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Title - WCW Mayhem (2000).
By Peter Staniforth
And we're live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin; for one of WCW later pay per view shows. Sitting at the commentary table for this one are Tony Schiavone, Stevie Ray; and Mark Madden. Please bear in mind I loved, and still do; WCW. But it sure did get bad sometimes. The question is, is this a review or a warning not to watch? I'm not sure, and you get the pleasure of deciding......
CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE : - Mike Sanders v Kwee Wee. Sanders has, or had; somewhat of an internet following who believed he should be given more time and more of a push. Scary really for me to say this, but even the internet has it's bad points. Kwee Wee was a talented lad, with a disturbing gimmick which included possibly the worst hairstyle ever and assumingly being dressed by a six year old girl. Some decent enough action in this one, but the interruptions from the Natural Born Thrillers, Meng, Ric Flair and security, Paisley; and next door's cat (sorry, I just figured they were letting anyone do a run-in at this point) kind of trivialise it beyond help. * 3/4 out of 5 stars.
It's promo time folks, and Evan Karagias speaks. You dont remember Evan? Lucky you. The less said the better, and now it's angle time as Disqo buys Kronic; but only for 7 minutes and 30 seconds. Hmm, I wonder what will happen there?
THREE WAY TAG MATCH : - Three Count v. The Jung Dragons v. Knoble & Karagias.
Well, now you get to see a pre-Hurricane Shane Helms; and Shannon Moore before he was jobbed and bumped into hell and back. Lots of high octane, fast paced action; and you're left to consider just how much the WWE dropped the ball in the future with some of these guys. Mind you, they didn't sign Evan Karagias; so I guess they did something right. The psychology is a bit missing here, but with moves like this hit so crisp you are willing to forget such things for ten minutes of high spot-tastic action. *** 3/4 out of 5 stars.
Sadly, you're then left with the thoughts of the poster that I believe HHH held up during a match in the D-X/WWF attitude era - 'Who's booking this crap?'; as Mancow faces Jimmy Hart. Scarily enough, this wasn't even a one-off; and was actually considered a feud. A minute and a half of 'action', and let's never mention this again. Just try and wipe it from your mind, for your own sake. DUD. If I did minus stars, I would start now.
HARDCORE TITLE : - Crowbar v. Big Vito v. Reno. Crowbar is the obviously wasted talent in this match, which falls into the same routine as most WCW hardcore matches did at this time, kick and punch and some not overly dramatic weapon shots. Word to bookers - putting one talented worker in the ring with two that aren't will not result in a decent performance being dragged out of the two that aren't. Reno could maybe still find a place in an indy promotion, to be fair; and Crowbar surely deserves a place in one. Didn't I mention Vito? There's a reason for that. And in true WCW Nash/Russo booking style, I won't tell you what it is. * 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Kidman & Rey Mysterio v. Alex Wright (& Kronic). Another strangely booked match, Mysterio must have been left wondering if the bookers had stolen his bottle of tequila. Far too painfully obvious what was going to happen here, as Kronic upped and left when their time was up. Due to the talent involved, the action could have been worse though, so I'll be nice and call it ** out of 5 stars.
Shane Douglas v. 'The Cat' Ernest Miller. In a worrying though, both men had credibility once (Miller more so, mind you). Douglas is now probably where he's best off, on the indy circuit; and Miller at time of writing had a minor push and then subsequent release from the WWE. Any match where a red shoe is considered a dangerous foreign object though, says a lot for itself. 8 nothing minutes of average action, and a * 1/2 out of 5 stars from me.
Bam Bam Bigelow v. Sgt. A-Wall. The Wall is no longer with us, sadly; and almost as depressing as someone of his age passing on is this match. Bigelow is having an off night, and this is coming from someone who's always liked the guy. It's also never a good sign when a worker hits his finishing move twice. They're playing that BBB has a serious injury, so expect him to get up and suddenly recover any minute. * out of 5 stars.
CANADIAN TITLE : - Lance Storm v. General Rection. A Canadian title would have been a good idea if it had been done right. And the pre match shocker is Bigelow MIRACULOUSLY jumping off the stretcher and attacking Rection. Again, a second match in a row where a wrestler's finisher is used twice. Isn't a finishing move MEANT to be the end of a match most times? Still, Storm is working well; Rection was never too bad a worker and this gets ** 1/4 from me.
Jeff Jarrett v. Buff Bagwell. Poor Jarrett, if I was asked to sell for Bagwell; I don't know WHAT I'd do. Jeff does his best here, but some things are just beyond help. Somehow, you feel Jarrett could have done more in the ring with JUDY Bagwell. A mysterious run-in by the son of God, David Flair occurs to no decent explanation; and Jeff tunes his six string up on Bagwell's head to finish a match worthy of ** stars out of five.
WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: - Sean Stasiak & Chuck Palumbo v. Kevin Nash & DDP.
DDP doesn't deserve this. That's all I'll say. A crowd that's far more interested in Nash's partner in crime Scott Hall, shows just how little they care about what's actually IN the ring. Stasiak doesn't have his tape recorder with him sadly, as I swear if they'd taken the reality of his antics and attempted to make an angle out of it then he might have actually got over with audiences. Mark Madden finally breaks the truth that most have known for years, and bitterly breaks the kayfabe illusions of many - Nash only has three moves. (And in my book, one is tossing his hair). The Natural Born Thrillers turn up, and Flair and security thankfully attempt to save the ratings by removing them. Now, I'll leave you to decide which former WCW booker got himself booked to win a belt to hold his trousers up with.... needless to say wearing it would have probably caused an injury and how many months out in merciless rehab.
Goldberg v. Lex Luger. I guess, in fairness; Goldberg DID try here. But Luger is beyond help, and really always was. I just wish Bruiser Brody had dealt with him in the first place and therefore spared us Flexy Lexy. Lex is termed a "cagey veteran" and then they wonder why today's fans don't respect old school like they should. Like I said, Goldberg tried; but he's not exactly Flair and a broomstick in the 1980's as it is. * out of 5 stars.
(Main Event) WCW WORLD TITLE MATCH: - Booker T v. Scott Steiner. Somewhat typically, Booker is doing his best to carry someone who seems determined that even a world champion isn't allowed to look better than him. I'm left to wonder if Steiner a) felt he was above selling, or b) just wasn't capable. No, it's the interactive part of the review; you decide and email me. Booker puts in a good performance here, even better when you consider who he was working with. All the stars for this match are for 'The Book' and his hard work in carrying a magicly muscled former talent to a watchable match, *** 1/4 out of 5 stars.
OVERALL : - I hate overly sarcastic reviews, and I much prefer to put things over. But what can you do? I'm not one of those people who say 'If you like my writing, buy me stuff from Ebay', but damn; I sat through this tape so you didn't have to! So, I think an email of thanks at peterstaniforth@aol.com is the least you lovely folks can do for a Brit who now needs to go and lie down!
Peter Staniforth.
Peter is an English based professional wrestling journalist, currently
writing for the following websites : - www.prowrestlingdaily.com, www.wrestlingclothesline.com,
www.pwbts.com , and www.ukevents.net.
Peter has written press releases for http://www.eeuroshop.com/?tid=ps101 , the official WWE merchandise outlet for the UK & Europe.
Peter reviews video tapes for the following wrestling tape traders, who come strongly recommended by him - www.simania.co.uk, www.violentjtapes.com, www.bluethundervideo.com, www.modtrom.com (the official video production team behind Jersey All Pro Wrestling), www.a1wrestlingvideos.com, and www.ruffneckwrestlingvideos.co.uk .
Peter is also a booking agent to such names as CZW's Nick Berk (and others),
and runs a independent wrestling bookings website for wrestlers - http://www.pstaniforth.vze.com/
. Peter was also mentioned on the credits of the cult PC wrestling simulation
game EWR 4.0, by Adam Ryland.
