WCW is back with another week of wrestling action from the Battelle Hall in Columbus, Ohio. Cue "Party Hard" and we are LIVE with Joey Styles & Jerry "The King" Lawler
Show opens with Buff Bagwell & D'Lo Brown making their way to the ring. They are on the mic and say that in only a few short weeks, they have become the hottest act in WCW. They are here to officially put everyone on notice that "The Real Deal" and "The Stuff" are here to kick butt and win gold. D'Lo promises to defeated Rob Van Dam and win the United States Championship at Fall Brawl, and thats enough to bring out the Champion himself alongside Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer on the mic and he says so far in WCW, he hasn't had the success he's wanted, but watching Rob Van Dam knock down every single person who stands in front of him has inspired him to raise his own game. Tonight, RVD & Dreamer will team up to show everyone the true spirit of Extreme as they beat Bagwell & D'Lo right here in Columbus, Ohio! Rob Van Dam grabs the mic and simply says, that he's the "Whole Dam Show" and no one is on his level.
The match was a straight-forward power struggle, with Palumbo utilizing his size advantage to ground Cajun early. Cajun managed to pick up the pace with a flurry of dropkicks, but Palumbo shut him down with a stiff sidewalk slam. Outside the ring, the tension boiled over as General Rection and Johnny Stamboli began trading blows, leading to a chaotic brawl that distracted the referee. Seizing the moment, Guido Maritato tried to interfere, only to be met with a sharp slap across the face from Blonde Bombshell. Cajun tried to capitalize on the distraction with a school boy roll-up, but Palumbo kicked out at two, stood his ground, and nearly took Cajun's head off with a thunderous Super Kick for the three count.
The Tag Team purgatory continues. While I can't say its outright bad, I think I'm just bored by these two teams right now as it feels so generic of a feud.
After the match, The Misfits In Action & Full Blooded Italians continue to brawl all over ringside. Eventually a sea of agents and referees come out to pull the two teams apart.
With Curt Hennig observing from the commentary booth, Corino looked to make an example out of the veteran Koko B. Ware. Corino wrestled a very technical, arrogant style, punishing Koko’s neck and back while shouting barbs at Hennig. Koko managed a small comeback with a few headbutts and a missile dropkick, but Corino quickly regained control with a blatant eye gouge. Corino finished things off quickly, locking in the Old School Expulsion to secure a decisive victory.
Not the best. Koko is a weird little surprise, but the match just did not have much going for it. The throwback to the first showdowns between Hennig & Corino shows some nice symmetry.
After the match, Hennig stands up at commentary and slowly claps for Corino. Corino gets out of the ring and gets in Hennig's face who simply gives Corino a big thumbs up and continues clapping before leaving the commentary table and walking up the ramp leaving Corino frustrated at ringside.
Stacy spent the opening minutes of the match literally running away from Lexie, hiding behind the referee and the ring ropes. Every time Lexie gained an offensive rhythm, Shawn Stasiak would hop onto the apron to provide a distraction. During one such moment, Lexie turned her back to argue with Stasiak, allowing Stacy to sneak up from behind and drill Lexie with some forearms shots to the back. Keibler then caught her perfectly with a Spinning Heel Kick to the jaw, dropping Fyfe instantly for the pinfall.
Stacy isn't a real wrestler and it shows. The story of all of WCW's women's matches so far is that the women they have are simply not ready to wrestle on TV. Jazz is sitting backstage while this is on TV which is baffling to me too, but I guess maybe they are building towards a more competitive division since the story they keep telling is that Stacy isn't a real wrestler which is the only thing that almost saves this from a storytelling perspective.
After the match, Stacy & Stasiak are celebrating in the middle of the ring as Joanie Laurer's music hits! Stacy looks paniced as the "9th Wonder of the World" makes her way down the entrance ramp. Stasiak & Keibler look to hightail it threw the crowd, but Sean O'Haire appears blocking their path. They quickly panic and run out of the arena another way as Laurer & O'Haire make their way to the ring and stand in the middle, taunting Keibler & Stasiak to come meet them.
This was a showcase of high-risk cruiserweight action, though the execution was far from perfect. Garza attempted to wow the crowd with his signature athleticism, but he stumbled during a springboard attempt and missed a corkscrew plancha entirely. Kaz Hayashi tried to keep the match on track, grounding Garza with sharp kicks and a series of suplexes. Hayashi saw his opening, planting Garza with a devastating Wrist-Clutch Air Raid Crash to end the match quickly.
A rare miss by the cruiserweights here. Hector Garza seemed off his game and it showed with a few notable botches which seemed to throw the whole pace of the match off.
Backstage, Chavo Guerrero Jr. is watching the match on a monitor and Scott Hudson approaches him and asks his thoughts. Chavo says Kaz Hayashi was impressive "as always" which is exactly why Chavo has him on his side. Shane Helms & Evan Karagias walk up and ask if Chavo is impressed with Kaz or scared of him? Chavo tells 3 Count to mind their own business, when Karagias taps the Cruiserweight title on Chavo's shoulder and says "that is my business" before walking off along with Helms, leaving Chavo looking angry.
Arn Anderson is in his office when Joanie Laurer walks in with Sean O'Haire. Laurer says she's sick of Stacy always running away from her, and says she has unfinished business with Stacy and is the rightful Women's Champion. Arn says Joanie definently has a claim to the title, but title shots don't grow on trees, she needs to earn it. Laurer says she'll beat anyone put in front of her. Arn smiles and says thats what he thought she'd say. Next week, its Joanie will have a match where if she wins, she gets her Women's title match at Fall Brawl. And Joanie's opponent is, Shawn Stasiak!
The main event began with RVD and Dreamer showing surprising chemistry, as Dreamer planted D'Lo with a sidewalk slam as RVD dropped a simultaneous leg drop. The momentum shifted when Bagwell tripped Dreamer, allowing his team to isolate the "Innovator of Violence" with a series of heavy power moves. Dreamer eventually spiked Bagwell with a neckbreaker to reach his corner, bringing the "Whole Dam Show" in to clear the ring with spinning kicks and a Rolling Thunder.
The match broke down as RVD went for the Five Star Frog Splash, but Bagwell rolled clear. In the ensuing floor brawl, the ref missed D’Lo cracking RVD with a steel chair. With the champion neutralized on the outside, a dazed Dreamer turned right into a Buff Blockbuster. D’Lo quickly added a Lo Down Frog Splash to the mix, securing the pinfall and a massive win for the duo.
A great match for these two teams. I can't say I would have predicted RVD being tied up in a feud with Buff Bagwell and then D'Lo Brown for several months when he first debut with WCW, but here we are and its pretty great. Tommy Dreamer, similarly, I would have predicted would have had a bigger spot in WCW and he just really hasn't, but he proved tonight he probably should be given more chances.
Booker T is making his way to the ring to close the show. He gets on the mic and talks about how WCW is not only back, but thriving under Shane McMahon. But there is only two issues, its had a paper champion running around calling himself the best in the world, but that Champion hasn't had to deal with Booker T. Which is what issue 2 is. There's a group of crybabies running around since day one, complaining, moaning, cheating and crying about every little thing, and getting in Booker T's business. At Fall Brawl, Booker can take care of both issues at once as he beats Diamond Dallas Page, AGAIN, and beats Lance Storm to regain his WCW World Heavyweight Championship and become a 5-Time WCW Champion!
And here comes Diamond Dallas Page right on cue. DDP marches to the ring and gets right to business. He tells Booker T that he is a flash in the pan. The only reason he's had any success is because WCW has been so desperate to find its "next guy" that they have given him opportunity after opportunity in an attempt to brush the legacy and name of guys like Diamond Dallas Page aside. DDP says Booker has been a victim of everyone's obsession with forgetting the true Foundation and taking for granted the guy who really is the nexus of WCW, Diamond Dallas Page. At Fall Brawl, the inevitable finally will happen as Diamond Dallas Page takes his rightful spot at the top of the skyscraper of WCW, because the Foundation is heading for the penthouse!
DDP takes a wild swing at Booker T, but Booker predicted the attack coming and ducks it, and then plants DDP with a Book End! Booker T's music hits as he stands tall in the middle of the ring... AND EATS a Super Kick from Lance Storm out of nowhere. Storm lays a beating on Booker as DDP rolls out of the ring and is holding his back on the outside. Lance Storm grabs a microphone and says everyone needs to put respect on the fact that Lance Storm is and always will be the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. He will not be the footnote to some war of words between Booker T & Diamond Dallas Page, he's the best technical wrestler in the world, and everyone needs to remember that. He locks the Canadian Maple Leaf on Booker and really works in it as WCW Nitro fades to black!