Woman O Woman Wont You Marry Me Now: Ric Flair & WCW Nitro from April 1996-June 1996

“I stayed up all night throwing touchdown pass after touchdown pass and LOOK at my wide receivers [Woman & Miss Elizabeth]” – “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, WCW Nitro May 13, 1996

I Got The Whole World In My Hands

I got wicked sick about a month ago (bacterial sinus infection, not COVID-19) and I needed something mindless to watch as I spent an hour at a time transforming my bathroom into a steam room. I settled on watching old episodes of Nitro. I grew up on Nitro from 1997 on and there is something so nostalgic about the show, the announcers, its set and the wrestlers that I love going back to it whenever I just want to watch something that makes me feel good. Since I started watching in July of 1997, I like going back and checking out the older episodes because it gives me the same feel, but at the same time being new to me.

I decided to start with Nitro after Uncensored because it was the end of the silly The Alliance To End Hulkamania (read: Horsemen & Dungeon of Doom) storyline, but still before Scott Hall’s debut on May 27th. So I was intrigued what WCW’s landscape was like during this, what was the main story and who were the major players.

I was pleasantly surprised at how fun the Nitro was from Uncensored up to Bash at the Beach so this from March 26, 1996 to July 7, 1996. Nitro was a one hour show up until May 27th when it expanded to two hours. When it expanded to two hours is when they introduced Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko as the hour one announce team and Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan as the hour 2 announce team. When I was growing up, Tony was the consistent thread through an episode along with Mike Tenay, but they would rotate Larry Z and Bobby Heenan out. This would not be a bad idea for WWE to try especially with the 3 hour RAW. The other fun they did is that they shoot off pyro at the beginning of hour 2. It felt like a party on Nitro. I cant remember which guest on Austin’s podcast said it but he said what makes AEW’s Dynamite stand out is that it feels like a party. I think that’s one of things WCW did really well in the early days of Nitro. It was so fresh and exciting. You couldn’t wait to see what happens next and this had stood the test of time as the show still feels very fun to watch. Besides the atmosphere, the other thing that made Nitro so much fun to watch were the colorful characters and it also helped that Hulk Hogan was gone for the bulk of this period.

Uncensored was main evented by Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage beating eight grown men in an absurd cage match which I have not seen. I actually now want to watch the build for it because I think the Ric Flair and Kevin Sullivan promos leading up to it would be gold. Hulk Hogan would stick around for three more weeks with his last appearance on Nitro being April 15th where he would defeat Kevin Sullivan & Arn Anderson (remnants of Horsemen/Dungeon Alliance) in a handicap match, intimidated Woman & Miss Elizabeth, humiliated Jimmy Hart and owned The Giant. It all felt very disgusting, ego-driven and stale. It was easily the worst part of WCW during this time period. It was very forced and so transparent that it was desperately trying to overcome Hogan’s shortcomings as top babyface by putting him over every top heel besides Flair all at once on Nitro. Once, he left Nitro never felt like that again. The show was dynamic and interesting and it all ran through one man: Ric Flair.

“O, Mean Gene, how it is hard to be humble!” – “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, Spring 1996 pretty much every single Nitro

Ric Flair started this campaign as the WCW World Heavyweight Champion and ended this campaign winning the US Heavyweight Championship from Konnan. The month of April was built around his feud with The Giant which was a part of the overarching Horsemen vs Dungeon of Doom, heel vs heel feud. Slamboree was built around him and Randy Savage, mortal enemies teaming in the Lethal Lottery. Great American Bash was sold on Ric Flair teaming with Arn Anderson against the Football Players, Steve “Mongo” McMichael & Kevin Greene. It was not until Bash at the Beach that he took a backseat to the Outsiders. He did all this alongside his valets, Woman & Miss Elizabeth, who he affectionately called “The Girls”.

What a trio these three were! It was such a great old school heel act. It was just about being an asshole. Ric Flair was such a greedy, delusional, vain, and low-down cheat; it was awesome. He reveled in spending Miss Elizabeth’s alimony from Macho Man Randy Savage. He taunted the football players (Steve “Mongo” McMichael & Kevin Greene) for being half-man he was and that Debra was really lusting after him, not the other way around.  He loved flaunting to the world that he got to spend time in the company of such beauties. “O Woman O Woman wont you marry me now!”
A lot of people say post-WWF heel Ric Flair became a caricature of himself. He did become more over the top and more of a supervillain during his time in mid-90s WCW. He lost all volume control in the 1990s and became very loud all the time. One funny thing I really enjoyed about this Flair run he would sing a couple lyrics every promo out of tune and it always popped me. It was fun and wrestling is missing that fun. He cheated a lot more and relied a lot more on tricks and gimmicks. During every match, Woman would cheat nonstop to garner the victory from hot coffee (which was preposterous), to high heel shoes, to a well-timed kick to Konnan’s gonnads, Woman was always there to help the Nature Boy to victory and Flair always tied it off with having his foot on the ropes. It is easy to believe Flair had become a shell of himself, but I disagree with this notion as I still feel Flair was one of the more fleshed out characters in pro wrestling.

Well he was not wrong! WOO!

The one thing that really stood out about WCW during this time period is that they did not do much in terms of building storylines around their wrestlers. Instead they would book a match and let the fact these two characters were colliding sell itself. This only works of course if the characters sell themselves. I think in WCW’s landscape that was true. They were lucky in the fact they inherited 5 main event stars (Hogan, Savage, Flair, Sting & Luger) from the 1980s with well-defined and easily distinguishable characters. I think unlike the others Flair actually kept his character fresh in the 90s. He stopped hanging around the Horsemen so much and started hanging around “The Girls”. He cheated more than ever because he was older and more than ever was trying to hang onto past glory. He was leaning more into the playboy aspect of his character than ever before. It all centered around a very important idea in Ric Flair’s mind and that is what a man ought to be. That’s how he taunted Randy Savage & the Football players he would go after their manhood because his own manhood is so near & dear to him.

If there is one thing I recommend above all else from this time period is go watch all the Ric Flair promos with Mean Gene from this era with Woman’s fingers crawling up Mean Gene’s shoulder, Flair shouting incessantly and Miss Elizabeth wondering what the fuck she has gotten herself into, it all works together in one awesome heel package. It is easy to overlook Miss Elizabeth but she is essential in all this. Even when Randy Savage was a heel, Elizabeth was the reluctant babyface. She didn’t help him cheat. She was being pressured by her insane, jealous husband. For her to turn heel was absolutely shocking at the time. It was clearly dwarfed by Hogan turning at Bash At The Beach, but it was crazy that girl next door betrayed the Macho Man and hooked up with the loathsome Nature Boy. Unfortunately, her lack of acting chops did not afford them as strong of a follow through, but her mere presence with the Nature Boy made the heel act feel like a main event act.

The only major fumble during this run of Nitro (besides the aforementioned Hogan burial of the Dungeon of Doom) was that Ric Flair was not allowed to go in front of the live crowd in Charlotte, NC on June 24th. As was customary for Nitro, the announcers would run down the card at the outset of the show, spontaneously and organically a thunderous “We Want Flair” chant rung out. During the Horsemen (Anderson/Benoit) vs Rock N Roll Express match, the Rock N Rolls were BOOED and they chanted “We Want Flair” (the previous week, it was insane how over Arn Anderson was against the American Males, Horsemen Country was a very real thing). They chanted “We Want Flair” during Randy Savage’s match and during Carolina Panthers’ Kevin Greene’s promo. I know Ric Flair was a heel at the time, but fucking hell how did you rob these people of Ric Flair. The pop would have been huge. At the end of this episode, the Outsiders invade with baseball bats causing Sting & Lex Luger to lose the WCW World Tag Team Titles to Harlem Heat in a triangle match (also including the Steiner Brothers). If the Horsemen confronted them, they would have needed a new roof on the arena because that crowd would have blown it off. I really felt bad for those people even in 2020 because they so desperately wanted to see Ric Flair and they were robbed that. The kayfabe reason was that he was under guard in his locker room safely away from Savage & Greene. There are times to respect kayfabe and there are times to give the fans what they want and this was a time to give them what they wanted.



This is already going much longer than I expected, but hell there was a lot that happened in these three months. Lets keep the ball rolling with the Horsemen. In April when Ric Flair was either teaming with or facing The Giant, it felt like the Horsemen were not a thing. Anderson was hanging around the Dungeon, Benoit was on tour in Japan and Pillman had left the company. So it felt like Flair and The Girls was what was left and that was no Horsemen. After Flair dropped the title to The Giant, his focused was renewed on Savage and also Debra McMichael, wife of Steve Mongo McMichael. They reintroduced Ric Flair & Arn Anderson as a tag team and they would face McMichael & Greene at Great American Bash with Randy Savage in the corner of the football players and Bobby The Brain Heenan in the corner of the Horsemen. This was the last appearance of the classic Bobby The Brain character. He was always so great in his interactions with Flair and there is a great moment on the Nitro after Great American Bash where The Brain is being chased by the Macho Man and he does his classic over the top rope leap to floor. Wow! The Brain still had it then. With the New World Order looming, it was our last chance to see classic Brain.

In parallel, Kevin Sullivan was attempting to maintain his alliance with the Horsemen because he feared that when Hogan returned he would gunning for him and he wanted allies. However, Benoit thought he was a snake and wanted to end the alliance. Sullivan thought Benoit was like Pillman weak and undeserving of being a Horseman. Anderson was caught in the middle and made it seem like he was siding with Sullivan, but ended up turning on Sullivan at Great American Bash during the classic Benoit/Sullivan brawl that ended up in the men’s bathroom (“Tony there’s a lady in men’s bathroom”-Dusty). Finally, we get the Mongo heel turn when Debra comes out with a Haliburton full of money and bashes Kevin Greene’s head in with the briefcase. It felt like the Horsemen had all the momentum in the world. Of course, this would all be squandered in deference to the New World Order. The Horsemen of the 90s is something that would have kept Nitro hot and done well, but Hulk Hogan turning heel is on whole other world, brutha. Horsemen were correctly sacrificed, but still this was a great run for Ric Flair and proof positive that he could hold down the fort basically by himself while Hogan was away for three whole months.

I am going to do the rest of this in bullet format.

• Macho Man delivered some great unhinged promos during this time trying to get in the building. His best was after beating Hugh Morris and getting up in the Turner suit’s grill. Most of his matches were 90s Savage formula matches. Long heat segment and short comeback with the Elbow for the win. I thought the matches against Fit Finlay (Belfast Bruiser) and Greg Valentine were his best. He had a match with Flair after Great American Bash and he has had better, but it was fun. It was the blow off to the feud as they were transitioning Savage into his role as top babyface against the New World Order. The feud deserved a better, more climatic ending.
•  The Giant was the World Champion during the bulk of this time period. He slowly got better as a promo but was still trying too hard to be menacing and knowing what we know now about The Giant just wasn’t who he was as a person. They worked really hard to get the Chokeslam over. I liked how he would chant “Chokeslam” in the background of a Sullivan or Jimmy Hart promo to get it over. They did a great job playing up his size as the reason behind his confidence.
•  Kevin Sullivan & Jimmy Hart it is amazing how these two were such huge acts in the middle of the 1990s. They would fade into the background after the New World Order, but after Ric Flair these were your top two heels in 1995 and 1996 which is crazy to think about. Sullivan had not had a big time run on top since Florida and Jimmy Hart always played second fiddle to Heenan in WWF so it had been since Memphis that he was a top heel manager. Good for them, but crazy they got a second run on top. Sullivan, probably cause he was booking, cut the most story-driven promos and if you were smart you knew where a story was going based on a Sullivan promo.
•  Lex Luger & Sting – I think they could have done so much with the Lex Luger character. The whole he is a babyface with Sting and heel with everybody else is so good and it is so real life. There are so many people that have kinda scummy friends/family members, but we put with them because we love them and we try to help them change.  Also because nobody is all good or all bad. However, I just felt like they dropped the ball with Luger more often than not. I wanted them to play up the relationship with Jimmy Hart more. Slamboree and Great American Bash were main evented by Giant World Championship defenses even though both PPV was sold on Ric Flair angles and matches. They did so little to build these matches up. They put more effort into John Tenta leaves the Dungeon of Doom and takes on Big Bubba Rogers storyline than these. I liked The Giant chokeslamming Lex Luger through the table a week before his Slamboree defense against Sting. That was a hot, crazy angle especially for 1996 and really put the chokeslam and Giant over. They do the interesting finish where Luger/Hart are handcuffed together and they are tussling over the Megaphone and it ends up cracking Sting in the head. Did Luger mean to hit Sting or was it an accident? However, this all got erased by the New World Order when everyone had to go babfyace. Again, a big missed opportunity. The Great American Bash match between Giant vs Luger, had almost no build. It was just Chokeslam vs Torture Rack which is a solid story but they could have leaned into more. They had a much better match at Starrcade 1996 so check that out instead. Finally, there was a random mini-push of Steven Regal right before Great American Bash. Regal had the awesome series with Finlay including the very novel and cool Parking Lot Brawl. Then Regal slapped Sting in an interview segment and gets a match with Sting. Regal & is Bluebloods go over some midcard babyfaces but he loses to Sting at the Bash and is shunted back down the card. Very peculiar.
•  “Diamond” Dallas Page, the only man outside the Big Six (Hogan, Savage, Flair, Sting, Luger and Giant) to get a consistent push during this time period was Dallas. Page is such a try hard I love it. You tell him to be a heel. He is a fucking heel. He is such a scum bag. The king of the gimmicks. Don’t tell Page less is more because he will tell you less is just less, brutha! He won the Lord of the Ring Battlebowl ring which everyone wanted to call the Lord of the Rings and would trip over themselves not to say. He had the chains, the sunglasses, the cigar, the Self Hi-Five, the weird psychedelic thing he did with his hands. He oversold everything. He bumped like a cartoon. He made funny faces. He made a royal horse’s ass out of himself. It was all so fucking glorious! He wanted to be the biggest scummy, clown heel of all time and he just rocked it. Watch the Craig Pittman match for his most over the top performance but pretty much every DDP match from this time period is so entertaining because of how much effort he puts into the match. That’s why I love DDP and I will always rank him in my Top 100 wrestlers of all time because no one and I mean no one tries harder than Diamond Dallas Page.
•  In terms of great matches well there are the obvious ones:
• o Fit Finlay vs Steven Regal – Nitro April 29th Parking Lot Brawl
• o Dean Malenko vs Rey Mysterio – Great American Bash 1996, my pick for WCW Match of the Year 1996
• o Rey Mysterio vs Psychosis – Bash at the Beach 1996
• o Chris Benoit vs Kevin Sullivan – Great American Bash 1996 Fall Count Anywhere
•  The not so obvious ones include
• o Ric Flair vs The Giant -Nitro March 25th
• o Ric Flair vs Lex Luger – Nitro April 1st you feel like you transported back to 1988
• o Nasty Boys vs Public Enemy – Nitro April 15th Fucking insane brawl. Knobbs and Saggs still the hell out of Public Enemy, I wish that the Nasties got a run in ECW. They would have ruled that tag division
• o Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit – Nitro April 22nd not as good as their 95 stuff but it is Eddie vs Benoit
• o Dean Malenko vs Jushin Liger – Nitro May 6th
• o Ric Flair vs Eddie Guerrero – Nitro May 20th
• o Faces of Fear vs Lex Luger & Sting- Nitro May 20th, watch this one! Barbarian was the best worker in 1996 that no one talked about. He should have been pushed to the moon.
• o Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs American Males – Nitro May 27th , the best of the “Flair & Anderson get ready to take on the Football players so we put them in a bunch of tag matches” matches. Perfect Horsemen psychology
• o DDP vs Craig Pittman – Nitro May 27th I love DDP and this was such a DDP match so over the top. So many fun spots. DDP rules!
• o Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Rock N Roll Express – Nitro June 3rd It is Flair vs orton, you cant go wrong!
• o Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Sting & Lex Luger – Nitro June 10th. In 1988, this would have been the biggest thing ever. Still good craic as the Irish would say.
• o Arn Anderson & Chris Benoit vs American Males – Nitro June 17th just watch this to see how fucking over Arn Anderson is.
• o Randy Savage vs Ric Flair – Nitro June 17th not their best match but it is the blowoff to their epic 1995-1995 feud so worth seeing.
• o Dean Malenko vs Rey Mysterio – Nitro June 17th not as famous as their July8th Nitro match but this one is still very good and Mysterio’s debut on the show.
• o The Giant vs Scott Steiner – Nitro June 17th The Giant’s best title defense of his reign. Great rib selling by Scotty and a focused attack by the Giant. They build the comeback well and Steiner’s suplexes are impressive and pop the crowd.
• o Eddie Guerrero vs Barbarian – Nitro June 24th The night where Barbarian got more over with crowd because of his workrate than Eddie. Push Barbarian!
• o Arn Anderson & Chris Benoit vs Rock N Roll Express – Nitro June 24th The Horsemen are so over in Charlotte that Rock N Rolls get booed! Arn vs Morton, you cant go wrong!

Homecoming: Ric Flair, Syxx, Scott Hall (WCW,1997)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Goddamnit Wisconsin! I watched zero minutes of college basketball and I make it all the way to the National Championship game and all you chumps need to do is win one little game so I could win $750 dollars. Fucking Badgers!

Hail Satan!

Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho vs Faces of Fear - WCW Nitro 2/24/97

The Faces of Fear are my boys! Faces or heels the tag team of Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho rules! This reminded me of a sprint version of the Rockers vs Powers of Pain only you just subbed the Warlord for fucking Meng! Jericho avoiding an early Kick of Fear and then hitting a nice dropkick to the knee. This is the best Jericho has looked in watching him in WCW. Yes, he flubbed one move, but everything was so explosive and urgent. Eddy goes into orbit thanks Barbarian. Meng crushes him with a powerbomb. I am a powerbomb mark. The Jericho face in peril is incredible. Barbarian hits a ridiculous OVERHEAD BELLY TO BELLY OFF THE TOP ROPE! HOLY SHIT! Meng backdrops Jericho into a powerbomb! True to WWF tag formula it takes three spots for Jericho to EARN the hot tag. First he uses the Lionsault to a standing Meng then an enziguiri and finally it is a missed elbow that brings the red hot Eddy. Guerrero and Jericho go all Rockers awesomeness by doubling up all their moves even busting out the double dropkick. They are looking Lionsault/Frogsplash combo on Barbie. Meng pulls the ropes down and Jericho flies out. Malenko pushes Eddy off the top right into the KICK OF FEAR!!! HOLY SHIT WHAT A FINISH!

The Faces of Fear in a different era with the proper push would be a greatest tag team of all time candidate. Guerrero & Jericho should have been a permanent tag team. So many missed opportunities. Why did not we see this match get 15 minutes on PPV? Oh WCW, you cocktease. Awesome TV match. ****

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WCW US Champion Eddy Guerrero vs Dean Malenko - WCW Uncensored 1997

There is an absolutely hilarious Dusty rambling session in the middle of the match where he is commending Schivaone for making an astute observation, but just keeps going on about it and climaxes with calling him delungent. I was dying throughout the whole thing. He really needs to do some guest commentary in NXT or something because he was gold around this time.

Guerrero was portrayed on commentary as having a bit of a rulebreaking edge to him, but he was still nowhere near the glorious levels of his late 1997. For whatever reason, WCW crowds loved Dean Malenko. They must have seen him as a stoic badass, I dunno, the late 90s were a strange time. They definitely go for more of a heated fight feel than technical masterpiece. I love how Guerrero takes a bump early on the shoulderblock it is not a quick flat back bump, but a more realistic stumble, knock back onto your keister. Dusty notes that both men have mudhole stomping on their mind and have commenced to mudhole stomping early. In his roundabout, Dusty-isms way, he picks up on a good point. There is a lot of good mirror psychology. It is not just a fight, but a fight between two rivals that know each other well and want to one up each other. Guerrero takes his big catapult face first into turbuckle bump to give Malenko the advantage. Malenko goes to work on the knee with a single leg crab while we find out that Rick Steiner has been laid out by the Wolfpac. Guerrero cuts Malenko off with a dropkick to the knee. Guerrero knows Malenko is a master of the mat so he is going to beat him at his own game by destroying Malenko's knee. Guerrero is just excellent with great springboard moves on the knee, good submission holds like the STF and the figure-4. Guerrero rocks him with European Uppercuts and looks to dive onto him on the outside, but eats steel in a really nasty spot. Malenko drops him on the railing and now he is going to work on the arm because the arm hit first. Tony notes this and that is what triggers the ridiculously hilarious Dusty ramble. They do go a little overkill on the finish with a couple extra moves. I thought the finish stealing was perfect for the theme of the match. The crowd and I also enjoyed Malenko's trick knee acting up into a ballshot and when Malenko crumpled to his balls met Eddie's knee in a violent fashion. Tighten up the finish stretch to really focus on those elements and it would be excellent. Syxx getting involved was pretty lame because he was already Crusierweight Champion, but at least it did fit with the mirror psychology of the match as Malenko lifted Guerrero's title due to Syxx just like Malenko lost his due to Eddy's interference. I presume Eddy/Syxx was in the cards, but Eddy got injured. It is too bad Syxx did not have more matches with the WCW midcard, it would have been interesting to see what he could do with a Benoit or Rey on a PPV. But I digress, I liked the heat on each move and how they told a cool interwoven story of mirror spots. It was two competitive rivals that not only wanted to beat their opponent bad, they wanted to humble them by beating them at their own game. Put a hotter finish on this and you have a really excellent match. ****

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WCW World Television Champion Ultimo Dragon vs Steven Regal - WCW Slamboree 1997

What a beautifully constructed, fundamentals-based match that starts off very lo-fi and builds perfectly to the high spots. God, I miss crowds like this. They are patient and hang on the action. They are rooting for Regal and eagerly wait chances to exhort him on or revel in his glory. The late 90s were not perfect and there were crowds that did chant "Boring" at WCW events, so I don't want it misconstrued that I have some naive picture of late 90s WCW crowds. We almost never a get a crowd like this anymore. The chain wrestling at the beginning is both beautiful and strenuous. Regal has the advantage being larger, but Dragon as a Japanese luchador is no slouch. They do a great job establishing equality through struggle like on the Regal gutwrench or Dragon drop toehold. There are some nice tit for tat moments like Regal stepping on Dragon's face only to have Dragon step on his face. Both men establish that they are looking to win early and often. It is a championship match with no hatred behind so the exact perfect strategy for the setting. Regal is looking for his Regal Stretch often, I counted him attempting four times with Dragon making the ropes each time. Every counter or move was working towards the finish and I just loved that strategy. That is how you put over and protect a submission finish. Dragon focused on using wicked stinging kicks to Regal's back to control the match. I loved Regal countering Dragon's cross-armbreaker by catching one foot into a leg scissors and then countering into a Regal Stretch attempt. Dragon responds by kicking Regal's back really hard. These two have amazing chemistry. Regal is the exact opposite of Malenko in that inhibits Dragon from indulging in his worst habits. Regal is also a lot more charismatic. I am disappointed Dragon did not do his hip swivel on the deathlock bridge. Regal chants and the announcers are in shock! Regal is on the outside and Onoo gets his licks in, but Dragon is not happy about that so he admonishes him to set up that angle. I can't tell if Regal was selling fatigue or if he was blown up. He was working hard. Dragon takes advantage and starts to rattle off his highspots. I love the escalation in this match. The Dragon moonsault misses, everybody repeat after me "Regal Stretch attempt", I fucking love it. Makes so much sense! Just when you think this match is all meat and potatoes, Dragon busts a crazy rana from a butterfly suplex position. Hot damn! At this point in the match, they are both selling fatigue and it is reasonable because they have been working over time. Regal blocks Dragon's Tiger Suplex finish. Dragon is able to hit the Asai Moonsault, but Onoo and him get into it and Regal is able to take advantage to finally apply the Regal Stretch to a massive pop. I loved the fans giving the peace symbol back to him, like everyone in the camera shot was doing it. So cool!

This is a just badass, old school match that features great wrestling from the early chaining to Regal desperately working from underneath to get the Regal Stretch while Dragon controlled with kicks. If they had a hotter, better finish, this would be talked about as one of the classic WCW matches as it I would hazard to say this is the best WCW Dragon match and the last great Regal WCW match. ****

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Ric Flair/Roddy Piper/Kevin Greene vs Wolfpack (Kevin Nash/Scott Hall/Syxx) 

Slamboree 1997

I am a total sucker for feel-good matches like this. Flair in this is just a cure for any malady. From the entrance to the finish, I just had a huge smile on my feet. Hell, I was stamping them and watched the match standing for the most part. Hall and Syxx were just the best damn scuzzballs ever. I loved Hall mocking the Flair strut and Syxx, 220 lbs of disrespect, poking fun at Piper's injured hip. Those were three guys not trying to be cool. They were obnoxious pricks and you wanted to see them get beat up. How about that Charlotte, North Carolina crowd! THEY ARE JAAAAAAACCCCCKKKKEEED! The opening Flair segment was fucking electric. There are too many awesome moments to name.  Flair chopping Syxx when Syxx was in mid-strut was badass. The strut, the chops and the pelvic thusts, what more could you want from a Flair shine. Kevin Greene as a Carolina Panther was just the perfect celebrity for this situation. You gotta love his enthusiasm. Greene and Nash actually work a pretty damn strong segment with Greene looking like a powerhouse. The double clothesline got a massive pop and sent the Wolfpack reeling. The NWO has to regroup because the hometown boys are on fire. Hell even fucking Piper was fine in this. I thought his heat segment would go longer since he had the injury, but this night was all about Flair. HOLY SHIT! What about Hall fucking catching Flair from the top and hitting the fallaway slam. That was crazy! I loved the chaos on the outside. It felt so real and organic with Greene tackling Syxx. Nash just hitting Flair with a nasty drive-by big boot to the face while Hall held his hair. I loved the Bronco Buster as the ultimate fuck you spot in front of this crowd. The finish stretch is bedlam and just the most awesome possible decisive, crowd-pleasing finish. Flair, you bring me up when I am down. Best NWO match ever! Hidden Treasure! Watch this! ****1/4

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WCW Cruiserweight Champion Eddy Guerrero vs Chris Benoit - WCW Nitro 10/20/97

Awesome sprint! The crowd hated Eddie so much and Benoit is the asskicker a crowd wants to get behind to serve Eddie his just desserts. I love Eddie avoiding the chop early. He goes flying up in the air a couple times but Goddamnit I am not taking that chop. When he does, what a great sell job with him digging his nails into the mat as Benoit drags him back in. Benoit just chops the fuck out of him to the pleasure of the audience. These two execution is just breath-taking. They are both so quick and crisp. It is incredible. Benoit's suicide dive was crazy. The way Benoit sprint across the ring and Eddie hit the drop toehold into the middle turnbuckle was a great, creative finish to give a heel a clean, but still underhanded finish. I loved Eddie hitting the Frogsplash for good measure and Mickey Jay not being happy with him "running up the score" so to speak on the unconscious Benoit. I wish they got a long match on PPV at this point both at peaks of their wrestling game. ***1/2

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Chris Benoit vs Fit Finlay - WCW Nitro 10/27/97

HOLY SHIT! DEM CHOPS! I love Tony describing Benoit as seemingly having a personal grudge with every single opponent. Benoit just blasts his way through Finlay early. Not even an eye poke is going to stop the Rabid Wolverine. Finaly BLASTS Benoit with a  forearm on the outside. Holy fucking shit! Finlay drops him throat first across the railing. Benoit does not know how to quit starts throwing chops so Finlay responds with a double leg scissor takedown. Fierce! Finlay steps on Benoit's midsection to get to the top rope for the Vaderbomb and Benoit gets his foot on the ropes. They take it to the outside and Finaly WHACKS his hand hard against the post. FUCK! I was shaking my own hand in pain. Finlay is just going full steam ahead, but eats turnbuckle on the shoulder tackle. Benoit pounces with a German Suplex/Diving Headbutt for the win. The Eddie match had the better crowd (not by much, Benoit was over) and the better character work, but this match actually had selling and Benoit coming from underneath. I am taking the Eddie match for Eddie being in such a great heel groove, but it is damn close. ***1/2

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WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan vs Diamond Dallas Page 

WCW Nitro 10/28/97

We have a winner, folks! The best Hollywood Hogan match of all time and of course who is it against, but my man, DDP! As awesome as DDP was in this match and he was pretty fucking awesome, Hogan absolutely crushed it! He showed a roller coaster of emotions as he was responding to how the match was progressing. Early on, he was cocky Hogan out to prove that the loss to Piper was a fluke. He busted out some great arm work and was trash talking DDP. DDP turned the arm work around on Hogan with short arm blocks, but Hogan escapes the Diamond Cutter. He retreats to the outside and tips over the stairs in a fit of frustration.There is a great spot where DDP gets Hogan down and he dives after him as Hogan rolls out to the floor. I love shit like that. Hogan is not going to fuck around anymore and he blasts DDP in the head with a punch. Hogan is busting out shit like a huge high knee that would make Jumbo Tsuruta proud. Getting away from Hogan let's talk about DDP for a hot minute. DDP's work in this is fantastic. He is selling the ribs running the ropes, on bodyslams, on just about everything and it is awesome. Then couple that with DDP's usual chippy, never say die full court press you have an all-time great performance. DDP takes a nasty tumble from the ring into railing. Hogan hits two huge chops! Hogan is now trash talking DDP and flexing. DDP is able to get an elbow drop and his selling afterwards is some the best you will ever see period. DDP wants that revenge from Hogan's bat shot to the ribs the previous night at Havoc that cost him the match to his archrival, Randy Savage. That sequence where DDP sells the ribs from being shot into the ropes only to eat a huge clothesline from Hogan is spectacular. DDP tries to fight back, but Hogan is pouring it on with the follow-up clothesline in the corner and a vertical suplex. DDP wont stay down and Hogan is now getting frustrated. DDP fight back from his knees, here he comes, he is overwhelming Hogan. Hogan tries to retreat, but DDP won't let him rest. HOGAN BIG BOOT OUT OF NOWHERE! Holy shit! He goes for the Legdrop he misses. DDP is calling for the Diamond Cutter and the crowd is on their feet. Unfortunately, they go the bullshit finish route with Fake Sting and DDP at least gets to hit the Cutter on him before Hogan whips him with his belt and the NWO hits the ring. Sting clears the ring. The fact that they went with this finish does show that WCW believed in DDP enough at this point to protect him. Still does hurt the match without the satisfying finish, but holy shit you will be hard-pressed to find a better gutsy babyface performance than the one here from DDP. Perfect combination of selling and fighting through the pain with a great sense of urgency was showcased here by DDP. Hogan was on fire, super motivated, busting out that sweet high knee, really energetic, and great heeling. Definitely one of the best Nitro matches of all time and another feather in the cap of DDP, who was just feeling it at this time and it seems impossible for him to have a bad match. ****

Macho Madness: A Son's Revenge

Hey yo bromigoes and bromigas,

Is the Cult actually relevant in 2012? No fucking way. Digging the hell out of their lead single, “For The Animals”.

Let’s not waste time, since I can never get enough Flair/Savage, lets review the early part of their series from 1995. It all began with the tag team main event between Flair and “The Mastodon” Vader against the Mega-Powers (Hogan and Savage).

The idea is simple here let’s get the four biggest names in WCW (save for Sting) in a tag team match to sell a PPV based on their name value. Vader and Flair had both unsuccessfully attempted to wrest the World Title from Hulk Hogan. Vader is one of my top 5 favorite wrestlers and is who I consider to be the greatest big man in the history of wrestling. I toss around “All-Man” sometimes, but VADER IS ALL FUCKIN MAN! The idea should have been simple have the Monster VADER BEAT Hogan for the title and then have Hogan chase and slay the monster. Hogan’s egotism got in the way. Savage had joined WCW in late 1994 and had been aimless until this match.

ITS VADER TIME!!!!

The Mega-Powers (WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan & “Macho Man” Randy Savage) vs  “Nature Boy” Ric Flair & Vader.

Slamboree 1995

Since the Mega-Powers was possibly owned by the WWF, they have re-branded themselves as the Monster Maniacs, bwhahhahaha. I refuse to call them that, on the principle that I am not a tool. The faces have a cheap Ultimate Warrior rip-off with them dubbed the Renegade and the heels have Flair’s trusty side-kick, Arn Anderson.  Savage and Hogan are out in matching yellow and red. Vader and Flair don’t have quite the same co-ordination and I fear for their ability act cohesively. Renegade, who is a spaz to put it lightly, puts the fear of God in Double A, who will defend his Television Championship against the Renegade at the next PPV. One last pre-match note, Savage’s father, Angelo Poffo is at ringside for the match, having been inducted in the short-lived WCW Hall of Fame that very night.

Vader/Hogan to start. VADER FEARS NO MAN!!! AND FEELS NO PAIN!!!!  Still waiting for this match to start, come on, Hogan. Vader bumps for Hogan’s clothesline and Savage’s double axe-handle and is being treated like a jabroni. No wonder Hogan/Vader never drew. Vader takes both of the Mega-Powers out with a clothesline. Was there a tag? Flair and Savage kind of just decided enough of this snore-fest lets go. Flair Flip leads to a Hogan boot on the apron then a Flair Flop. Flair and Vader are bumping like madmen for the Megapowers. Savage invites Vader in because he is Looney Tunes.

Test of strength offered by Savage gives Flair their chance to hit a thumb to the eye. Savage is able to make the tag to Hogan. Jimmy Hart’s high-pitched whine into the mega-phone is particularly annoying tonight. Flair takes control with what else a thumb to the eye and loses control how else by going to the top and getting slammed off. Hogan adds insult to injury by slapping on a horrible looking Figure 4. This match needs more Vader. In an odd moment, Anderson comes in and gets cradled by Hogan. Ummm dude, he is not even in the match. Flair is able to clip the knee and tag in VADER~!

Vader puts on a step-over toe-hold not exactly the most eye-popping spot. The Giant makes his debut tonight by looking on, he would later join the Dungeon of Doom. Hogan no-sells a vertical suplex and lays into Vader. Why I love Vader? Instead of kicking Hogan in the face for telegraphing a back-body drop, he just runs him the fuck over. I love it. Flair chokes Hogan while Vader manhandles the ref.  Big Vader splash on Hogan in the corner. VADERBOMB~! Watching Vader dismantle the Hulkster while Flair struts is chicken soup for my soul.
Hogan moves out of the way of a second Vaderbomb. Flair strolls over allowing Hogan to tag. Savage is a house of fire, o fuck yes. Over-aggressive takes a reverse elbow from Flair. Flair gets press slammed off the top this time by Flair. BIG ELBOW~! Double A pulls Savage out, which allows Vader to chest bump Savage so hard that he goes down like a pile of bricks. Thank God, Savage is the face in peril. SAVAGE TAKES A VADERSAULT!!!!! SAVAGE IS ALL FUCKIN MAN!!! He then kicks out. Way to kill that finish. Jesus, just put a foot on the ropes. Jimmy Hart, shut the fuck up.  Flair back in with shotgun chops.

Both men are down after Savage hits a desperation lariat on Flair.  Savage makes the tag and Flair begs off into corner. Yep, 10 count punches. Hogan gouges Vader’s eyes before the big bodyslam. There is your role model, folks. Hogan’s knee gives out and a Vader splash and things look  bleak for our heroes. Savage goes after Vader, not smart. HULKING UP~! False Hulk-Up, but heel miscommunication between Flair and AA leads to Hogan dropping the leg on Flair.

Randy Savage and his father Angelo Poffo

The post-match is what is important: Flair and Anderson take it to Savage, but Randy’s dad tries to save his son only to get a beatdown from the Horseman punctuated by a Figure 4. Hogan runs them off having been detained by Vader. Thus leads to a year-long feud between Flair and Savage.

The tag match was standard Hogan fare. Vader made it fun, Flair seemed bored, Savage didn’t get enough time. Hogan didn’t want to deviate from his formula. Average match **1/2. The beatdown was too abbreviated.

Of course the next PPV, Great American Bash, would be headlined by the grudge match between the Macho Man and the Nature Boy. Finally this gives Savage his own storyling having been relegated to Hogan’s lackey for the beginning of 1995.



“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair
Great American Bash 1995

This may be my favorite match of all time. My two favorite wrestlers competing one of the greatest hate-filled, relentless, fight to survive matches I have ever seen. I remember being so excited to finally see Savage vs Flair, my two favorites of all time, when I finally started searching youtube 2006 and immediately it was the Wrestlemania VII match that I wanted to see it. It is a great match and a great moment in the culmination of the overarching Randy Savage Wrestlemania story arc dating back to Wrestlemania III. Something was missing. It was missing that truly out of control feel and energy that Flair and Savage can bring. Watching this match in shitty quality on dailymotion in 2008, I was transfixed. Savage was a relentless ball of fury. Lunging at Flair at ever turn. There were just these little things that made it feel like a shoot. Savage attacking Flair from behind in such a way that was scary. Or Savage just suffocating Flair even on the begging off section. There just was not the customary time. The selling was selling of exhaustion of a fight. Savage's selling of the knee was spot on and why he was one of the greatest of all time. While Savage gives a truly special performance, it would be an amazing match without Flair. Flair sells the match as a fight to survive. He is blasting the fuck out of Savage and he dives onto Savage from behind, which is another wicked bump. The way he sells. He is in pain and fatigued, but if he even takes one moment to breathe, he may not last. So he just keeps fighting. I can not say how much I love this match.

My video includes opening remarks from Savage with the interview being conducted by “Mean” Gene Okerlund. He vows revenge against Flair and the momentum is on his side. Incidentally, today is Father’s Day and a happy accident for this storyline He finishes with one of my favorite lines from him: “Too hot to handle, too cold to hold”. Flair is adorned in a black and white sequined robe decorated with Monarch Butterflies in white diamonds. Savage is also donning the black and white and HE IS NOT ALONE. His father, Angelo Poffo, is with him after the attack from the Horsemen, but with the aide of a cane. This is NOT FAIR TO FLAIR. DOUBLE A! DOUBLE A! Where art thou?

Once Poffo is settled in, Savage hits the ring and Flair heads for the hills. Savage gives chase.  Savage wants to kill Flair and any offense Flair can muster is because Savage is overzealous. Savage is hitting hard tonight. This aint a wrestling match. THIS IS A FIGHT~! Flair stops Savage’s momentum by sending him into the steel ringpost and then the guardrail. Flair with an uncharacteristic axe-handle off the apron to the back of Savage. The bump Savage takes was just violent and gripping to watch. I love it, Flair knows that Savage wants to kill so he adapts by pulling out all the stops. Angelo Poffo gets out of the chair with a look of concern as Flair is taking Savage apart with his trademark moveset of chops and kneedrops.  Savage connects with a flurry of jabs and in a fit of  rage chokes Flair and grabs at his nose. Flair takes the Bret-bump into the corner more choking. Flair tries to powder out, but Savage nails him from behind wicked hard. These are the moments that make it feel like a shoot. Flair takes his usual bump off the top rope. How does he not have crippling back injuries? Flair flip now onto the outside and now he goes after daddy. The Brain and I share the same sentiment as us that was fuckin dumb. Flair is smarter than both of us because he suckered Savage into checking on his Daddy and then clipping the knee. What follows is a shinbreaker across the guardrail, which is another crazy bump. The Brain wonders if “Did Daddy bring two canes because his son is going to need one.” The Brain continues to the tell story well, “Flair was smart he knew he was going to be able to slug it out with Savage, a man possessed. So he went to take a body part out. Flair has a plan.”

Savage throws punches from his back in a show of valor and courage. Kicking and clawing at Flair with whatever he can muster and Flair like the prick he is just keeps going back to knee. This is masterful psychology. Savage is killing it right now with his selling. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!!! Flair of course gets to the ropes for that additional leverage. Savage is fighting only for his father and in a truly moving spot, Mr. Poffo attempts to get the ref’s attention that Flair is cheating. This is one of the most emotional matches I have ever had the pleasure of watching. SAVAGE REVERSE THE PRESSURE!!!

Savage hops on one leg only to dive on Flair and keep punching. Flair and Savage are just laying it all on the line. Flair flip for a second time, runs down the apron but Savage hits him in the gut as he comes done. SAVAGE HITS HIM WITH BIG ELBOW!!!! He pins Flair, but pulls him at 2. NOT ENOUGH SAYS MACHO MAN  as he grabs the ring bell (shades of Ricky the Dragon) and the crowd is whipped into a frenzy. The Brain says Savage is out to maim Flair. At some point, Savage has been busted open under his eye. Holy shit, what a brawl so far. The ref saves Flair from the bell and Savage crashes and burns hard on the guardrail. What a bump, the fans in the front row are freaked out because he hit so hard. Flair is pissed off because Savage has tried to maim him. Flair goes for Angelo, Poffo chokes him with cane, but Flair knocks out Angelo and gains control of the cane. Savage having checked on his dad does not realize this. Flair waffles him with cane. Flair picks up the tainted victory.

This match epitomizes why I love wrestling: Raw hatred for each other with stiff shots, high-energy no resting with brilliant story-telling and acting. WATCH THIS MATCH! Contender for best WCW match of the decade. The last Match of the Year contender, Flair or Savage would ever have. I would say the best babyface Savage performance of his career in WCW or WWF.   ****1/2.

I would be remiss not to quote the Brain’s post-match gloating over Flair’s victory, “Take a slug of some Geritol and get up on your feet, Poffo…I want to see replay again. Ted Williams would be envious of that swing. The new Sultan of Swat, Ric Flair. You having a good Father’s Day, Mr. Poffo. What did you get for Father’s Day? You should have got a wheelbarrow to take your son back to the dressing room.” Beautifully incendiary.  

One of my favorite "regular" robes for he Nature Boy

Flair’s tainted victory means of course there needs to be a re-match. With next PPV emanating from sunny Southern California being themed the Bash At The Beach, they would logically have a Lifeguard match, which is just a lumberjack match where the wrestlers on the outside wear lifeguard outfits. Their job will be do throw back each wrestler into the ring so that Flair can to run away. Of course, inevitably, the heel lumberjacks beat on the babyface adding to drama of the match Why this sucks? This takes the outside away from Flair and Savage who some of their best wrestling outside the ring.

“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair – Lifeguard Match
Bash At The Beach 1995

This is on the Savage DVD so I get to review this in stunning high-quality, yippee!  This PPV was shot on location at a beach. I mean literally no seats and most men are shirtless standing on the sand. Macho Man’s dad is here, but this time he is safely among the fans. WCW held events in weird places like Road Wild being held at the big bike rally Sturgis, SD because it made them different. I will give them that. Flair is a fabulous pink robe, one of my other favorites from this era and Savage is in Mega-Powers colors and just his normal level of crazy. Not the BATSHIT INSANITY~! We witnessed in the last match. Too bad. The lifeguards include DDP, Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Ric Flair’s best friend: Arn Anderson, Harle Heat, Johnny B. Badd, Dick Slater, Bunkhouse Buck.

Savage revves up the crowd, but decidedly less pissed, lame. Savage sends Flair outside the ring for the first time. Flair’s friends try to protect him as Savage chokes him with his foot. Flair gets an atomic drop out of the corner and Savage sells like he has been shot. Over-selling, much? Flair sends Savage outside, but Savage’s friends protect him from Double A. Flair flip to the outside followed by Flair sending Savage out with a leverage move. Savage hits so hard, he lands on the beach.

Tony with some insightful commentary notes, “Savage is sweaty and now that sand will collect on his back. This will be rough going for the Macho Man.” Hahaha, Tony, ever the intrepid reporter. They perform a spot usually teased, but not executed as Savage suplexes Flair onto the outside, but it looks ugly as hell. A thumb to the eye and a reverse elbow turns the tide for the Nature Boy. This leads to a sleeper hold for Flair, Savage is just swinging almost nails the ref. Leverage move sends Flair into the top turnbuckle and this leads to the first Flair Flop. I do not know what the fuck happened, but Flair somehow cracked his jaw onto Savage’s head coming off the top and I think he really hurt himself by accident. Flair being all man, hits a shinbreaker and begins to work on Savage’s knee. Savage always game to sell the knee like a champ makes this entertaining. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!!!

We are in the middle of the ring, no cheating, but also no rope break opportunity for Savage. Can he reverse pressure? MA-CHO! MA-CHO! MA-CHO! Yes he does! Delayed vertical suplex by Naitch and he covers for the pin, but Savage kicks out at two.  Savage makes his comeback with jabs, blocks the atomic drop and sends Flair over the top. Flair makes a break for it, but the lifeguards track him down and sends him back in. Double axe-handle off the top, Anderson senses the end and distracts Savage long enough for Flair to get a thumb to the eye. Flair gets tossed over and is caught by the Nasties in mid-air and whil everyone is focused on that. Anderson slips in like a thief in the night and plants Savage with a DDT,
Randy, are you ok? Randy, are you ok? Are you ok, Randy? You were just hit by a smooooooth criminal.  Our hero, ever-valiant, kicks out at two and this spurs the crowd to chant MA-CHO! MA-CHO! MA-CHO! Now time for one of Savage’s favorite spots: the backslide, Savage gets him down for two. Savage is fuckin horrible at avoiding the reverse elbow and Flair sucks at executing a move from the top. Savaeg with another double axe-handle, scoop slam and now he hits THE BIG ELBOW~! The pin is academic. Macho Man gets revenge for his father.

A very good Savage/Flair match, but lacking the passion and intensity of the previous match. It just seemed like just another Savage/Naitch match when Savage should have been fighting for the honor of his father. This match was better than I remembered and was well-worked, but lacking good dramam until the Anderson DDT. ***1/2

They included this match on the DVD set because it was the blowoff match and Sacage won, but the GAB match is clearly the better match. Definitely give that a look-see. The other two matches are entertaining, but I would not go out of my way to watch them unless you are Savage or Flair completest like I am.