Macho Madness Running Wild, Yeah!

Once again, we went backstage to Sean Mooney, who was standing by with world wrestling federation champion Randy Savage and his lovely wife Elizabeth.

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Sean Mooney interviews WWF Champion Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss. Elizabeth



When he wasn’t losing his mind about he and Elizabeth having thousands of honeymoons in England, The Macho Man graciously put over both Shawn Michaels and The British Bulldog though he insisted that as good as both of those men were, he was really only interested in facing Ric Flair again.

The British Bulldog Way


Prior to our main event, Alfred Hayes talked to the UK’s own British Bulldog.

WWF UK Rampage 1992 - Lord Alfred Hayes interviews The British Bulldog



Declaring the European Ramage tour to have been a successful time for both himself, his brother-in-law Bret Hart, and for Macho Man, Davey Boy bigged up the UK fans and promised that his opponent, IRS was “going down, The British Bulldog way.”

Honestly, I've always been a huge fan of The Brtish Bulldog, but this was a horrible promo from the Wigan-born star.

WWF Tag Team Champion Irwin R. Schyster (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. The British Bulldog

Davey Boy was so over with his fellow countrymen that I bet he and IRS could have stood there for the whole match without so much as locking up and the fans would have still blown the roof off the place.

WWF UK Rampage 92 review - The British Bulldog soaks up the adoration of the UK fans as he prepares to face IRS




As it happens, they didn’t just stand there and they did lock up before giving us as entertaining a match as the two were capable of.

Though it obviously paled in comparison to the earlier Savage/Michaels bout, it was still a good effort that kept the crowd hot from start to finish and ended with a predictable (though no less satisfying) powerslam victory for The Bulldog.
Your Winner: The British Bulldog

As Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan signed off for the evening, Davey Boy scaled the ropes and celebrated his big win with a rapturous hometown crowd.

If you’re watching UK Rampage 1992 expecting to see a bunch of classic wrestling matches, you’re going to be disappointed.
Yes, Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Shawn Michaels was a great effort and worth tracking down, but other than that, there were not a lot of potential five-star classics on this card. 
If you were a fan back in the early 90s, however, and you watch this show purely for nostalgia’s sake, then I’m going to assume you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
After all, what it lacked in wrestling prowess, the show more than made up for with the larger-than-life characters and general sports entertainment craziness that made so many of us fans in the first place. 

PS: Don't forget to pick up your copy of The Complete History of WWE's UK PPVS: 1991 - 2003.




Thursday, 4 June 2020

PPV REVIEW: WCW Halloween Havoc 2000

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Event poster
October 29, 2000 
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada

Since 1989, Halloween Havoc it had given us plenty of incredible moments.  Who could forget the all-time classic between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio Jr. back at Halloween Havoc 1997?

Yet it had also given some absolute garbage like the Hulk Hogan/Warrior clash from 1998, and the legendary crapfest that was the Chamber of Horrors from 1991.

It had also given us that iconic set design with the giant pumpkin and graveyard, the WCW debut of Rick Rude and the infamous Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal debacle between Sting and Jake Roberts.

For better or worse, Halloween Havoc had been a staple of World Championship Wrestling's annual PPV calendar and a favourite among fans of the Atlanta-based outfit.








Now, tonight, it was bowing out, not with a bang but with a whimper. Gone was that memorable set, gone were the likes of Hogan, Eddie, Roberts and countless other stars.

In its place were Kronik, terrible booking, and a set so bland it could have come from any random houseshow.

Join me, dear readers, as we head to Paradise, Nevada for the final ever Halloween Havoc show.

It's All Hallow's Eve

Tonight's show began with members of the crowd being interviewed and giving their predictions on tonight's winners.

Sadly, nobody declared that anybody would win "whether they wanted to or not."

This was followed by the standard sub-par WCW video package which built up the spookiness of Halloween and told us that tonight was the night for the unexplained, unexpected and unpredicted.

I hate to be picky, but aren't unexpected and unpredicted the same thing?


Anyway, last month, at Fall Brawl 2000, a Halloween Havoc 2000 promised us that Sting would undergo some huge change at this event.

There was no mention of this in the opening video and, to be honest with you, I doubt there will be at any other point on this show.

Live in the arena, we discovered that WCW had done away with that awesome giant pumpkin and graveyard set that had been one of the coolest things about the Halloween Havoc event.

After a welcome greeting from Tony Schiavone and his colleagues Mark Maden and Stevie Ray, it was onto our opening match.

World Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championship Three-Way Dance
WCW Tag Team Champions Mark Jindrak & Sean O'Haire vs. Boogie Knights (Disco Inferno & Alex Wright) vs. The Filthy Animals (Rey Mysterio Jr. & Billy Kidman w/ Konnan)

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak defended the WCW tag team titles
Alex Wright and Disco Inferno had previously tagged together in 1998 as The Dancing Fools, with their sole highlight being an absoutely atrocious bout against The Public Enemy at Road Wild 1998.

Now, for better or worse, they were back, and going up against Mark Jinkdrak & Sean O'Haire and Rey Mysterio Jr. and Juventud Guerrera in this solid opener.

WCW may have been a train wreck at this stage of the game, but this fast, fun, and furious contest was proof that they could still occasionally get something right.

After an enjoyable back-and-forth battle, O'Haire planted Disco with the Sean-ton Bomb to retain the gold for his team.
Your Winners and Still WCW Tag Team Champions: Mark Jindrak & Sean O'Haire

Post-match, Alex Wright joined the champions in laying waste to the Filthy Animals until Sgt. AWOL ran in to clean house.

This was the old ECW tactic of having guys run in and then immediately starting their matches. AWOl was in action next as a badly-hurt Konnan was carried backstage.

World Championship Wrestling hardcore Championship
WCW Hardcore Champion Reno vs. Sgt. AWOL

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Reno defended the WCW hardcore title against Sgt. AWOL
This one was pretty similar to every WCW hardcore match you've ever seen, and I don't mean that as a bad thing.

Lots of fun weapon stops and random brawls around the arena made this an enjoyable bout, even if there was one moment that was a little hard to believe.

Towards the end of the match, the two brawled backstage where AWOL picked up one of those huge, old-school box computer monitors and threw it Reno like it was nothing.

This would have been impressive if the computer monitor wasn't clearly fake and not attached to anything.

After a good effort, Reno hit whatever his finisher was called onto AWOL and kept his title.
Your Winner and Still WCW Hardcore Champion: Reno

Afterwards, Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak ran out and helped AWOL continue beating down his opponent until AWOL's Misfits in Action Lieutenant Loco and Corporal Cajun ran down to the rescue.

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Shane Douglas talks to the Natural Born Thrillers backstage
We then went backstage where Reno, Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak were standing with their Natural Born Thrillers teammates wearing different clothes, different hairstyles and much less sweat than they had been less than half a second earlier.

As they stood around being spoken to by Shane Douglas, it seemed very much like a classic WCW continuity error until someone in the production truck was smart enough to hastily put an "earlier today" graphic on the scene two seconds before it ended.

After about two hours of idle patter from the announcers, we once again went backstage. This time, we saw Kronik telling the State Athletic Commission that Goldberg was injured and that they probably shouldn't clear him to wrestle later.

If you hadn't figured it out, Bryan Clarke and Brian Adams were set to face Big Bill later on in the show.

The Perfect Event ('Perfectshawn' Shawn Stasiak & Chuck Palumbo) vs. The Misfits in Action (Corporal Cajun & Lieutenant Loco)

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Chavo Guerrero puts a hurting on Chuck Palumbo
Stevie Ray: "Mark Madden, why did you say that Guerrero has chubby toes?"
Madden: "What? I didn't."
Stevie: "Yes you did, on national TV!"
Madden: "I said Chavito!"

OK, that was funny, and probably more interesting than anything that happened in this match.

When they weren't getting confused about the size of Chavo's piggies, the announcers told us that this was a special bonus match that had been booked a result of the fall out from the previous match.

Clearly, the company had a lot of time to fill because this seemed like it went on for a much longer than your average throw-away filler bout.

As matches go, it was a decent if rather lifeless affair which the Misfits won thanks to a Tornado DDT courtesy of old Chubby Toes.
Your Winners: The Misfits in Action

Out in the back, Konnan sold the injury he’d received at the hands of Jindrak and O’Haire earlier on the show.

After some random dude told K-Dog that he wouldn’t be able to compete, his buddies Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman said that they would volunteer to take his place but, you know, they’d already wrestled once tonight and that was enough.

Mixed Tag Team Match
The Franchise Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson vs. Konnan & Tygress

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Torrie Wilson teamed with Shane Douglas to face Tygress & Konnan
In the spirit of Halloween, Torrie Wilson came out dressed in a Wonder Woman costume and looked incredible.

Standing by her man, Wilson grinned and smirked like a cocky heel as The Franchise cut his usual pre-match promo.

Douglas was a perfect asshole here, which is exactly what a heel should be. In his promo, he made clear that he’d paid off Jindrak and O’Haire to take out Konnan but that he and Torrie were still more than ready to take on Tygress on her own.

To her credit, the former Nitro Girl was in the mood for a fight.

Storming to the ring, she told the duo that even though Konnan hadn’t been cleared, she was going to take them both on by herself.

The match started, the heels took control and about a minute later Konnan ran in, immediately forgetting all about the earlier attack and wrestling as though nothing had happened. Presumably, this was supposed to generate a big pop from the crowd but it was instead met with total apathy.

Likewise, the match itself was nothing to get excited about, but my goodness did Torrie Wilson look good.

In the end, she and Shane got beat when the latter ate a Double Stuff Buster.
Your Winners: Konnan and Tygress

Out in the back, David Flair promised to beat Buff Bagwell so bad that he would be able to take his blood and give it to the two men in white coats standing behind him.

The idea was that the blood could then be used in a DNA test to prove that Buff Daddy was Stacy Kiebler’s baby daddy.

DNA Match
Buff Bagwell vs. David Flair

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - David Flair brought some scientists to test Buff Bagwell's DNA
DNA match = First Blood Match.

As you might expect, this wasn’t an exciting match, but it certainly wasn’t terrible either.

Buff was over with the live audience and that was enough to make his ass-whooping of David Flair a fairly enjoyable sight.

For his part, Flair Jr. did a pretty solid impression of his more famous father and proved that even though he’d never be a great wrestler, he was pretty good at selling a beating.

After a few minutes of Bagwell dominating the action, he bust David open with a chair then hit him with the Buff Blockbuster for good measure.
Your Winner: Buff Bagwell

Post-match, Lex Luger came out for a heel turn which you could see coming the moment he walked out.

The Total Package hit his former friend so hard that he bust his lip open, allowing Flair to steal a blood sample and rush it backstage to his doctor friends.

As he was doing this, cameras caught Bill Goldberg arriving around the arena.

Scott Steiner is a Genetic Freak

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Pamela Paulshock interviews Scott Steiner
Backstage, Scott Steiner was so annoyed about people not realising that size matters that he kept tripping over his words in a typical Steineresque promo.

With Midajah by his side, Big Poppa Pump ranted to Pamela Paulshock about how much of a genetic freak he was and how badly he was going to beat Booker T.

This might not have been a classic Steiner promo, but the numbers did add up and they spelt some entertaining stuff from the Big Bad Booty Daddy.

Kickboxing Match
WCW Cruiserweight Champion Mike Sanders (w/ Chuck Palumbo & Shawn Stasiak) vs. Ernest ‘The Cat’ Miller (w/Ms Jones)

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Mike Sanders faced Ernest 'The Cat' Miller
Fed up of sharing the WCW Commissioner role, this special three-round kickboxing match would determine which man got full custody of the title.

Before the bell, Mike Sanders promised to destroy Ernest Miller, but The Cat simply called him a bitch and proceeded to whoop his ass for three rounds straight.

Poor Sanders didn’t land a blow but still managed to win the match after Shane Douglas interfered.

The Franchise drilled Miller with a steel chain but Cat got up before the count of ten and beat up Shane on the outside.

The referee counted him out and this one was over.

As non-wrestling matches go, this wasn’t bad. In fact, I’d rather have than any number of the worked boxing matches pro wrestling has subjected us to over the years.
Your Winne: Mike Sanders

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Mean Gene interviews Kronik
Backstage, Goldberg told the representatives from the Nevada State Athletic Commission that even though he had been feeling ‘a little dizzy since Monday [Nitro],’ there was no way they could stop him from competing tonight.

In response, Kronik gave a cringe-worthy interview to Mean Gene Okerlund in which they claimed not to care whether Goldberg wrestled or not.

Either way, they’d get paid, and that was all they cared about.

‘That 70’s Guy’ Mike Awesome vs. Vampiro

The following evening on Nitro, Mike Awesome would have a world title shot against the winner of tonight’s Steiner/Booker match.

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - That 70s Guy Mike Awesome faced Vampiro
Before then, Vampiro challenged him to put said title shot on the line. Being the babyface, That 70’s Guy agreed then proceeded to have the worst match of his WCW career so far.

Since he joined the company back in April, Awesome had produced one great match after another.

Vampiro wasn’t exactly the worst wrestler in the world either, but when they worked together tonight it came off as though both men were either drunk, asleep or just couldn’t be bothered.

Early on, they went on a walk through the crowd where their recklessness caused a female steward to get knocked off her chair.

Then, an over-eager fan pounced on Awesome and got murdered by the security guards as the two trained wrestlers changed their minds about being in the audience and went back to the ring.

There, the two continued to engage in a disappointing, disheartening match which somehow became a falls count anywhere match without ever being announced as such.

A table came into play, then Big Mike hit an Awesome Bomb on the outside and the referee counted a near fall.

Back in the ring, a top rope Awesome Bomb finally ended things.

To be fair, that last move looked amazing, but everything else before it was really, really off.
Your Winner: Mike Awesome

Out in the back, General Rection told Mean Gene that not only was he going to beat Lance Storm, but he was going to do it for everybody, for his Misfits in Action cohorts who were standing next to him, for Hugh Morrus and for Bill Demott.

The MIA leader had a serious case of ‘Three Faces of Foley’ syndrome going on.

World Championship Wrestling United States  Canadian Championship Handicap Match
WCW Canadian Champion Lance Storm & Hacksaw Jim Duggan (w/ Major Gunns) vs. General Rection

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Lance Storm teamed with Jim Duggan to face General Rection
Despite the ridiculous name, Rection was getting a big push around this time and was positioned as the valiant babyface forced to overcome the odds.

The match was a step below the usual quality of a Lance Storm match,  but compared to the earlier Awesome/Vampiro debacle, it was actually a lot of fun.

As the finish approached, Major Gunns finally stood up to a Team Canada who she had been forced to join several months back.

The blonde beauty (who genuinely was one of this writer’s favourite things about WCW 2000) stopped Elix Skipper from interfering and kept Lance Storm out of the action so that Rection could hit Duggan with his patented moonsault.

One three count later and the future WWE trainer had his first -and I’m sure only- taste of gold on a major stage.
Your Winner and NEW WCW United States Champion: General Rection.

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Pamela Paulshock interviewed Jeff Jarrett
Before the next match, a commercial aired for the second and final Mayhem PPV. Fittingly, the ad portrayed Scott Steiner as an insane person.

Out in the back, Jeff Jarrett called Pamela Paulshock a "blonde slapnut" and promised her that tonight, he would turn Sting from a "has been" to a "never was."

I'm not quite sure on the logic of how you turn something that once was into something that never was.

Then again, this was a company who had seemingly abandoned logic altogether about two years earlier, so I don't know what I'm complaining about.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting

I'm pretty sure there will be some people who hate this match. There will be people who call it overbooked nonsense and people who want Vince Russo's head on a stick for it.

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Fake Stings showed up to batter the real Sting
Not me, I was very entertained by what was essentially a Sting career retrospective in match form.

After brawling with Jarrett for a minute or so, the WCW Icon was first confronted by a dude dressed as original blonde surfer Sting. You know, the one from the action figures.

Sting took care of him with a Scorpion Death Drop at the entrance, but before long a second imitator turned up, this one from his Sgt. Pepper phase. A little while later, Wolfpac Sting turned up. Both of them got beaten up and Death Dropped on the entrance, but we weren't done there.

Back in the ring, Crow Sting tore through the canvas and dragged Sting beneath the ring. Only WCW would do the whole ripping-a-hole-in-the-ring spot with two matches left to go on the card.

Anyway, real Sting emerged from beneath the ring with his tormentor now sporting a bloody nose. Finally, a fifth Sting, this one representing the Icon in his current form, descended from the rafters.

Sting took care of him, hitting him with a Scorpion Death Drop through the announce table to an amazing, stoic response from Stevie Ray:

"He's dead, Tony. Tony...He's dead."

Sting also took care of the bloody Crow Sting again after the faker waffled him with a guitar to no effect.

Finally, Jarrett had a much bigger impact with his guitar and won the match.

I don't care what you say, that was a lot of fun even if it did make Jeff Jarrett look like a total chump who could only beat Sting with the help of five guys and a guitar.
Your Winner: Jeff Jarrett

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Pamela Paulshock interviews Booker T
Backstage, WCW World Heavyweight Champion Booker T was interviewed by Pamela Paulshock and said: "Scott Steiner, I'm coming for you."

Fortunately, he refrained from dropping any n-bombs this time.

The champion also tried to explain as to why the world title fight wasn't the last match on the card, claiming that he'd bumped it up earlier to give a hurt Goldberg more time to prepare.

Credit where it's due, that wasn't the worst idea from a kayfabe standpoint.

World Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Booker T vs. Scott Steiner (w/ Midajah)

Scott Steiner only discovered that he wasn't main eventing the show when his music started playing. Visibly angry about the situation, The Genetic Freak beat-up road agent Ricky Santana on his way to the ring.

When he got there, he and Booker put on a decent but unspectacular main event.

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Scott Steiner challenged Booker T for the World Heavyweight ChampionshipUnlike the World Wrestling Federation, where main event matches were always dramatic epics that went above and beyond the norm, World Championship Wrestling rarely treated the in-ring presentation of their top tier bouts as anything special.

Still, this was Steiner and Booker T, two men who had waged war with one another countless times over the years and who knew each other perhaps as well as any two men on the roster at the time.

Together, they gave us a decent effort, but then the whole thing was ruined by typical WCW booking.

Playing up to the fact that he was a bit of a lunatic, Steiner attacked referee Charles Robinson. When Scott Armstrong ran in to take over, he got attacked too. Finally, Slick Johnson came in and threw the whole thing out.
Your Winner via Disqualification and Still WCW Champion: Booker T

Post-match, Steiner single handily took out an entire security crew by clobbering them with a lead pipe as they entered the ring like he was playing a game of real-life whack-a-mole.

That was stupid. You could understand the champion intentionally getting himself disqualified, but by this logic, Steiner was either too stupid to understand the consequences of actions or he cared so little about becoming champion that it didn't matter, in which case what was he doing in a title fight in the first place?

Handicap Match
Kronik (Brian Adams & Bryan Clarke) vs. Goldberg

WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 - Kronik try to put Goldberg through a table
Since their debut in April 2000, Brian Adams and Bryan Clarke had gone from being a marijuana joke to being straight-up ass-kickers and one of the most popular acts on the roster, to being a knock-off of the A.P.A's 'Muscle for Hire' gimmick to, finally, being cannon fodder for a last-ditch effort to reestablish Goldberg's star power.

After a video told us how the duo were all about 'breaking necks and casing cheques,' the two marched to the ring where Adams declared that there would be no match tonight.

Goldberg, however, had other ideas.

Backstage, the Nevada State Athletic Commission representative told Doug Dillinger that Bill was good to go. The head of security then banged on Goldberg's locker room. The main eventer emerged, marched to the locker room, and destroyed one of the company's last biggest acts in about three minutes flat.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.
Your Winner: Goldberg

In fact, that probably sums up WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 as a whole:

It wasn't awful, but it was far, far, from being any good.







The opening tag team match was the best thing on the show by a mile, and for the first twenty minutes or so you got the feeling that the Halloween Havoc brand might be going out on a high note.

Alas, as the night went on, things got much, much worse.

Sure, there were a few bright spots and sure, the whole 'Many Faces of Sting' thing was entertaining, but make no mistake about, even if you knew nothing about the history of professional wrestling, you could tell just by watching this show that this was a company in deep, deep trouble.



For other year 2000 pro wrestling reviews see:
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Thursday, 14 May 2020

PPV REVIEW: WCW Fall Brawl 2000

September 17, 2000 
HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York

The interesting thing about reviewing World Championship Wrestling pay per views from the year 2000 is that you occasionally remember you're reviewing the last ever edition of a particular event.


Such is the case tonight, when it occurs to me that this particular show was the final outing for WCW Fall Brawl, an event which began life as a Clash of the Champions special back in 1988, and had been its own distinctive PPV since 1993.

This was a show that had given us The Shockmaster back in '93.

This was a show that had given us a War Games match every year until 1999.

This was a show that had given us countless matches, some good (Benoit vs. Jericho) and some terrible (Jim Duggan vs. Berlyn) and now, ladies and gentlemen, it was all over.

Join me, as we head to Buffalo, New York for Fall Brawl's final fling.






Let's Play With Wrestling Figures

In an attempt to put over just how serious and intense tonight's main rivalries were, our opening video package interspersed real-life footage of the Scott Steiner/Goldberg and Kevin Nash/Booker T feuds with clips of each man's respective action figures.

This took us down into the arena for our opening pyro and a welcome from the ever-present Tony Schiavone. Along with his usual colleagues Scott Hudson and Mark Madden, Schiavone was hyped for tonight's show and ready to call the action.

World Championship Wrestling World Cruiserweight 100 Kilograms & Under Championship
Kwee-Wee (w/ Paisley) vs. Elix Skipper (w/ Major Gunns)

Major Gunns was apparently a reluctant member of Team Canada.

She spent most of her time on the outside looking gorgeous and actively rooting against Elix Skipper, encouraging the crowd to chant "USA! USA!" as the 100 Kilograms & Under Champion gave us a spirited performance.

Though this old-school fan still pines for the days when Rey Mysterio Jr, Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera and Dean Malenko were the heart and soul of the cruiserweight division, I have to admit that this was a very good effort from Skipper and Kwee Wee, both of whom were making their WCW PPV.

Towards the end of this enjoyable back-and-forth battle, Kwee Wee was attacked by Mike Sanders (remember him?) but that wasn't quite enough to put him away.

A short time later, however, Skipper hit his sweet-looking "Overdrive" finishing move to retain the gold.
Your Winner and Still Cruiserweight Champion: Elix Skipper

After a little banter from our announce team, it was straight onto the second match of the evening.

3 Count (Shannon Moore, Shane Helms, and Evan Karagious) vs. The Misfits in Action (Lieutenant Loco, Corporal Cajun, and Sgt. Awol)

Sgt. Awol was the new MIA recruit formerly known as The Wall. If you need a refresher, Leuitanant Loco was Chavo Guerrero and Corporal Cajun was Lash Larox.

This match was awesome. Sure, it wasn't an all-time classic, but then not every match has to be. This was supposed to be a fun, undercard filler match, and to that it absolutely delivered.

Entertaining from first to last, this came to a head when Corporal Cajun caught Shane Helms coming off the top rope, hit him with a tiger bomb and won what was probably the best match each participant had been involved in up to that point in their career.
Your Winners: The Misfits in Action

Backstage, Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner refused to give a little kid an autograph. Kevin Nash considered it, but when the kid revealed he could only pay $1.50, Big Sexy also declined and suggested the kid buy a soda.

Get it, because they were DIRTY, NO GOOD BAD GUYS!

First Blood Chain Match Match
The Harris Brothers (Ron & Don Harris) vs. Kronik (Brian Adams and Bryan Clarke)

The Harris Brothers had returned to WCW at the previous month's New Blood Rising and attacked Kronik, leading to tonight's match.

The encounter was initially billed as a chain match, but when Kronik hit the ring, Brian Adams challenged Ron and Don to a first blood match and it was apparently accepted.

Don was then chained to Adams while Bryan Clarke was linked to Ron Harris for what turned out to be a slightly-better-than-expected hoss brawl.

Though nothing special happened, it was a wild and out of control that didn't suck half as much as anything involving The Harris Brothers usually did.

At one point, Ron Harris got busted open but the referee had taken a tumble.

When he came to, the first thing he saw was Brian Adams bleeding and thus the bell was called for.
Your Winners: The Harris Brothers

Post-match, Adams and Clarke saw off the twins and got their revenge on Billy Silverman by hitting him with High Times

Bringing the US Title Back Home

Backstage, Pamela Paulshock and her boobs interviewed General Rection about his US title match with Lance Storm.

Flanked by the rest of the Misfits in Action (sans Major Gunns), Rection vowed to beat Lance and bring both Gunns and the US title back home to the stages. He also dedicated the match to his "friend and mentor," Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

On cue, Duggan himself arrived on the scene and announced that The Cat had made him the special enforcer for the match. If you didn't watch this segment and immediately smell a Hacksaw heel turn brewing, you've clearly never watched pro wrestling.

World Championship Wrestling United States Canadian Champion Lance Storm (w/ Major Gunns) vs. General Rection

Special enforcer: Hacksaw Jim Duggan

If he could be serious for a moment, Lance Storm expressed his disbelief that everybody in the audience hadn't already packed up and moved to Canada, but was sure that they would do after he beat Rection on tonight's show.

Following the obligatory playing of the Canadian National Anthem, a trim-looking General Rection made his way out for what was surely the best match of his career.

Yes, I know I said the exact same thing about the other members of MIA earlier, but this really was a good match that proved the former Hugh Morrus was capable of being taken seriously, if not as a main eventer, then at least as a solid, mid-upper-mid star.

Or at least he could have been if he hadn't been named after a boner.

After a good match, Hacksaw predictably turned heel and levelled Rection with the 2x4. Lance applied the Canadian Mapleleaf and this one was over.
Your Winner and Still US Champion: Lance Storm

Afterwards, Duggan tore off his referee t-shirt to reveal a Canadian flag t-shirt underneath and proceeded to beat up the rest of Misfits in Action.

Rather than responding to Duggan's treachery with the loud chorus of boos he and the WCW Braintrust had been hoping for, the crowd merely looked on in silence.

This wasn't shocked, stunned "Brock just beat the streak" silence. This was more like "well, yeah, we saw that coming and it was kind of dumb and we don't want to react silence."

Seriously. This was Hacksaw Jim Duggan. At this stage of the game, nobody wanted to boo him.

Mean Gene is a Bad Ass

Out in the back, Mean Gene Okerlund interviewed Mike Sanders and The Natural Born Thrillers, and he wasn't taking any crap from them.

Okerlund called Sanders a 'prick' then told Palumbo and O'Haire to blow it out of their ass when they threatened to beat him up.

For his part, Sanders cut a compelling promo about how it was the young guy's time to shine, but really, it was Okerlund who was the star of the show here.

Outside the arena, The Natural Born Thrillers' opponents, The Filthy Animals, emerged from a limousine with a mystery partner, a big-looking dude with a towel over his head to hide his identity.

The crew, along with their other partner, Big Vio, made their way out to the entranceway, where they revealed that the big guy was none other than Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff.

This wasn't as random as it might seem at first. Orndorff was the lead trainer at the WCW Power Plant and therefore had played a part in training The Natural Born Thrillers.

Plus, this was New York, were Orndorff had been a major star thanks to his rivalry with Hulk Hogan.

Seven vs. Seven Elimination Match
The Natural Born Thrillers (Mark Jindrak, Sean O'Haire, Chuck Palumbo, Reno, and Johnny The Bull, Mike Sanders, and Shawn Stasiak) vs. The Filthy Animals (Konnan, Rey Mysterio Jr., Juventud Guerrera, Disco Inferno, Big Vito, Paul Orndorff and Tygress)

For the most part, this was a really good match. Fast-paced and hard-hitting, the right decision was made to have The Natural Born Thrillers eliminate the majority of The Filthy Animals and look pretty dominant in the process.

Things then took a nasty turn when, with only he and Rey Mysterio Jr. left, Mr Wonderful made the hot tag.

Looking really old but also in tremendous shape, the legendary grappler took his proteges to school, avoiding almost all of their offence and kicking their asses all over the ring. He even got a three count on Johnny The Bull after landing his trademark piledriver to a huge ovation.

When he tried a second piledriver on Sean O'Haire, however, something went awry and Orndorff hurt himself, re-aggravating an old neck injury and lying motionless in the middle of the ring.

Improvising, Rey and Tygress took the fight to the Natural Born Thrillers as referees and EMTs rushed the ring to check on Orndorff. That led to Charles Robinson throwing the whole thing out.
No Contest

As he was stretchered out, the crowd gave Orndorff a respectful standing ovation. Up until his nasty injury, that had been a tremendous match.

Torrie Wilson is a Bitch

Backstage, Pamela Paulshock told Billy Kidman that he would be competing against one of the most dangerous match types ever, a Pittsburg Plunge Scaffold Match. She meant 'competing in,' of course, but there you go.

Offering a response, Kidman and his new ally, Madusa cut a largely terrible and cringe-inducing promo which mainly consisted of them both calling Torrie Wilson a bitch several times and Madusa promising to "demoralise" her.

Demoralise: To make someone lose hope or confidence.

Yeah Torrie, you better watch out. Madusa isn't going to physically hurt you, but she will damage your self-esteem.

Pittsburg Plunge Scaffold Match
Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson vs. Billy Kidman & Madusa

Before the match, Shane Douglas took to the microphone to insist that it was actually Madusa who was the bitch. He then proceeded to outline the rules for us:

You win if you can reach your opponent's side of the raised platform and climb down a ladder.

Douglas was all bold and confident when he and Torrie were on the ground, but as soon as they got on the platform and it started to rise, he remembered he was a heel and started to act all scared and cowardly.

The match itself was about as good as every scaffold match you've ever seen, not very.

Madusa and Torrie almost immediately made it to their opposing sides, but instead of racing down the ladder to win the match, they both just kind of loitered around while Kidman and Douglas tried to have some kind of a wrestling match 20 ft in the air.

Eventually, Douglas knocked Madusa off the ladder and threw Kidman off the platform for the obligatory high spots, then allowed Torrie to climb down the ladder and win the match for their team.

This was not good.
Your Winners: Shane Douglas and Torrie Wilson

Out in the back, a fired-up Sting was looking forward to settling old scores with both The Great Muta and Vampiro in their upcoming triple threat match, but he was more looking forward to his guaranteed title shot on the following night's Nitro, and to once again having the world title around his waist.

Before he could finish speaking, The Icon was attacked by Jeff Jarrett, who wanted the title shot for himself and whom that potty-mouthed Gene Okerlund called a "bastard."

Mike Tenay Visits David Flair at Home

In a pre-recorded skit, Mike Tenay visited David Flair to ask him how his mental state was after it was revealed he wasn't the father of Stacy Kiebler's baby.

Tenay knocked on Flair's front door, gave him practically no time to answer, then knocked again, and again.

Finally, Flair appeared.

"Are you by yourself?" asked David.
"I'm all alone," lied Tenay, who clearly had a camera crew with him.

Once inside the house, it was revealed that Flair wasn't having a good time. His house was trashed, with newspapers strewn everywhere, discarded pizzas, beer bottles and lots of cigarette butts.

David himself was also a mess, sitting on the sofa in a state of numbness which was only broken by the occasional paranoid burst as he lept up to the window to look out for the real father of his baby.

Ignoring all of this, Mike Tenay decided it was more important to batter Flair with questions about who Kiebler's baby daddy might be rather than getting the young, deeply troubled man some help.

"Your father questioned my journalist integrity," Tenay told David.

Yeah? After this, I'm starting to question it too, Mike.

While all of this was largely awful, it did get funny at the end. David spotted the mailman and, like a dog on the attack, ran out and clotheslined the unsuspected man on the lawn before putting him in a figure-four.

I can't tell you why, but that last bit was hilarious.

Triple Threat Match
Vampiro (w/ The Insane Clown Possee) vs. The Great Muta vs. Sting

If you were ever going to watch a match on mute, this one would be it. Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J sent Tony Schiavone and Scott Hudson packing so that they could do commentary with Mark Madden. The duo spent the entire match rambling on about nothing.

It was as bad as it sounds.

The match itself wasn't that bad, but it was incredibly predictable.

Vampiro and The Great Muta were technically still teammates in The Dark Carnival but had apparently been having some dissension as of late. They started the match working together, but the fact that they'd eventually turn on one another was obvious from the start.

When the predictable happened, Sting took the advantage, battering everyone in sight with his trusty baseball bat before hitting a Scorpion Death Drop to win the match.
Your Winner: Sting

Afterwards, Vampiro and the ICP tried to attack Muta, but his long-time nemesis Sting pulled him out of harm's way.

What you talkin' 'bout, Mike?


Out in the back, Mike Awesome stepped off a retro bus in a complete 1970s outfit. Apparently, adopting a retro 70s gimmick meant that the former ECW star was no longer only attracted to fat women.

Back at Bash at the Beach 2000, Awesome had dismissed Pamela Paulshock as being nowhere near as attractive as a large BBW he was talking to. Tonight, however, he appeared to have come to his senses and asked the beauty if she wanted to go and 'make whoopee' with him.

He wasn't the only one who had the hots for Paulshock. That 70s Guy hinted that he had a "huge surprise" - the joke being that the surprise was diminutive actor, Garry Coleman.

Comically, Awesome said that Diff'rent Strokes was his favourite TV show from the 70s, only for Coleman to remind him that the show had mostly aired in the 1980s. He too then confessed to having a thing for Paulshock before walking off, leading to this great line from Mark Madden:

"Pamela Paulshock's breasts are bigger than Garry Coleman's whole body."

Ladies and gentlemen, that's the first thing Madden ever said that was actually funny.

Bunkhouse Brawl
Jeff Jarrett vs. Mike Awesome

Remember that old-school gimmick when wrestlers competing in no DQ brawls would sell the seriousness of the occasion by wearing street clothes?

Jeff Jarrett did and came ready for combat in jeans and. Tennessee Titans shirt, the latter of which was mostly used to raise the ire of several Buffalo Bills football players sitting at ringside.

Further annoying them, Jarrett took to the microphone for the classic ‘insult the local sports team’ promo. This would have been fine and pretty effective if the veteran performer hadn’t rambled on for several minutes.

A quick dig at the sports team, sure, but a long, drawn-out promo? There was no need for it and by the end, the crowd looked more bored than angry.

Fortunately, the match itself was much better.

Nobody had given Mike Awesome the memo shout wearing street clothes, so he wrestles this captivating brawl in his regular wrestling attire.

After a very good match, this one turned into Jeff Jarrett vs. Everybody in the World.

The Buffalo Bills players surrounded the ring and pushed Jarrett about a bit. When their help proved not enough to keep Jarrett down, Garry Coleman ran out but got smashed over the head with a guitar bigger than he was.

Finally, Sting came out to get revenge for Jarrett’s earlier attack. He planted his rival with the Scorpion Death Drop which was enough for Awesome to get the cover, the count, and the fall.
Your Winner: Mike Awesome

Our pre-match video package for the next contest told us that Goldberg had beaten up Midajah and put her through a table, so Scott Steiner retaliated by kidnapping Goldberg’s girlfriend because apparently real men settle their differences by abusing women.

This led to a backstage promo in which Steiner ranted to Mean Gene about he was a ‘loaded sex pistol ready to explode’ and that yes, he would kick Bill’s head in tonight.

Scott Steiner (w/ Midajah & Vince Russo) vs. Goldberg

Steiner wore a protective mask after getting his face caved in with a lead pipe by Goldberg on Nitro.

To retaliate, Midajah and her new boob job came out halfway through the match brandishing a lead pipe for Steiner to use on Goldberg.

Later, Vince Russo also came out to attack Goldberg, but his chest didn’t look half as good as Midajah’s.

With the odds stacked so heavily against him, Goldberg naturally lost, getting knocked unconscious and being declared out of it when Scotty slapped on the Steiner Recliner.

Before that, this was a pretty decent, hard-hitting big man match.
Your Winner: Scott Steiner

Afterwards, Russo ripped his slap nuts T-shirt off and stood over Goldberg in a pose. Say what you want about him, that was pretty funny.

Once the heels left, the Buffalo Bills once again crossed the guard rail to help Goldberg up.

A commercial for the following month’s Halloween Havoc followed, promising us that Sting was going to change into something amazing and groundbreaking at the show.

I can’t remember anything about Halloween Havoc 2000, but I’m willing to bet this idea was dropped and Sting didn’t change into anything.

Don’t Hate the Player, Hate The Game

That video was followed by a second which showed us how Kevin Nash had turned heel on Booker T and stole the WCW Championship thanks to shenanigans from the evil special guest referee, Jeff Jarrett.

In a backstage interview with Mean Gene, an amped-up Booker T swore revenge and promised to reclaim the title.

He finishes the promo with his new catchphrase, don’t hate the player, hate the game. Presumedly, this was Booker’s way of sewing the seeds for a feud with Triple H years later.

World Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship Cage Match
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Kevin Nash vs. Booker T

Though it wasn’t exactly bad, nothing about this match felt like it was anything special.

Even the added attraction of a steel cage added nothing, and instead felt unnecessary.

Coming across like the sort of thing you might see killing ten minutes on Nitro, this mediocre match ended when Booker hit the Book End to reclaim the gold.
Your Winner and NEW WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Booker T

And that, dear readers, was that.







Featuring several matches which ranged from decent to good, Fall Brawl 2000 was one of the best WCW shows of that year.

That’s not to say it was anything outstanding, but at this stage, not completely sucking was a huge achievement for World Championship Wrestling.

Though there was nothing that was must-see viewing, if you’re looking for a WCW 2000 show that isn’t completely awful, this is it.



For other year 2000 pro wrestling reviews see:
Other WCW Fall Brawl reviews:
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Retro Pro Wrestling

New reviews of classic WWF/WWE events recalling every moment from Wrestlemania 1 - 30. You'll also find reviews of WCW, ECW, TNA and the occasional indie event, along with a look at old school magazines, merchandise and more.