WCW Uncensored 1998

Khalifa

Where it at doe?
Decided to do my own review on a WCW PPV I’ve never seen surprisingly. 1998 my favorite year of wrestling because that’s when it was the most believable to me. On paper this looks like s good PPV. I didn’t even know Hogan and Savage headlined this. I was only watching it for Sting and Hall but I’m interested to see how this goes.

The first 4 matches won’t be play by plays as I decided to do it during the triple threat match.

Opening match: TV title match
Booker T (champ) vs Eddie Guerrero with Chavo


Good match to start off the PPV. Both guys in their primes and it was cool seeing 2 legends kicking it back in their younger days. Guerrero went at the leg all match and controlled more of the match than Booker. At the end though Booker wins with a missile drop kick. I loved how Booker had multiple finishing maneuvers. I miss that from today’s wresting. Eddie attacked Chavo as they were going back.

Rating: B-. Good match. Maybe a bit slow but the match has great psych to it. WCW always has started off strongly.

The first of a couple backstage radio segments involved Scott Steiner. He just recently joined the NWO and has dyed his hair blonde. I don’t know what the deal is with these things.

Konnan vs Juventud Guerrera

Juve was always one of my favorites in WCW. He now doesn’t haven’t a mask which he lost to Jericho at the PPV before. I don’t know too much about the outside the ring of that story but I don’t understand it. Why not just keep the mask? Anyways the match is played out like Juve is overcoming some monster. Konnan always bored me in the ring. Juve wins with a roll up after kinda getting dominated during the fight. This was the start really of Juves push like they gave to Rey Mysterio were they beat a few big guys and then lose to a big guy name.

Rating: D+. Konnan bores me but Juve is good. Not a bad match and it’s a match for PPV but easily skippable.

Cruiserweight title match:
Chris Jericho (champ) vs Dean Malenko
.

The story is Malenko can’t beat Jericho but we all expect him to. Everyone Jericho wins it seems like a fluke but like this match, it was anything but. The match is great as a whole just as you’d expect from both guys. Jericho wins with a clean lion tamer, as in he just reversed a move to put it on instead of cheating to do it. Great finish. Mene Gene comes in and says he knew Jericho since he was a teenager and he should’ve beaten Jericho. He is just really saying some hectic things and Malenko isn’t saying anything. Eventually Gene asks where do you go from here and Malenko says home. He ends up taking a few months off before coming back and beating Jericho in a really good moment.

Rating: B+.
Yeah like I said before, you saw good matches from these two before and you expected another one, it certainly delivered. Great storytelling as well.

Scott Steiner vs Lex Luger

I love how the commentators are still trying to say WCW vs NWO is a major feud. I’ve never seen a good Luger match and I never liked Steiner either. His character as a kid is scary as fuck and I’ve never recovered. Shit match really. Scott dominates, Luger with a comeback before Rick comes out to distract Scott so Luger can win. I think the finish was botched as well because Scott had a chair and Luger hit him in the back and Scott went down and lost from a axe handle to the back.. I think the chair was meant to come off the rope and hit him in the head otherwise wtf.

Rating: F. It could be a d but I hate both guys. The match was shit and there was no reason for it not to be Rick vs Scott.

United States championship match:
Raven vs Chris Benoit vs DDP (champ
)


Ravens flock is sitting by ringside like usual. I gotta say, I think Lodi the sign guy is great. All guys lock up to start the match and fall to the outside. Pin counts can happen anywhere apparently. I haven’t watched the Nitros and Thunders leading up to it so I don’t know if that was made during the night or not. Page is thrown into the steps by Benoit and then sends Raven back into the ring. Page comes back in and throws Raven out, now it’s time for the nightly slingshot cross body. Benoit and Page trade big moves to Raven including Pages sick piledriver facebuster thing. With Benoit and Page fighting to the outside it’s now Ravens turn to do a crossbody from the ring to the floor. The trio are now trading punches, Irish whips and pin falls up the entrance ramp. It’s time to get the crowd going with a trash can going on Ravens head and
Benoit and Page simultaneously hitting the can with crutches. Page and Benoit’s teaming lasts 5 seconds as Benoit snap suplexs Page. Raven and Benoit now team up to take Page out but Benoit again decides he doesn’t like teaming and goes after Raven with a literal kitchen sink. Raven gets the upper hand and sets up a table but of course only to get Irish whipped through it by Benoit. The commentators have done a good job letting me know Page is out because they’ve said it about 50 times in a row. Raven sends Benoit back into the ring and grabs a chair for his drop toe hold move onto it but again it backfires with Benoit doing it instead. Page is crawling back to the ring, what heart eh. Pinfalls count anywhere but the foot on the rope rule still breaks up the Benoit pin on Raven, I just don’t get it especially after what happened last match. Page is back in the ring and it’s a triple sleeper hold turning into a triple jawbreaker (eel DDP couldn’t jawbreaker anyone). Add a triple German suplex in there. The flock bring in some weapons while Benoit is just watching what is happening. Scratch that as Benoit hits Raven with a stop sign and tries to suplex him off the top rope through DDP who is on a table but DDP gets up and hits him to the outside. A Diamond Cutter off the top rope doesn’t break the table but gets the 1,2,3. Page retains. Benoit helps Page up after the match.

Rating: B+. Great match. Not a match of the year candidate or anything but I loved it. 3 great wrestlers going for it for 15 minutes. This was what you got from the US title around this stage. The right man won.

Kevin Nash Vs The Giant

Without doing any research at the moment I think this is a rematch from souled out which was two ppvs ago and Nash did jackknife on Giant but it looked sick. Giant is wearing a neck brace here. Typical lock up with Giant gettting the better hand. It goes to the outside straight away which seems to be a automatic for wcw. Nash sends Giant into the ring pole and now has the upper hand. Nash focuses on the neck and now throws a sleeper on. Nash takes off Giants neck brace and the commentators think is over already which means a comeback is about to happen. Of course it’s immediately with Giant ramming a boot into Nash groin area but the commentators are arguing whether it was the groin or mid section. Big show at this age is great as he easily lifts Nash up for a scoop slam. He goes for a jack knife but Brian Adams comes in and hits him with a baseball bat for the Dq.

The shit NWO members come down and try to take out the giant but get smashed for their worries. Giant smashes a bat over his knee but Nash hits him with another from behind and smashes is in half over Giants back.

Rating: F. I suppose the Giant and Nash big man thing was already done but for a big man match it wasn’t wrestled how it should’ve been. No real test of strength or anything, it was about extending the NWOs feud with the giant. Don’t know why it couldn’t of been a clean giant win here.

Curt Henning with Rick Rude (NWO) vs Bret Hart

Never been a fan of Mr. Perfect as his days in WCW were pretty average but I’m really looking forward to this match. I swear Hart was heel last month, I should really watch the nitros and thunders. Technical lockup to begin. Rather slow start as after about 3- 4 minutes Curt rolls to the outside in frustration. Rude gives him some tips but it only goes to a gut wrench over the top rope. A quick sharpshooter and it looks over already but Rude comes in and breaks it up without the ref seeing. Bret is laying in the ground and the ref is just like what happened, did the air punch him. Henning starts to work on the knee. Henning distracts the ref so rude can work on the knee. Henning throws hart across the ring by his hair and locks up a figure four. Rude is grabbing Henning for extra strength(?). The ref now sees rude do it but it’s obviously a botch because he just tells Henning to not grab the ropes. There has been a laser light showing up on the screen all night and it’s finally starting to piss me off. A few more submission holds eventually turns into a scoop slam by Henning. Henning goes to the top but hart recovers and hits Henning down. He throws Henning across the ring groin first into the ring post in a spot that the crowd just didn’t care for. A few pins and a Bulldog by hart later turns into his own Ariel elbow move for another 2. Henning lands a perfect plex but is only a two! Hennan says it’s the first time anyone has kicked out of the move which is just a lie. Rude goes on the apron only to get knocked down and Henning gets the roll up with the tights only for a two though. Hart ends up getting the sharpshooter and Henning Taps half a second before Rude can come in a break it up again. Commentators say they need the official word on the result but it’s a Hart win.

Post bell Rude and Henning beat hart up with a chair and are not letting the trainer get to Bret Hart.

Rating: D+. Super slow match here but it was basic psychology with Henning using rude and going after the leg which works. I expect better from both for this match but it’s a basic match and not the worst.

World Heavyweight Championship Match:
Scott Hall with Dusty Rhodes vs Sting (champ)


20 years later on paper this looks like it has awesome potential. Hall gets his shot at the main gold and Sting is champion finally after 3 months of bullshit. Stings blank look that he does during the 1997-1998 period is great I reckon, genuinely shows a different side of Sting kayfabe wise. Sting with some punches to start. Hall goes to the outside comes back in and gets clotheslined. Hall wants to lock up and gets the upper hand and then choke slams Sting. Hall is mocking the giant and Sting is right back up and sends Hall back to the outside with a drop kick. Rhodes trips up Sting and this lets Hall get a clothesline of his own. A few signature moves by Hall is the end of his one minute offense has sting and hall hit the ground but with Stings head falling on Halls groin area. Hall distracts the ref as Dusty comes in and lands his signature elbow on Sting. Hall goes for the cover but Sting kicks out at 2. It’s time for Sting to hulk up and he goes for the scorpion death lock. Dusty Rhodes comes for a distraction and sting nails the ref by accident. Hall hits Sting with brass knuckles and gets another 2. Hall goes for the outside edge but Sting reverses for the scorpion death drop for the 3. Sting retains.

Post bell Sting crotch chops Dusty.

Rating: D. Unfortunately this is every Sting match in 1998 and beyond. Littered with interference, does his Hulk up and lands his finishes. Match went for 8 minutes and that’s just not good enough with two talented wrestlers and a world title match on a PPV. Really disappointed. It’s a D because it’s one for the kids. As a kid I would’ve loved it probably, when I thought wresting was cool.

Ad for Spring Stampede next month which I’m interested to be disappointed again in.

Main Event: Steel Cage match
Randy Savage vs Hollywood Hogan
.

I can never remember reading about this match (the whole PPV but especially this match) so I’m wondering why. It’s Savage vs Hogan in a steel cage, on paper it’s everything you want. Let’s just see how 1998 versions of these two go. Hogan is announced as the self proclaimed world heavyweight champion. I really hope he hasn’t been saying that during promos or if it’s just something that would happen every now and then. I think this is actually the first steel cage match I’ve seen in wcw without the roof. Why is Savage even apart of the NWO at this point?

The lights aren’t working for the first twenty seconds of this match. Hogan is going to start the match on the offense. A big boot already by Hogan. To be fair it’s one of his only moves he can do at this point. Every time Hogan tries to use the cage as a weapon it’s blocked by savage only to be eye racked or something by Hogan.Savage now takes control and chokes Hollywood with his bandana. Hollywood is able to take control against me takes his belt off to hit savage a few times. Finally a proper move is done and it’s a scoop slam. Hogan hints at the legdrop but he misses. It’s savages turn to use the belt. Hogan is busted open after he is thrown into the cage. Clearly a botch by a elbow attempt from savage. He missed and you could easily see it and the commentators play it off as he didn’t connect which is perfect, don’t just blatantly lie to me Michael cole. Hogan back on offense now and now Savage is busted open. It was only a matter of time. Hogan takes Savage out of the cage. Wtf am I witnessing, isn’t the match over? Hogan sends savage back inside and the cage is locked.... what the fuck seriously. I know that’s what happens but seriously it looks so stupid. Savage goes to the top of the cage for an double axe handle which is a cool spot. It’s now time for the elbow but a mystery man (it’s the disciple) comes in and decks the ref and goes into the cage. He moves Hogan out the way and tells Savage to jump on him instead. Savage doesn’t and jumps down. Hogan is up and it’s two on 1 now. But here comes sting.... he lands inside the cage and he is on savages side. What feels like an hour long showdown turns into savage clotheslining sting and piledrivers him... oh but he spits at Hogan before leaving. Hogan is yelling you work for me and that’s the end of the show.

Rating: F. Now I know why I never heard about this match. What the hell. I wasn’t expecting much but I wasn’t expecting that and I don’t even know what happened. I had to look up the result because they didn’t mention it. It was a no contest. Stupid ending aside, the match was horrible. It was literally each guy going on offense for about 2-3 minutes at a time and it only involved punches, dragging someone across the steel cage or more punches. Wasn’t feeling anything here,only good thing was Savage jumping off the top which is cool but doesn’t do any justice.


Overall the PPV was what I expected and loved from WCW as a kid. Killer openers and a cringe worthy main card. You have some awesome matches and then you have Hogan and Savage. There are a few disappointing matches to throw in as well. I could really watch these all day for some reason but overall the show is about a C.

Match of the night: the triple threat US title match

Worst match of the night: Savage vs Hogan. How two of the best can make a cage match so boring is beyond me. Surprisingly it’s close though.

Disappointment of the night: Sting vs Hall. Could’ve been Hart vs Henning but Sting is my favorite of all time and it’s the first time I saw him defend the main gold post 1995. With a good opponent I had every right to expect more than an 8 minute match.
 

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