Hog Wild 96' - August 1996
Sturgis, North Dakota
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, The Giant holds the WCW World Championship, Ric Flair is the United States Champion, and Lex Luger is the Television Champion. Rey Mysterio holds the Cruiserweight Championship and Harlem Heat are the World Tag Team Champions.
COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes
After a pretty awesome opening video package, we get Tony Schiavone in a leather hat, Dusty Rhodes wearing denim on denim, and Bobby Heenan looking like he can't wait for the first plane out of North Dakota. PLUS ONE FOR COSTUMES! (+1)
The WCW Cruiserweight Championship is on the line in the opening contest - Champion Rey Mysterio defending against the Ultimo Dragon (introduced as the "Ultimate" Dragon in this match). The crowd is not enthralled in this, though, this could be expected considering the crowd is made up of a couple thousand bikers and not necessarily a couple thousand WCW fans. Whether fans are interested or not, the action is exceptional - Dragon busting out a running powerbomb early on before targeting Rey's knee. Minutes later, Dragon ends up utilizing a variation of the Torture Rack that wouldn't be unfamiliar to Nikki Bella fans and follows it up with a surfboard, though Mysterio retaliates (and elicits some big crowd responses) with a pair of springboard maneuvers (expertly sold as devastating by Dragon). Less impressive but possibly more devastating is Dragon's crossbody onto Mysterio on the outside, a move that looks like it shattered at least a rib or two. A few barely-there mistimes keep this one from perfection and, personally, I think the match needed one or two more stretches to really put it at an all-time great level, but aside from those petty gripes, this match is a ton of a fun and worth a watch. (4/5)
Second up is Scott "Flash" Norton taking on an injured Ice Train. Tony explains that Ice Train was injured before the show by an angry Giant, which leads to him coming out with a bandaged arm (and also means that Train's manager, Teddy Long, is unable to accompany him as he too was beaten down by the WCW World Champion). Norton targets Train's damaged limb throughout the match, but Ice Train at least attempts to fight back at several points. Norton does a nice job of coming across as vicious and this match, despite my chronicled history of hatred towards Ice Train, exceeds expectations by being pretty damn tolerable and making both guys look pretty good. (2.5/5)
We cut to a video package based on the New World Order's attack on Arn Anderson. Ric Flair is excellent here, cutting a more serious promo than he'd done in many, many years. Cool segment.
Here we go, folks, the Battle of the Bikes - Bull Nakano (with Sonny Onoo) taking on Madusa, with both women fighting to defend their respective motorcycles. Nakano takes the early advantage with a pair of nunchucks as the rowdy audience erupts with USA chants. Nakano's moveset is impressive - she busts out a Randy Orton-esque DDT from the ropes, briefly locks up Madusa in the tarantula, and connects with a lariat and back elbow that look as vicious as any you'd see in a men's match. Madusa's offense is less exotic, but its impactful and further contrasts the hero and the villain. The finish is unnecessarily confusing and and the post match is fairly lackluster, though, the crowd does seem to appreciate it. A few more minutes and a stronger ending would've really boosted this match. Too bad. (2/5)
Backstage, the Steiners are on computers attempting to chat with their fans via CompuServe.
Dean Malenko makes his way down the aisle, mid-conversation with Jimmy Hart, who wants the Iceman to take out the Dungeon of Doom's main target (and Malenko's opponent tonight) Chris Benoit. This match is somewhat infamous for the crowd responses that erupt later on, but for a good while, the fans do seem at least a little bit interested. Benoit and Malenko hit a ton of impressive maneuevers, blending high-flying with mat wrestling with pure physicality as Tony Schiavone points out once they tumble to the outside. Unfortunately, at a certain point, the crowd pretty much dies, no longer even respectfully cheering the tremendous effort of these two as they connect with suplex after suplex and reversal after reversal. A crossbody to the outside by Benoit, usually a high spot, is met with a yawn, while Malenko's kickout of a devastating powerbomb causes a collective groan. Genuine boos can be heard at the non-finish, but they can also be heard whe the announcer announces there will be a 5-minute overtime. From here, Benoit locks in a Texas Cloverleaf, but can not put away his opponent, which leads to more exchanges and more leg work via a Figure Four and a grapevine. The third overtime is even less pleasing to the fans than the first, culminating in a rather unremarkable cheap conclusion. This is the type of match that a hot crowd could have elevated into a Match of the Year candidate, but in this setting, it doesn't even deserve Match of the Night honors. (3.5/5)
Harlem Heat defend their Tag Team Championships against The Steiner Brothers next. This one goes a few minutes too long for me, but it works in certain stretches simply because of how much heat Booker and Stevie Ray get. Some critics/reviewers have noted that this heat may have been racially charged, but in my viewing I didn't hear anything too nasty coming from the crowd. The action in this is fairly pedestrian, with Rick and Scott dominating through their respectable use of suplexes. The finish was anything but clean and the crowd thoroughly dislikes it. (2/5)
Eddie Guerrero challenges Ric Flair for his United States Championship in the next bout. The match kicks off with some great Flair schtick and there is obvious natural chemistry between the two competitors, but this match just doesn't live up to its potential due to a few noticeable miscommunications. On his podcast, Flair mentions that he "brought the house down" with Guerrero multiple times on the road and there are flashes on display here that support his claim, even if this one wasn't their best showing together. Still, any match featuring a young and energetic Guerrero and a Flair that was still as capable as he was is going to be better than average and this one certainly is. (3.5/5)
Time for The Outsiders vs. Sting and Lex Luger. Sting buoys the action here, which is very straightforward and simple, but that's not to say this isn't a pretty fun match, especially for New World Order fans. Hall and Nash do an excellent job in portraying their characters, though Hall is far from crisp in his offense - he nearly botches his signature fallaway slam, telegraphs the reversal for his Razor's Edge finish, and has a few notable miscues with Lex Luger towards the end. Nash is more competent, but does little aside from clotheslines and elbows. The finish is clever and as well-executed when you consider it's supposed to be sloppy. (2.5/5)
Main event time - "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan vs. The Giant for the big man's WCW World Championship. Michael Buffer does everything he can during the intro to establish Hogan as the villain, clearly stating that he turned his back on all his fans, but the audience in attendance just doesn't seem to know or care about that. When the bell rings, Hogan tries his best to get heat by dodging his opponent and stalling but, again, this only works temporarily - once the action begins, the sound of kids chanting "Let's Go Hogan!" drown out any boos. Considering these two had wrestled more than a few times prior to this, I was expecting a much better in-ring contest. The Giant had had two pretty good defenses on PPV (against Luger and Sting) leading up to this match, and while Hogan is hardly as spry, one would expect at least some sort of "action" or a more thoughtful layout. This one has almost none. The finish includes the expected run-ins and goes the way one would expect, and it's the post-match that delivers a surprise. The Booty Man joins the nWo for a celebration (with a birthday cake for his best friend), but ends up getting beaten down for his efforts, Hogan explaining that the nWo "doesn't mix business with pleasure" in a bumbled, confusing promo that also includes some shots against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. Seeing Brutus Beefcake get beaten down is a guaranteed bonus point to any match, but it is hard to muster much enthusiasm for this match aside from its novelty value as the first post-Bash at the Beach battle for the heel Hulkster. (2/5)
Harlem Heat defend their Tag Team Championships against The Steiner Brothers next. This one goes a few minutes too long for me, but it works in certain stretches simply because of how much heat Booker and Stevie Ray get. Some critics/reviewers have noted that this heat may have been racially charged, but in my viewing I didn't hear anything too nasty coming from the crowd. The action in this is fairly pedestrian, with Rick and Scott dominating through their respectable use of suplexes. The finish was anything but clean and the crowd thoroughly dislikes it. (2/5)
Eddie Guerrero challenges Ric Flair for his United States Championship in the next bout. The match kicks off with some great Flair schtick and there is obvious natural chemistry between the two competitors, but this match just doesn't live up to its potential due to a few noticeable miscommunications. On his podcast, Flair mentions that he "brought the house down" with Guerrero multiple times on the road and there are flashes on display here that support his claim, even if this one wasn't their best showing together. Still, any match featuring a young and energetic Guerrero and a Flair that was still as capable as he was is going to be better than average and this one certainly is. (3.5/5)
Time for The Outsiders vs. Sting and Lex Luger. Sting buoys the action here, which is very straightforward and simple, but that's not to say this isn't a pretty fun match, especially for New World Order fans. Hall and Nash do an excellent job in portraying their characters, though Hall is far from crisp in his offense - he nearly botches his signature fallaway slam, telegraphs the reversal for his Razor's Edge finish, and has a few notable miscues with Lex Luger towards the end. Nash is more competent, but does little aside from clotheslines and elbows. The finish is clever and as well-executed when you consider it's supposed to be sloppy. (2.5/5)
Main event time - "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan vs. The Giant for the big man's WCW World Championship. Michael Buffer does everything he can during the intro to establish Hogan as the villain, clearly stating that he turned his back on all his fans, but the audience in attendance just doesn't seem to know or care about that. When the bell rings, Hogan tries his best to get heat by dodging his opponent and stalling but, again, this only works temporarily - once the action begins, the sound of kids chanting "Let's Go Hogan!" drown out any boos. Considering these two had wrestled more than a few times prior to this, I was expecting a much better in-ring contest. The Giant had had two pretty good defenses on PPV (against Luger and Sting) leading up to this match, and while Hogan is hardly as spry, one would expect at least some sort of "action" or a more thoughtful layout. This one has almost none. The finish includes the expected run-ins and goes the way one would expect, and it's the post-match that delivers a surprise. The Booty Man joins the nWo for a celebration (with a birthday cake for his best friend), but ends up getting beaten down for his efforts, Hogan explaining that the nWo "doesn't mix business with pleasure" in a bumbled, confusing promo that also includes some shots against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. Seeing Brutus Beefcake get beaten down is a guaranteed bonus point to any match, but it is hard to muster much enthusiasm for this match aside from its novelty value as the first post-Bash at the Beach battle for the heel Hulkster. (2/5)
With an average match/segment rating of 2.88-out-of-5 (thanks partially to the commentator's costumes), Hog Wild 96' starts off hot but peters out over the course of its 3-hour running time. Mysterio/Dragon is phenomenal, Train/Norton is smartly worked, and while Nakano/Madusa is a bit disappointing, Malenko/Benoit makes up for any missing technicality. Things plummet from there, though, with only Flair/Guerrero being better than average. The main event is a bit like the show - its opening minutes feel special and fans looking to relive the glories of the nWo's early run will find things to like in the post-match, but the bulk of it is fairly ho-hum.
FINAL RATING - Watch It…With Remote in Hand
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