WCW Slamboree 96'

Slamboree 96' – May 1996

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Heading into tonight's contest, Lex Luger not only holds the TV Championship, but shares the World Tag Team Championships with best friend Sting. The Giant is the WCW World Champion, having won the title from Ric Flair a few weeks prior. Dean Malenko is the Cruiserweight Champion, with tonight being the first time the title will be on the line on a WCW PPV.

Tonight's show features another installment of the interesting-but-often-awfully-booked Lethal Lottery tournament, where friends and foes are teamed together "randomly" and proceed to go through a series of rounds until one man is left standing, heading to The Great American Bash to challenge for the WCW World Championship (SPOILER: They don't). Kicking things off are Booker T and Road Warrior Animal taking on the team of Lex Luger and Road Warrior Hawk, the kind of "random pairing" between longtime rivals that exposes that there is nothing random at all about this tournament. Luger and Animal start things off, with the Total Package bumping around considerably more than he typically would. When Booker gets in the ring he gets a sizeable pop for the Spinnerooni, but what really gets the crowd on their feet is The Road Warriors cleaning house. Unfortunately, this leads to a non-finish rather quickly. It could've been worse, but it also could've been considerably better. (0.5/5)

In yet another example of how nonsensical the Lethal Lottery "drawing" was, the next match features Public Enemy (randomly paired together) taking on the Four Horsemen's Chris Benoit and the Dungeon of Doom's Kevin Sullivan. Benoit and Rocco Rock start things up, with Benoit garnering more cheers than the Flyboy due to his Horsemen status. Sullivan is incredibly sloppy in this match, though its not like either member of Public Enemy is a technical wizard. Without Benoit this would be an unredeemable mess, but thanks to a risky suplex to the outside and an even more ridiculous table spot (again taken by Benoit), this one isn't a complete waste of time. (1.5/5)

And just like that, it is time for our third Lethal Lottery contest - Sgt. Craig Pittman and "pre-Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner taking on The Booty Man and Rick Steiner (in case you hadn't yet gotten the idea that Lethal Lottery partnerships are "random"). Booty Man and Craig Pittman open the match because why would you want to start with two guys with actual wrestling ability? The pace, physicality, and enjoyment picks up when Scott gets in the ring, though, its a short-lived high because he tags Pittman back in relatively quickly. Things pick up again when the Booty Man tags in Rick Steiner, but the action takes a dip after Pittman botches a German Suplex. Rick then takes the Sarge's head off with a clothesline in retaliation and we finally get what the fans wanted to see from the bell - Rick and Scott locking up. Their showdown makes for a fun stretch, the two showcasing their amateur backgrounds and suplex prowess. As the match goes on, Pittman looks increasingly out of his league, at one point struggling to lock in his own finisher. Like the two previous bouts, this is another quick match more worthy of a TV show than a PPV event, but at least you get to see the Steiners lock up. (1.5/5)

The Lethal Lottery continues with our next match - Lord Steven Regal and Squire Dave Taylor taking on Michael Wallstreet and Jim Duggan. Duggan and Wallstreet are coming into the match as rivals, but I don't remember that feud at all. Regal does an excellent job of getting heat from the crowd prior to the match, a small detail that nobody bothered trying in any of the three matches before. Duggan gets the crowd behind him and Wallstreet avoids tagging in - a good way to establish his own villainous character. Unfortunately, the match is too rushed to build a story, but one must give credit to the work of all four performers in getting their personas over as quickly as possible. A few more minutes would've probably made this the best match of the evening so far. (1.5/5)

"Dirty" Dick Slater and Bobby "The Earl of" Eaton partner up to take on Alex Wright and the Disco Inferno. While Wright and Inferno showcase a few moments of pretty good wrestling, this one is too short and too inconsequential to rate any higher than what I'm giving it. While not unwatchable, it is well below average...even for WCW 95'-96' standards. (1/5)

Diamond Dallas Page, who is back in WCW thanks to a "benefactor" who somehow voided the Retirement Match stipulation from UnCensored, teams up with the Barbarian in the next match, squaring off against the Dungeon of Doom's Hugh Morrus and Meng. Before this one starts, Schiavone mentions this is the 6th Lethal Lottery Match (of 8), which is remarkable just because I'm not sure there have ever been 5 shorter matches on a single PPV than the previous 5. As per usual, Page's bumping is impressive, but it is also nice to see him get some offense in. The Meng/Barbarian action lacks the suspense of the Steiner's squaring off, but is no less physical and effectively makes both men look like monsters. There's a bit of a miscue involving Hugh Morrus on the top rope, but for the most part, everyone hits their spots correctly. Unlike the previous bouts, this one ends with a creative finish that, while not revolutionary, at least rewards the close-watching viewer. (2/5)

The first round continues as the newest member of the Dungeon of Doom, Big Bubba, teams up with Harlem Heat's Stevie Ray to take on the pairing of Scott "Flash" Norton and Ice Train, otherwise known as Fire & Ice. Schiavone notes that this is another example of a team that "survived the odds" and made it through the lottery intact - even though, considering the amount of tag teams that stayed whole, the odds weren't that bad. Anyway, Norton and Stevie Ray start things off, trading some power moves before Big Bubba gets tagged in and takes the upperhand. Ice Train comes in for a short spell too, but this match is very thin in terms of story and momentum shifts. The last 30 seconds are particularly dull and unspectacular. (0/5)

The final first round match is next as Eddie Guerrero teams with Arn Anderson to take on Ric Flair and The Macho Man. What's cool here is that Flair doesn't show up when his music goes off, which makes sense considering that Savage and Flair had been engaged in a blood feud for months. Instead, Savage arrives first and Naitch doesn't make his way down the aisle until Savage has been jumped by Double A. When Flair does come in, he immediately goes to work on his own partner, stomping away at the Macho Man. The bell rings and Guerrero and Flair go right at eachother, their natural chemistry on full display. At times, the match seems to fall apart - with Flair attacking his own partner and the Horsemen tagging eachother in despite being on opposite sides - but it has enough internal logic to make sense. It is easily the most captivating and best worked match of the first round. (2.5/5)

Great American Bash commercial.

"Mean" Gene stands with three Hooters waitresses to unveil which team will receive a bye directly into Battle Bowl and without much fanfare, Fire & Ice are inserted into Battle Bowl. Okerlund then announces that the second round will kick off with Jim Duggan and VK Wallstreet taking on Dick Slater and the Earl of Eaton. Terrific!

Brad Armstrong is out next, set to square off against the WCW Cruiserweight Champion, Dean Malenko. Malenko shows off a wide arsenal of moves, attacking Armstrong's knee throughout, but as even Heenan notes, Armstrong doesn't seem to suffer much longterm effect from Malenko's strategy - an unfortunate flaw in what is an otherwise solid match. Armstrong's dropkicks and uppercuts are on-point, but they come off as a bit "old school" compared to what Malenko pulls out in the match. Had Armstrong adapted his own moveset a bit more, he would've fit in better in the Cruiser scene. I dig the final spot, but I wouldn't say it makes sense in the context of the match as it doesn't capitalize on any of the weaknesses Malenko had spent the previous ten minutes working on. (3/5)

Glacier promo, which I'm tempted to give 5 to, but instead will just leave off my scorecard.

Fear not, I'll get to it.

"Mean" Gene and the Hooters girls announce the second Battlebowl match of the second round - Public Enemy vs. Randy Savage and Ric Flair, though, Okerlund mentions it is unclear if Savage will even be participating. Okerlund then announces the last second-round match, Booty Man and Rick Steiner vs. DDP and Barbarian. Fascinating!

Slater and Eaton vs. Duggan and Wallstreet is next, the kind of match that would've been really exciting a decade earlier. Before the bell rings, Duggan and Wallstreet start brawling, but end up helping each other out a bit when Eaton and Slater try to get the jump on them. Schiavone tries to pump this one up to the best of his ability, literally screaming into the microphone to make this one seem much more action-packed than it really is. The finish makes sense considering the animosity between Duggan and Wallstreet as the post-match points to their rivalry continuing. (1.5/5)

Public Enemy arrive next, but when Randy Savage's music hits, there's no sign of Macho. Flair does make his way down the aisle (accompanied by Liz and Woman), but is attacked by Savage before he can reach the ring. A number of wrestlers and security staff separate him while the crowd chants "Let him go!" and the referee declares this one a count-out victory for Public Enemy. I'll give it a half-point for continuing the Flair/Savage story. (0.5/5)

The Booty Man and Rick Steiner vs. Page and Barbarian is next and, for once, it seems like WCW had the right idea in booking this tournament as Page and Booty Man had engaged in a lengthy feud over the services of Kimberly. The weakest link in this match is Booty, with Rick Steiner carrying the water for his team by delivering several impressive suplexes. Barbarian delivers a solid powerbomb and some stiff strikes himself. The finish could be crisper, but I'm not going to complain about the end result. (1/5)

The United States Championship is on the line next, with Konnan defending the strap against Jushin Thunder Liger (accompanied by Sonny Onoo). Mike Tenay joins on commentary for this one, providing some expertise on the careers of the foreign talents. The in-ring action is quite good - Liger's brainbuster, Konnan's armbar, Liger's variations on the surfboard and bow-and-arrow, Konnan countering Liger's crossbody with a stiff kick...the execution and back-and-forth of the action is near-flawless. Like most of Konnan's matches up to this point, though, the crowd is respectful but never seems fully engaged. There is an awesome pair of near-falls after Konnan connects with an Alabama Slam in the corner, but even this doesn't seem to pop the crowd as much as it should. A clean and decisive ending makes this a worthwhile watch for fans of either grappler. (3.5/5)

Ric Flair joins "Mean" Gene Okerlund and proceeds to cut an excellent promo about Randy Savage and Steve "Mongo" McMichaels. Flair hits below the belt by making a comment about how Mongo's wife is in his back pocket and then proceeds to challenge Mongo to find any partner he wants to take on him and Arn. Mongo arrives and welcomes Kevin Greene to his side. This is a really cool segment that goes just a hair too long as Greene and Mongo are nowhere near as entertaining on the mic as Flair, but the crowd is heavily into this and its always nice to see the Horsemen involved in a major storyline. (4/5)

8 men enter next - Ice Train, Scott Norton, DDP, Slater, Eaton, Barbarian, and Public Enemy - in BattleBowl's final round, an over-the-top rope (or pinfall?) battle royale. At the time, this would've been one of the most uninteresting and star-lacking matches possible - not a single character involved was anywhere close to "main event level" in 1996. DDP is nearly eliminated a few times, including one time that Schiavone notes should've been an elimination, while Dusty Rhodes erroneously mentions that Barbarian (who is trying to push Eaton out) is taking on his old partner (when Eaton's partner was actually Dick Slater). The crowd is dead for the majority of the contest, which isn't surprising considering there isn't a single true babyface involved. Page eliminates a number of men via pinfall, but has considerably more of a struggle putting away Barbarian. In the end, the crowd respectfully cheers his win, but its not like they really came alive for the finish. (2/5)

Main event time - Sting challenging The Giant for his WCW World Championship belt with Lex Luger and Jimmy Hart handcuffed to each other on the outside. Unlike The Giant's matches with Hogan, this one shows that, against the right opponent (like an energized Sting), he was a remarkable act fully deserving of his main event spot. In this one, The Giant actually moves around quite a bit, while Sting brings real fire, wrestling from underneath in a way that he had not been able to since his legendary feud with Vader. While I wouldn't call this a perfect match, the ref bumps and shifts in momentum are logical and well-executed. Unfortunately, the finish seems a bit off due to a lack of proper positioning, the kind of ending one expects the WWE would have sufficiently rehearsed. Sting is just not close enough to the ropes and the camera doesn't really capture the moment and controversy. A far better match than any The Giant had with the Hulkster and one that the crowd was engaged in from the very start. (3.5/5)

With 16 separate matches/segments for a woeful average rating of 1.84-out-of-5, Slamboree is a loaded card. Unfortunately, it is loaded with all sorts of garbage matches featuring workers that are given too little time to tell a story (Eaton, Luger, Bossman), unfit for the roles they're expected to play (Public Enemy, Benoit), or just not interesting enough to even deserve a spot on PPV (Slater, Stevie Ray). Somewhere in this show would have been one of the best Clash of the Champions ever -  Sting/Giant, the Flair/Mongo segment, the US and Cruiserweight Championship matches, and even the BattleBowl finale (which could have been infinitely better and garnered much bigger crowd responses had they just let Eddie Guerrero or Rick Steiner be a part of it) are all decent-to-great and the crowd is responsive enough to lend them importance.

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville