WCW SuperBrawl Revenge

WCW SuperBrawl: Revenge

Nashville, Tennessee - February 2001

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WCW World Heavyweight Champion is Scott Steiner, the United States Champion is his brother Rick Steiner, and the Cruiserweight Champion is Chavo Guerrero. The WCW World Tag Team Champions are The Natural Born Thrillers (Palumbo and O'Haire).

COMMENTARY: Tony Schiavone and Scott Hudson

The show kicks off with a 6-man battle to become the number one contender for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. For some reason (injury maybe?), Billy Kidman was beaten down before the match by Road Warrior Animal (who debuted at WCW Sin) and gets replaced by Shane Helms, who was getting over as a "tweener" turning babyface in the weeks leading up to this match. The rest of the challengers are Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi (of the Yung Dragons), Evan Karagias, Jamie Noble, and Shannon Moore (Helms' partner in the two-man Three Count). This match starts out decently with some cool spots including a pop-up-into-a-sitout powerbomb from Three Count and some stereo moonsaults by the Dragons. Karagias is awful, though, and botches a number of moves early on. There is a terrible sequence where practically everyone in the ring attempts a move at the same time and they all miss by a mile. I'm not sure if that was supposed to look cool, but it was a dumb, dumb idea. Jimmy Yang screws up the first elimination of the match (which was thankfully Karagias) and the crowd boos him mercilessly. Noble then hits Yang with a tombstone to knock him out of the match (and the crowd cheers). As the match winds down, there are some questionable psychology moments as guys break up pinfalls that would be beneficial to them. The story of the match becomes Shane and Shannon turning on each other, with Helms playing the fan favorite and it works really well. Unfortunately, by this point, WCW was on life support and no amount of good matches could fix it. The botches in the middle of this match keep this one from being a "must watch," but its undeniably a better than average match just thanks to the effort of Helms, Moore, Hayashi, and Noble. (3/5)

Hugh Morrus (having reverted back to his original name) takes on former MIA teammate The Wall next. I wasn't expecting this to be very good, but it was surprisingly solid with both guys putting forth noticeable effort. The brawling is hard-hitting and while there are some hiccups and slow sections, they get the animosity across and the match does appear to be a real struggle between two heavyweight competitors. Not the worst match I've seen this month. (2/5)

Shawn Stasiak and Mark Jindrak team up to challenge the reigning WCW World Tag Team Champions - Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire - in the next match. Like the previous bout, the story here is based on the break-up of a stable (this time the Natural Born Thrillers). Palumbo plays face-in-peril for a lengthy stretch of this match, which helps things considerably as this could've been a total mess without a clear story to build and develop with the 10 minutes they're given (arguably 2-3 too many for guys this inexperienced). O'Haire had undeniable star potential, though, I always felt like sticking him with 3 other guys with such similar builds didn't help him at all. When he does get the hot tag, the crowd does come alive a little - though, its always hard to tell because these latter WCW PPVs feature the most obvious and annoying crowd sweetening I've ever heard. The right team wins as, by this point, not a single title in WCW was worth much and they all desperately needed to be built up by not being "hot potato'd" just for the hell of it. (2.5/5)

Finally a match that is actually somewhat worth watching - Chavo Guerrero defending the WCW Cruiserweight Championship against Rey Mysterio. Guerrero and Mysterio are given ample time and, for the most part, they use it well - though Mysterio does botch a couple of moves (a rare sight). Watching it, I wondered if maybe Mysterio having to wrestle in ridiculously baggy overalls had something to do with his lack of balance. While not nearly as good as Rey's classic with Eddie from a few years prior (most notably their Halloween Havoc 97' classic), its clear that Chavo and Rey were aiming to replicate some of that magic (with certain moves even being clever twists on signature Eddie/Rey spots). Chavo had some good matches against guys like Noble and Helms around this time, but here he looks even more comfortable and busts out a number of good-looking maneuvers. This isn't a "must see" classic, but it does show that WCW still had talent on its roster even as they neared their expiration date. (3/5)

Dustin Rhodes challenges Rick Steiner for his United States Championship next. There's a pre-match video package that hits all the major plot points of this feud, but it still didn't excite me much. I'm a big Dustin Rhodes fan, but the late 90s/early 00s were not his best years and Rick Steiner was also far from his prime. This one starts out loose and Rick Steiner's heat segment is dull, but when Dustin takes over the match - surprisingly - picks up nicely and actually grabbed my attention. The finish is nicely executed too and its Dustin (again) who should get most of the credit as he takes an expert face-first bump into an exposed turnbuckle. (2/5)

The next match - Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell vs. KroNik - needs some background. Earlier in the night, WCW President (?) Ric Flair was banning all the babyfaces from the arena after their matches and also seemed to organize an attack on KroNik member Bryan Clarke before his match (Bryan Adams is alerted to this by Lance Storm, who told him before the previous match that KroNik would be competing next). Anyway, the set-up is that Adams will have to face off against Totally Buffed alone. Before the match begins, though, Luger and Bagwell cut a lengthy promo on the fans, proclaiming their greatness and - at one point - forgetting who the World Tag Team Champions are but promising to beat them too. Bryan Adams finally comes down and, lo and behold, he's backed up by Bryan Clarke...or so we're led to believe. The two teams brawl in the entranceway and, off-camera, Bryan Clarke is taken out with a chair. On commentary, Scott Hudson makes it sound like he saw Buff Bagwell level Clarke with the chair even though the viewer did not and talks about how Clarke suffered a similar attack a few weeks before this, indicating that Clarke might be out for good. As Adams gets double-teamed in the ring, the camera periodically shows Clarke on the arena floor, a chair covering his head. Its an odd look. Despite being outnumbered by a former WCW World Champion and a multi-time Tag Champion, Adams is able to overcome the odds and rally until...Bryan Clarke comes in and barely german suplexes him! Clarke then reveals himself to be not Clarke at all - its Mike Awesome in make-up! Mike Awesome's make-up job is amazing too, reminiscent of "Spaghett" from Tim and Eric. The real Bryan Clarke staggers out from backstage, just to make it even more clear that this was all a ruse from the get-go, but gets beaten down too. This was not a good match, but I must admit to being entertained by all the shenanigans in this match (even as it made the commentators look like idiots). (1.5/5)

Ernest Miller challenges Lance Storm in the next match for Commissioner-ship of WCW. Storm was Ric Flair's puppet while Miller was the babyface, but I'm not sure anyone in the arena cares either way really. Lance Storm cuts a promo before the match - which is a recurring theme for this show. I'm guessing that WCW opted to do this because their TV ratings suggested that nobody was watching their shows and they needed to make it clear who the heel was before every match (by having them come out and insult the crowd in increasingly boring ways). Storm calls himself the best technical wrestler in the world and that might have been true in 2001...but, technically, this match still sucks. Miller was never a great in-ring performer but I think he actually got worse over time. The finish involves "Above Average" Mike Sanders (another Ric Flair lackey) trying to help Storm win the match but distracting him instead and costing him the match in the end. This match went 8 minutes, which felt at least 3 minutes too long. I'll award a half point for Storm's effort, but that's it. (0.5/5)

Next up is supposed to be Jeff Jarrett vs. Diamond Dallas Page - but Jarrett comes out and says that because DDP stated he was willing to fight Kanyon "any place any time," we see these two rivals go at it in a match that was basically building since the previous June's Great American Bash show. As is often the case for Kanyon's matches, there is some excellent offense on display - including Kanyon delivering a tremendous suplex from the outside of the ring back into the ring while standing on the second rope (a move I'm not sure I've seen anyone do aside from Cesaro). Page is game here too, clearly working harder than 90% of the other guys on the show to try to get the intensity and personal issue between these guys over and even getting some color. Looking back, it is painfully obvious how little the WWE thought of Page after the WCW buy-out because, even in 01', the guy was still probably in the Top 10 best workers in the company and easily in the top 5 of most over - which is impressive considering that those two loops in the Venn Diagram did not crossover much (for example, while AJ Styles was under contract in 2001 and probably already one of the best cruisers under contract, he was a no-name while the much-less talented and mobile Kevin Nash was still main eventing). Jeff Jarrett helps Kanyon screw over Page, there's a ref bump, yadda yadda. Remember, the whole purpose of this show was designed to bury the babyfaces so that they could come back for revenge down the line (led by Bischoff, I believe). This isn't good enough to be considered better than average, but its a step up from the last couple bouts. (2.5/5)

This is followed Jeff Jarrett taking on DDP in the match we were supposed to get originally. Somehow, DDP survives Jarrett's initial pin attempt and subsequent offense, rallying in heroic fashion as the crowd chants "DDP!" in unison. They brawl into the crowd, DDP showing more energy than he probably should considering he just went 10 minutes with Kanyon and lost that match. Back in the ring, Jarrett applies a sleeper and I'm not really sure what this match was designed to do. I thought that the point was to have Jarrett sneak a cheap win over DDP because he was already a beaten man, but once they started going back-and-forth, that story no longer made any sense as its now basically an even contest. In fact, when DDP hits Jarrett with a DDT, they both end up selling it like death - which would make sense if Jarrett had also wrestled earlier but that's not that case. Kanyon gets involved again and DDP even takes a chairshot...but won't stay down. Jarrett grabs his guitar but bashes Kanyon in the head with it and DDP hits a Diamond Cutter for a relatively clean win over Jarrett. I'm not sure who had the book at this moment, but these two back-to-back matches lacked clarity and consistency. Jarrett's Stroke and a Flatliner were enough to beat DDP in minute 8, but a chairshot doesn't do it in minute 16? Points awarded for the effort, but the "story" made little sense to me. (2/5)

Main event time - Kevin Nash challenging Scott Steiner for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. This match starts with more overbooked nonsense as Ric Flair comes down to the commentary table, followed by his champion, Scott Steiner. Didn't these two hate each other in real life? Steiner cuts a promo about how cowardly Nash is and Flair, as President, announces that the match is now a Loser Leaves Town match (the winner being forced out of WCW). Nash and Steiner expect Nash to lose by count-out, but instead, he rolls down the ramp in a wheelchair. Flair and Steiner are shocked, believing that he's injured. Nash throws off the blanket and reveals that he is not injured at all! Its actually a pretty cool visual even if I don't think anybody was "swerved." Steiner is inexplicably gloating in the corner as all this goes down, which allows Nash to come in and clock him with the title. Nash makes the cover and we have a NEW WCW CHAMPION! The crowd pops for it, but Flair comes in and announces the match is actually 2-out-of-3 falls. Steiner is bleeding but manages to get fight back, the two heavyweights going to the outside and doing some brawling. Midajah distracts Nash, allowing Steiner to waffle him with a lead pipe! Steiner then goes to Flair and demands he announce that the match is also Falls Count Anywhere. Steiner pins Nash on the outside and we're tied at 1-1...or so one might think, but Flair announces over commentary that the first fall didn't count. I think it was just a throwaway heel line, but it doesn't matter anyway because very few people were watching this show or cared anymore about the WCW World Title. Nash is bleeding now too and the match continues with Steiner busting out a number of big belly-to-belly suplexes. Steiner's heat segment is impressive and Nash does a fine job taking the bumps. I can see why some would consider this too slow-moving, but I think Nash's selling is fine and the pace is alright (remember, Nash was struck a lead pipe directly to the skull). Nash gets back to his feet but Midajah cuts him off with more of a distraction and Steiner hits him with a not-so-great chair shot into the shoulder. He then applies a weak-looking Steiner Recliner. People bash Cena's STF, but the Steiner Recliner looks like utter shit most of the time. Nash manages to power out and Steiner is sent crashing out of the ring. Steiner comes back in and Nash hits him with a chokeslam for 2! The shenanigans pile up at this point and its hard to keep track of it all as Nash hits a powerbomb, but his attempts are broken up by Midajah and Flair. Nash reaches for a pair of brass knucks that are in the ring (and were used earlier I believe) while Steiner gets a chair given to him by Flair and Steiner hits him with a second chairshot. He then reapplies the Recliner and a second referee comes out to call the match for Steiner. Overbooked garbage, but there were at least a few moments that I found entertaining. (1.5/5)


The final SuperBrawl is about as bad a show as one would imagine WCW was putting on in its dying days. What hurts it the most is the inane booking as there is a remarkable lack of consistency and psychology in nearly every match. Weapons are used willy-nilly but often to no effect and the amount of ref bumps and interference is mind-numbing when this is exactly what diminished their championships throughout, well, ever. With an average Kwang Score of 2.05-out-of-5, do not expect to enjoy this show if you're even the world's biggest WCW fan.

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville