Today is the day where we normally look at an episode of WCW Monday Nitro that aired three decades ago, only to find out that thirty years ago, there was no episode of Nitro because there was a pre-emption. While one would suggest this would be a good opportunity to check out what was going on on RAW around that same time… I decided to go for something more wholesome.
Even though we’re past that point, we haven’t watched Superbrawl VI, the PPV from a few weeks back. The one featuring Hulk Hogan and The Giant in a steel cage match as well as Ric Flair winning his 13th World title over Randy Savage… sorry if I spoiled the movie for anybody. Anyway, let’s get to it.
The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) defeated The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock) in a Falls Count Anywhere match. It’s basically a hardcore match in all but name, with all sorts of weapons and tables used and broken. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed this for what it was; four big brawlers beating the ever loving piss out of each other with all sorts of shit. Both teams excel at this sort of thing, which makes Brian Knobs’ later hardcore run in 99 make more sense in context. I need to see more Nasty Boys in this environment and not try to have “proper” wrestling matches or whatever. It fits them. My tune will probably change if they’re still feuding on Nitro after fuck knows how long, but for now, I liked this.
TV Champ Johnny B Badd defeated Diamond Dallas Page to retain the title… and the Diamond Doll… and the bingo winnings… I must have blanked out over this stuff, but yes, Badd and Page had a feud before Badd left for WWF to compete under his real name of Marc Mero. A fine opening match, as DDP was starting to find a groove, but wasn’t quite there yet. Mero, on the other hand, was pretty slick at this time.
Tag Champions Lex Luger & Sting defeated Harlem Heat with an assist from the Road Warriors hitting Stevie Ray with an international metal rod. Sting has no clue what’s going on while Luger urges him to move on because he doesn’t want to be around for their title defense against the Road Warriors, who have it out for Luger. This Sting/Luger partnership is interesting because Luger wants to be Sting’s partner and friend, but isn’t that willing to be a fighting champion. Watching the Nitro shows, Luger comes across as duplicitous and it was a matter of seeing when the penny drops on Sting to figure out that maybe Luger isn’t on the level. Maybe we never get to that point because of… well… as for the match, it was perfectly acceptable tag team wrestling. Not one of the better outings, but not bad, either.
U.S. Champion Konnan defeated One Man Gang to retain the titles… not a good match. One Man Gang was about as mobile as Andre in his final years and the guy was only in his mid-30s and nowhere near as massive. There was only so much K-Dog could have done here.
Here we have the “Respect” match between Kevin Sullivan and Brian Pillman… a strap match that runs about a minute before Pillman declares that “I respect you, Bookerman” and walks off… which leaves Arn Anderson to come in and he and Sullivan go at it for a bit before going to the back. This was one of those worked shoot moments where Pillman showed such brilliance that he convinced Eric Bischoff to give him a real release from his contract and then when he did, he jumped ship to ECW. Oops. I guess this would have been considered cutting edge back then, but if you didn’t know the context behind the match, you have been like… “wait, that’s it? That’s the whole match? Fuck off.”
The match between Tag Champs Luger & Sting and the Road Warriors go to a Double DQ when everybody starts brawling outside after about ten minutes of plodding stuff. It’s almost as if WCW purposefully doesn’t want you to enjoy their shows…
Ric Flair defeated WCW World Champion Macho Man Randy Savage in a steel cage match with an assist from Elizabeth’s shoe to win the title. Flair/Savage is one of those combinations where you can never go wrong because they work so well together and are able to pull off some great magic together. The ending with Elizabeth turning on Macho to join Flair’s entourage was a neat twist that most people probably wouldn’t have seen coming unless they knew the real story behind their on-and-off relationship, but it was enough to give the match that emotional gut punch and give Savage further fuel in his feud with Flair, which continues for a little bit until… well…
Anyway, Hogan comes out and scares off the Entourage to cut a promo… and then out comes the Giant and they now has the cage match… which is contested under escape rules much like the old WWF cage matches because… sure, why not? Anyway, it’s every Hulk Hogan cage match you’ve ever seen. He does a bit of selling, he hulks up, Giant gets one or two more licks before Hogan makes the comeback and escapes the cage for the win. It’ll be the last Hogan main event for a few months before… oh wait, there’s still Uncensored ’96 and the Doomsday cage, isn’t there?
Well, I already did that shit years ago. I ain’t doing it again.
And then Sullivan leads the Dungeon Of Doom, Flair, and others to attack Hogan… and HE FIGHTS THEM ALL OFF. And the crowd gives him shit for it… and then the show ends. Fuck off.
Here’s the thing with Superbrawl… because I’ve been watching these Nitros along the way and so I’ve got a good idea on what the story behind these matches are. In a way, it helps me get invested in the matches and programs a bit more and that allows me to enjoy the show a little more. If I had watched this show cold turkey, I probably would have been a little more lukewarm or even a bit cool on this thing… but alas, the stuff with Sting goading a reluctant Luger to defend the tag titles, the brief seeds of dissention among the Horsemen and Dungeon, the Flair/Savage stuff… hell, even the seemingly endless Nasty Boys/Public Enemy feud are all fairly compelling stuff that enhanced my enjoyment of this show.
The main problem – as had been the case with WCW since 1994 – was that all the really good stuff was often playing second, third, fourth, or even fifth-fiddle to whatever bullshit Hogan was barfing out in the main event. His insistence on being the main driving force of this WCW train while the people were actively clamoring for other stuff was part of the reason why he eventually got turned on. The reaction at Superbrawl was noticeable and the fact that they would continue pushing Hogan as the forefront of the main event season for at least another month before he would go away only soured me on an otherwise good run of WCW in early-96.
Look, I enjoyed the show for the most part… but I can’t say that it’s one of the better shows that WCW put out. Maybe with less Hogan bullshit, it could have had a chance, but as it is… eh, once is enough for me.
dtm666 