Sunday, October 29th, 1995
Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, Michigan
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After the hype video, we are with Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan. They show Giant and Hulk Hogan in their monster trucks. They also let us know that Ric Flair has been attacked.
We get the hype video for the opening match, which is the lamest story ever.
WCW Television Championship Match
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Johnny B. Badd
Badd sneaks from behind on his entrance and we're underway. We get a double noggin knocker with Page and Max Muscle. The brawl spills out in the crowd and Badd gets a bucket from somewhere and puts it on Page's head. We get back in the ring and we go back to standard wrestling. Page dominates for awhile until Badd sneaks in a few pin attempts. Muscle distracts the ref and Page uses some tape to choke Badd. Badd makes his comeback, hitting an inverted atomic drop and throwing some right hands. Badd hits a top rope double ax handle and Kimberly gives Badd a 10. Badd hits a sit-down powerbomb and gets a 2 count. DDP comes back with the Diamond Dream. He goes for the Diamond Cutter, but Badd is able to hold on to the ropes. They battle in the corner and Page spills to the floor. Badd hits a standing somersault dive onto Muscle and Page. He leaps back on him in the ring, but Page kicks out at 2. Muscle grabs Badd, but it backfires and Badd rolls him up, but again Page kicks out. That was a great false finish. We get another double team that backfires and this time Badd wins to become the new Television Champion. The last few minutes were really a lot of fun there.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Zodiac vs. Randy Savage
A fan is in the ring right after the bell starts, so Savage and Zodiac go outside. Zodiac misses with a second rope splash and then Savage hits the top rope elbow drop for the easy win. What was the point of this? Why not just have him wrestle Luger?
Match Rating: 1/4*
The WCW Hotline is sizzling tonight, folks. Gene then talks to Badd and he starts his motivational speaking career here with his speech.
We see the video footage of Kurasawa breaking Hawk's arm in August.
Kurasawa vs. Road Warrior Hawk
Hawk unloads right away and hits the shoulder block. Hawk misses in the corner and hits his shoulder on the ring post. Kurasawa tries to get his arm, but Hawk basically no sells and hits a body slam. Hawk hits a powerbomb, but then Col. Parker grabs his leg. Kurasawa goes up top and misses with an elbow drop. Hawk clotheslines him over the top rope and then hits a leaping clothesline on Parker. Kurasawa throws Hawk into the ring post. Kurasawa hits a Samoan Drop and picks up the victory when Parker holds Kurasawa's leg on the rope during the pin attempt. What the heck was that? I've seen this show before and I still can't comprehend how stupid this match was.
Match Rating: 1/2*
We go back to Gene and he's with Savage, who accuses Gene of having a crooked moustache.
Mr. JL vs. Sabu
Sabu is with the Sheik. Sabu hits a springboard moonsault to the floor and accidentally hits his uncle too. Sabu misses with a dive off the ring steps. JL then hits a top rope dive to Sabu. They are definitely attempting to maximize their minutes. Sabu leaps up to the top, but this time misses the moonsault. Mr. JL tries one and his connects for a 2. Sit-down powerbomb by JL and again a 2 count. Things get a little disjointed and Sabu gets dropkicked off the top to the floor. Back in the ring, Sabu hits a springboard moonsault and gets the win. Immediately after the match, Sheik throws a fireball at JL for good measure. If you like moonsaults, this one was for you. The effort was there, but there was just no psychology. I know that is shocking for a Sabu match.
Match Rating: *1/4
We hear another nonsense promo from the Master and Kevin Sullivan. This is absolutely insulting to everyone's intelligence.
Just in case we aren't getting enough Hulk Hogan tonight, now he gets to help give away a free motorcycle. No one cares.
Meng vs. Lex Luger
Meng's mask that he's wearing to the ring is certainly a choice. This one's gotta be better than the Savage match, right? It's kind of crazy to think that if Meng was a wrestler now, he'd probably be involved with the Bloodline angle and a monster heel. I still don't quite understand why he wasn't able to do more than he did. We get mostly standard stuff here. Luger finally gets some offense in with some clotheslines. Meng gabs the gold spike out of his boot and hits him with it. The referee doesn't see it and Meng covers him. Sullivan comes in during the pin attempt and kicks Luger, to give him the disqualification. Meng is confused and Sullivan tries to explain to him. This wasn't bad or anything, but really felt like filler.
Match Rating: *1/4
Mean Gene is with the Giant. He yells.
Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman vs. Sting & Ric Flair
Flair is not out to start the match as a result of the reported attack. Heenan does a good job of selling how much it would take for Flair not to be out here and the crowd is chanting "We want Flair". It's all Sting in the early going and he's making it look easy. Just as the momentum shifts, out comes Ric Flair in dress clothes and a bandage on his head. Sting tries to come back and make a tag, but Arn is able to pull his tights to avoid it. The crowd is very much into this match and rightfully so. It's the only good story on this show. Sting gets close again, but this time Pillman comes around and distracts Flair to get him out of his corner. I can't say enough of how good of an announcer Bobby Heenan is. His WCW run isn't his peak in terms of humor, but when he is locked in on the story, he is just an absolute master. I do not think anyone will ever top him. They play the game for quite awhile here, with Sting just not able to make the tag. Sting is finally able to make the tag and Pillman tags in Anderson. Flair comes in and hits Sting with a sucker punch and the three men attack him. This gets a huge reaction and Flair rips the bandage off and throws it in the crowd. Heenan loves it and Pillman gives us the 4 Horeseman signal. This is one of the matches where the angle is part of the match for me and it will be reflected in the rating.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Mean Gene talks about the moment for a second and then tries to convince us to call the hotline to talk to Hawk. Flair grabs the mic and is fired up. Someone throws a Coke cup and it lands right in between Flair and Arn, which is pretty amazing. They leave and Gene wants an update on Sting and is upset that he hasn't heard yet. Schiavone and Heenan try to figure out if what happened at Fall Brawl was all part of the plan and Heenan said that he didn't even know about any of it.
We go to Mike Tenay and Lex Luger. Luger says he's not 100%, but when he hears that bell rings, he'll be all over Savage. Get a room, pal.
Now we get a lengthy Hogan/Giant video package. We now go to Bobby Heenan, Eric Bischoff and Bob Chandler. Apparently, Bischoff must be the expert on monster trucks. They talk about Hogan's truck a little bit and now it's time to go up to the roof of Cobo Hall. Words can't describe how terrible this is and it hasn't even started. I love that we're supposed to buy that both Hogan and Giant know how to be monster truck experts here. Hogan finally wins the battle, but it gets worse from there. They both are out of their trucks and Giant grabs Hogan and they battle, which leads to Hogan pushing him off the roof and allegedly into the Detroit River. I have been a wrestling fan for a really long time and have seen so many stupid things in this business. This is really high up there on that list. They go back to the announce team and Bischoff and Heenan are trying to sell this, while Chandler has no idea what to do here. Meanwhile, you can hear vendors selling things in the background.
Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage
This is also where booking matters and where WCW didn't always do a good job. Obviously, they have to sell this Giant injury thing, so why would you book this match to follow it? Schiavone even apologizes to both competitors that they have to figure out what happened to Giant. Within seconds, Jimmy Hart is out at ringside. Luger gets a mixed reaction to his initial offense and by mixed, I mean mostly boos. Heenan is screaming trying to get an update. Jimmy Hart has the ref distracted and then Luger tries to cheat with pinning his feet on the ropes, but the ref doesn't see it. Savage shoves Luger into Hart, hits the top rope elbow drop and wins. This was a Nitro match at best. Right after the win, Heenan goes right back to what happened.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Schiavone is at the point where now he's not even selling it and talking about how exciting the monster truck battle was. Heenan is still livid and talking about how far he and Giant's "father" go back. They replay the whole segment, just in case you didn't remember how terrible it was. Heenan gets on his knees to beg for someone to give them an update. Heenan says the reason they haven't heard is because it's bad. The best part of all of this, is that it's somehow going to get even worse.
WCW Championship Match
Hulk Hogan vs. Giant
Hogan comes out with no expression on his face. He grabs the mic and says that the Giant wasn't supposed to take the plunge, brother. He's then interrupted by the Dungeon of Doom music and it's the Giant and Sullivan. Giant has no signs of injury. I still can't believe they booked this. Hogan tries to to body slam him, but instead just gets his fingers up Giant's butthole. Giant goes into late 80s heel offense, but the crowd is mostly still into this. Giant is noticeably not the wrestler you think of during his prime. Giant misses with an elbow drop and Hogan starts hitting the usual crap. Hogan clotheslines him over the top rope and to the floor. They start walking to the back, which makes no sense. Hogan goes after him and throws him in the ring. Kevin Sullivan really adds nothing to a match as a manager. It just makes you appreciate the good ones so much more. Giant slaps on my favorite move, the bear hug. They are starting to lose the crowd a little bit here. Hogan finally fights his way out of it after seemingly 25 minutes in it. He gets out, but then runs into a chokeslam. You'll never believe it, but Hogan kicks out at 2. Hogan hits the big boot, but Giant is still on his feet. Hogan rakes the eyes and hits a body slam. He hits a leg drop and goes for the pin and the camera misses that Jimmy Hart hit the referee. Hart hits Hogan in the back of the head with the belt. Hogan is livid and then Giant puts him in another bear hug. Are you kidding me? Out comes Luger and Savage. Most importantly, here comes the YET-AY! He comes from behind Hogan and has him in a compromising position. Luger then puts Hogan in the Torture Rack. He then puts Savage in the Torture Rack. Heenan says that we'll never see another pay per view like this again. If only that were true. They announce that Giant is the winner by DQ, but the title does not change hands. This is absolutely one of the worst main events I can think of. To anyone who says Diesel/Mabel is terrible, I submit this as something that is a million times worse.
Overall Rating: 0 Stars
This is an all timer when it comes to bad shows. The opening match is fun and the Flair/Sting stuff was well done. Everything else is terrible and the main event along with the monster truck stuff is among the worst I have ever seen in my 35 years of watching wrestling. Absolutely atrocious.
Overall Rating: 18%
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