Attribute the delay to the fact that
I need to get Super Mario 3D World sent back to Gamefly and Champion's Road can go f*** itself I had to wait for Nitro to air to see the main event. Beaten it now so I guess I've got three and a half hours of Dubya See Dubya to look forward to. I'll be doing some side work in the midst of this so there might be less notes than normal.
Halloween Havoc 1998
- Ha, they showed Warrior in the mirror in the recap.
- I get it, Halloween so it's sponsored by candy!
- I love that they're outright talking about the Mania 6 match on commentary. And yet Hogan says Warrior crossed the line by mentioning it.
- Is the dead brother thing true? I've never heard anything about that. I really should read Hogan's book at some point, I've had it for years.
- Why open with the Nitro Girls? If you must have them, why not save them for later?
- Love this particular ring design. Have this arena in 2K14.
- And now we have a promo following the Nitro Girls. Yep, this show had to run the extra half hour, nothing they could've cut.
- That might be the most awkward, forced cheap pop of all time.
- I'm pretty sure Jericho didn't come out to Break the Walls Down at Halloween Havoc 1998.
- Raven's on a losing streak, so he gets a title shot!
- "I was scheduled in an unscheduled match."
- I love that they point out that Jericho's single foot cover's never actually won a match but he keeps doing it.
- Hey, the toned down Boston Crab version of the Liontamer was getting used in WCW too.
- That Evenflow / Walls of Jericho (let's call it what it is, that wasn't a Liontamer) counter was beautiful.
- Hogan kissing Bischoff and saying he loves him was kind of funny. Still, do we really need another promo already?
- So, Hogan's randomly speaking in third person for like this entire promo.
- Even if I hadn't seen the match before, they've already brought up him turning on Horace so much that it'd be obvious it's a swerve leading to Hogan winning.
- Hogan practically cut an entire second promo sans-mic there.
- Kick of Fear? How does that compare to the Elbow of Disdain?
- I just realized, does this match qualify as a Mortal Kombat fight?
- Pretty good pop for Wrath's undefeated streak keeping up. I bet that streak got a good payoff.
- WCW's static images of names look really amateur even by this point of time, but they also have a charm to them. Sort of torn on those.
- Juventud's matches are usually quicker than Disco's, but the longer the match goes, the more it favors Juventud. Okay.
- Well, it's not your biggest return match ever, because it's not your return match.
- They've talked up Hogan / Warrior a ton, I hope it lives up to the hype!
- Why did Juventud more or less pin him at ringside?
- I can't think of a decent Disco / Cesaro pun. Then again, that Giant Swing was so brief it doesn't deserve the comparison.
- Wow, Disco didn't sell that Frankensteiner for a second.
- That match was pretty fun, though sort of wonder the logic of it running as long as it did with Disco still having another match to come later.
- Yay, more Nitro Girls. And we get Konnan's music video later. Nope, there was no way this PPV could avoid going overtime.
- And we follow more Nitro girls with another promo from a Steiner.
- Scott, don't mention Buff Bagwell's mom. That probably won't go well.
- Giant looks so much like he's thinking, "I wish I could be throwing Stone Cold through a cage right now."
- I was expecting to hear, "My name is Finlay, and I love to fight" to start this next match off judging by the opening match.
- Why's this random filler Thunder match on a PPV?
- Tony, don't say, "Diggin' it."
- You're right, there is another man calling himself the Real Deal - Titus O'Neil! (Insert barking noises)
- What is this, the third unannounced match if you go ahead and count that added tag match? Again, nothing they could've cut?
- What. . . What the f*** is Saturn wearing?
- Wait, if Lodi's pissed about Saturn freeing the Flock. . . Why isn't he still hanging out with Raven? Kanyon's doing it, why not?
- Yeah, that squash needed to be on this PPV.
- Damn, it's good that Steiner dodged that chair shot, the way Bagwell was swinging that it might've decapitated him. But why are they recapping this now with another match to come before the tag title one?
- More Nitro girls?!
- Did Disco eventually learn to sell things? Because it looks awkward as hell having Kidman stomp on his neck over and over again as angrily as possible and then he just gets right back up.
- Wait, I just remembered that match he had on that PPV from a year later I watched. No, he never learned to sell.
- Did Disco turn heel between matches? The crowd was cheering him earlier and he's the underdog here having already had a match, but now they're booing him.
- And now they popped for the piledriver. This crowd is weird.
- YOU CAN'T POWERBOMB KIDMAN.
- What is this, like the sixth time the nWo theme has played tonight?
- That belt looks absurd around Giant's waist.
- Wait, they actually announced him as the Dog-Faced Gremlin? Like, for his ring introduction?
- Didn't you hear me earlier? Don't mention Judy Bagwell!
- Nice of Buff to not even bother with ring gear tonight. I guess it makes sense since he just wanted to be in Rick's corner and the tag match challenge came later but still.
- Don't mention Chucky!
- Buff ran up, lightly shoved Giant, and ran. Helpful! He's so totally on your side, Rick!
- And the most obvious betrayal of all time is complete.
- Why the hell didn't Buff stick around to help with beating down Rick?
- See, Rick Steiner won the tag titles because Scott and Giant are clumsy morons. You should've stuck around, Buff.
- And after all of that beating Rick's completely beating Scott's ass.
- There was no way the ref didn't see that low blow.
- Why did Buff go through the whole of putting on a suit and a Bill Clinton mask just to interfere?
- So, even though the bell rang earlier when Buff ran out, the match is still going and Rick wins and just fought through four people (if you count useless non-action Stevie Ray) by himself.
- Okay, that last call dig was funny.
- Kevin Nash has about the same track record with his friends as Sting.
- Wait, the match starts with Hall effortlessly laying out Nash and sending him reeling? That makes no sense on multiple levels.
- As if this match hasn't had enough promos tonight.
- This match just reminds me, am I the only one who finds it bizarre that Nash is a former Intercontinental champion? It just does not feel like that is a thing.
- Wait, Nash spends the whole match refusing to fight back, then he just gets bored and casually does it with no visible personal struggle or anything? I get the story being told but it's not well done.
- Network's starting to lag on me a lot.
- This match is putting this crowd to sleep after they were initially hot.
- What the hell's the point of beating Hall to a pulp and then just walking away? After you've jackknifed him twice, it's not a show of mercy, it's being a dumbass.
- This show would be half the length if it didn't have so much Nitro Girls.
- Champion coming out first. At least Bret's WCW theme is awesome.
- Ew, it's Wolfpack Sting.
- Wow, they're outright talking about how the various feuds going on are more important than the titles are. WCW, everyone!
- So, like. . . Were there any
good Sting / Bret matches? Because this is two consecutive bad ones I've seen on these PPVs.
- I'm more invested in the cornbread I'm eating than this match.
- Again, the referee was looking straight at that low blow.
- On one hand I'm eager for this match to be over with. On the other, the one after it is Hogan / Warrior.
- Wait, Bret completely no-sells the Stinger Splash and Sting knocks himself out with it? What?
- Sting valiantly passes out in the Sharpshooter. Shades of the classic finish to Swagger / Rusev.
- Wait, Bret had a separate theme for after matches at this point? Okay then. And it sounds like a blatant ripoff of his WWF theme.
- I've seen Hogan / Warrior before, do I have to watch it?
- Four bat shots and ten seconds in the Sharpshooter's enough for a stretcher job?
- How could it have been premeditated? Sting's the one who hit the ref, not Bret.
- Did the crowd leave? They are f***ing dead right now. This might be the most quiet crowd I've ever heard right now.
- I just realized, this is three consecutive WCW PPVs I've seen with no Ric Flair.
- Warrior's theme is the biggest clusterf*** of a theme I've ever heard.
- The match hasn't even started and the crowd's chanting that both guys suck.
- Aw, they fram the camera in just the right position to keep it from looking like Warrior's blowing him again.
- It still gets there for a second.
- I love that not only is that the second time tonight Giant's accidentally knocked out an nWo guy, the commentary even points it out.
- The referee isn't DQing Hogan because he knows Hogan doesn't care if he's DQed?
- How awesome would it be to see, I dunno, Bray Wyatt bust out a fireball?
- If you can't tell since I've seen this match before I don't have a whole lot to say about it.
- Imagine how much more well-received this PPV had Hogan / Warrior gone on last, therefore meaning that was the one that got cut off?
- Split second of them accidentally playing DDP's theme for a second before the main event, not dubbed over.
- I keep wanting to hear Michael Buffer do the, "Let's get ready to SUCK IT!" bit.
- Now DDP's music is dubbed over, though not with his WWE theme.
- Has nL done Diamond Dallas Paige yet?
- Someone needs to recycle Goldberg's backstage walk entrance already.
- Oddly short main event, but fun stuff. Not giving me much to talk about but definitely enjoying it.
- That Diamond Cutter was beautiful.
- That ending monologue about how wrestling isn't about cheating or trying to set people on fire but about two guys putting their all into a great match would be heartwarming if the people running WCW had at all paid attention to it.
All in all, I thought this show was decent. It's too long of a sit and there's a ton of filler, but between Jericho / Raven, Disco / Juventud, and Goldberg / DDP, there's some stuff worth checking out. Though that stretch of Hall / Nash, Sting / Bret, and Hogan / Warrior all in a row is pretty brutal to sit through.
Next up, we've got Bunkhouse Stampede. I'm seriously wondering is what the hell with this almost exclusively giving me WCW shows, though at least that's well outside of what I've been doing. I'm wondering if I'll ever get an ECW PPV.