WCW Greed

WCW Greed

Jacksonville, FL - March 2001

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

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone and Scott Hudson

The final WCW pay-per-view ever kicks off with Kwee Wee vs. Jason Jett. Kwee Wee was one of the better characters/performers WCW had on its roster by the end, a solid all-arounder whose gimmick was something a bit different than anything anyone else was doing in WCW or WWE at the time. As a relative newcomer, I'm guessing he didn't have many allies in either company but he probably deserved at least a little bit of an opportunity in the WWE. Jett, meanwhile, looks a lot like a shorter version of Big Cass and wrestled under the name EZ Money in ECW before this. He's got some solid offense, though the announcers go a little overboard. There's good back-and-forth action and Kwee Wee was over enough to elicit a response from the crowd (which I'm guessing wasn't piped in or "sweetened" because you can clearly hear the "Kwee Wee Sucks" chant and I doubt WCW would've went out of their way to record that specific audio). There's an awkward superpowerbomb/hurricanrana spot that they don't quite pull off, but at least its ambitious. Jett eventually grabs the victory after 10 minutes or so. They got a good amount of time and got over. If more WCW cards featured this kind of wrestling with more regularity and more interesting characters (Kwee Wee is good enough but Jett is pretty bland), maybe they'd have survived 2001. (3/5)

Next up: the finals of the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championships Tournament. I'm not sure why these titles needed to exist when WCW's World Tag Team Championship division could've just become more focused on smaller, cruiser-style wrestlers like the Jung Dragons, the remaining members of 3 Count (if they were still around), and other thrown-together pairings of cruiser guys. I mean, even the Natural Born Thrillas would've benefited from getting to be the "bases" for the more agile, more experienced sub-250 pound guys WCW had on their roster. Anyway, onto the match - Mysterio & Kidman vs. Kid Romeo and Elix Skipper. Like Kwee Wee, Skipper had been around WCW for a little bit by this point but hadn't really gotten much spotlight while Kid Romeo had been around for only a couple weeks (IIRC). They have surprising chemistry for a "thrown together" team and both do a fine job of keeping up with Mysterio and Kidman, arguably WCW's most popular cruiserweights ever. They eventually make their way onto (and off) the stage, but get back towards the ring for the final sequences. At one point Kidman hits a Shooting Star Press to the floor that, even 20 years later, looks crazy. As the action spins out of control in and out of the ring, the heels eventually steal the victory in an undeniable upset. Like the opener, this was certainly above-average but felt like it was missing something to make it truly great. (3/5)

Stacey Keibler comes down the aisle and introduces Shawn Stasiak, who comes out and cuts a promo that is like a bad amalgamation of every Rick Rude pre-match promo ever. As he doesn't have a smidgen of Rude's charisma, it is very lame. His opponent is Bam Bam Bigelow, who I didn't realize was still in the company at this point. Bigelow and Stasiak proceed to have a so/so match - so forgettable, so unremarkable. Eventually, Keibler distracts the ref and Bigelow long enough for Stasiak to hit his Rude Awakening neckbreaker for the win. Not good. (1.5/5)

Team Canada's Lance Storm and Mike Awesome take on Konnan and Hugh Morrus in the next bout. The commentators go overboard hyping up how much respect Hugh Morrus has as WCW's "locker room leader." Eesh - when you consider the talent that was in WCW at the time, that's almost shameful to think that he was the guy that talent could rely on for mentoring. As this match shows, he's just not that good of a worker. Konnan isn't either. Awesome is in great shape, but no longer has any "star power" thanks to all the gimmick overhauls he had went through by this point. Lance Storm is easily the best technical wrestler of the bunch, but even he can't save this match from living in the doldrums. Like the previous bout, its not that its offensively bad, its more that it feels like everyone is just going through the motions and there's no heat or intensity to anything. (1.5/5)

Before the next match, we get a backstage segment involving Dusty Rhodes and 240 burritos. The joke here is that, because he and his son Dustin will be meeting Flair and Jarrett in a Kiss My Ass Match, Rhodes wants to give himself gas. 

Back to the ring we go for the Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship match (which has already happened) according to the graphic on the screen. Actually, its the Cruiserweight Championship match - Chavo Guerrero defending the gold against "Sugar" Shane Helms. Chavo and Helms go all out in this match and it is a borderline classic, easily one of the best matches of both men's careers. The wrestling at the start is crisp and urgent so when they get to the big spots, it does feel like there has been an escalation of action. Because both guys are clearly working hard, trying to finish eachother off with bigger and bigger moves, the match really does come across like a struggle to win an important championship. I liked the finish too as Chavo went for a Vertrebreaker (Helms' finisher), but Helms countered it into one of his own. That move looks legit dangerous too, like it could finish off anyone at any time. The best match of the show so far as it took all the high spots from the Cruiser Tag match but put them into a much more emotional story with a quality pay-off at the end. (3.5/5)

After some backstage words from Ric Flair and Booker T, Totally Buff challenge Palumbo and O'Haire for the WCW World Tag Team Championships. Before the match begins, Luger and Bagwell cut a surprisingly solid and entertaining promo, burying the new guys as lucky rookies. Palumbo and O'Haire come out and proceed to complete destroy Bagwell and Luger, defeating them in under 2 minutes with a series of superkicks and two O'Haire sentons. The commentators call it a "Georgia Championship Wrestling squash," a palm-to-the-head groaner that is too "smart" for the average fan - though, I guess most of the average fans had abandoned the product by this point so maybe it did speak to the few old school NWA/WCW stalwarts who had stuck around. Who knows. The point is, Palumbo and O'Haire come out of this looking very strong...too bad the company would close less than two weeks later so "the rub" didn't really mean much. For what this was, I was entertained enough. More segment/angle than a match, it was still somewhat of a bright spot on this show. (2/5)

Ernest "The Cat" Miller took on Kanyon in the next match. Having now watched at least a dozen Ernest Miller matches, I will firmly state that he's a sub-average worker that can deliver some dynamic kicks, but often seems a step behind and just lacks fluidity in his movement. Kanyon, meanwhile, is innovative on offense, but often struggles to pace his matches to actually deliver suspense and story. Somehow, though, this match actually worked for me. I'm guessing the "secret" to that success is based on the fact that when Miller was teaming with Glacier and Kanyon was still under the Mortis mask, these two probably worked quite a bit with eachother. With that familiarity comes some solid sequences, especially towards the final third when Miller hits a series of excellent heel kicks right to Kanyon's face. A bonus half-point should also be awarded for the restraint WCW showed in not having Miller's manager, Ms. Jones, turn on Kanyon when, for a moment there, I was about 1000% sure that an unnecessary and purposeless "swerve" was on the horizon. Surprisingly decent match that went a touch too long. (2/5)

Booker T challenges Rick Steiner for the United States Championship in the next bout. This era of Rick Steiner's existence - the "Welcome to the Jungle" rip-off theme music, the "If You Don't Like Me, Bite Me" catchphrase, the overpush because, well, nobody else was really left - is just awful. Of all the guys who abandoned the WCW ship by this point, why couldn't Rick Steiner have been one of them? Booker T fights from underneath for most of the match, which goes on a bit too long and has an awful finish involving the return of Shane Douglas that needlessly "protects" Steiner, who needed no protection because he'd been bizarrely pushed very strong for the better part of 8 months. Douglas had been a despicable, unlikable heel for so long that his return (and the help he gives to Booker T) seems tacked on, unnecessary, and doesn't make much sense to me - though, maybe the few people still watching WCW's weekly programming thought it was great. Underwhelming match with a lazy, unwarranted finish. (1.5/5)

The next bout gets the most heat of any match the whole night - which just goes to show how few stars WCW actually had at this point and how over the company's legends were. Dustin and Dusty Rhodes team up to take on Ric Flair (wearing a Hawaiian shirt) and Jeff Jarrett in a Kiss My Ass Match. While guys like Shane Douglas, Rick Steiner, Konnan, and others were delivering the worst matches of their careers at this point, Dustin Rhodes was delivering solid, old school 'rasslin', working much harder than this company probably deserved. The same can also be said of Jarrett - though, because I'm not a huge Jarrett fan and his shtick had gotten even more annoying by this point, I'm not going to praise him too much. The fans are most interested in the interactions between Dusty and the Nature Boy, which makes sense considering they are the biggest stars on the entire show (the absence of Kevin Nash, Sting, and, most notably, Goldberg, make this undeniable). The all-night teasers of Dusty eating cheap burritos results in more than a couple groaners from the commentary team, as well as Schiavone forgetting/ignoring that Dusty Rhodes had wrestled for WCW multiple times in 94' when he notes how he hasn't seen the Bionic Elbow in a decade (despite the Dream busting it out a bunch of times in a bunch of segments over the years plus his well-publicized ECW run just a year before this). But what this match delivers is fun on a card that didn't have enough legitimate fun on it. Ernest Miller was lame. At least 60% of the roster works like they'd rather be anywhere else. Booker T's big victory is dampened by poor booking (and having Rick Steiner as his opponent). These guys turn back the clock, though, and by the end of it, it is impossible not to notice Flair's wide grin, the Nature Boy laughing at the insanity of it all and essentially breaking character like Jimmy Fallon used to do on SNL. What a concept - when the wrestlers and performers actually enjoy what they're doing, even if it is ridiculous, the enjoyment translates to watchable, enjoyable content. This one is not for purists expecting a classic match and, again, the number of unfunny "dad jokes" is almost reprehensible, but compared to so much of what came before it, at least the crowd actually cares and the competitors are hitting their moves with gusto. Not worth seeking out, but not nearly as bad as it may seem on paper. (3/5)

Main event time - Scott Steiner defending the WCW World Championship against real-life rival Diamond Dallas Page. Its hard to tell how hot the crowd is for this as the crowd noise is definitely sweetened, but like the last match, you can actually hear the real crowd noise breaking through. Steiner and Page start with some crowd brawling that leaves Big Poppa Pump and DDP busted open. I'm guessing both guys wanted to do some blading to add more suspense to this match, but what really drew me in was Steiner's nasty suplexes and Page's defiant kickouts and refusal to tap out to the Steiner Recliner. Unfortunately, a hard fought, quality match takes a bad turn when - guess who? - Rick Steiner rears his ugly head to (meaninglessly) stop a pinfall that would've already been broken up because his brother Scott's foot was clearly under the ropes. I'm not sure if this was Scott's way of protecting himself from looking like he was about to lose to the Diamond Cutter, but it was a bit distracting to me nonetheless. The Dog-Faced Gremlin's interference causes the crowd to break into a "Goldberg" chant, but I think Goldberg really did stay off TV for the rest of WCW's run after the Loser Leaves Town match at the last PPV. Only WCW would have their most popular wrestler lose a Loser Leaves Town match as the company crumbled into complete bankruptcy and destruction. Page eventually falls to the numbers game and the ref calls for the bell when Steiner applies the Recliner the final time. This match wasn't too terrible, but I wouldn't call it a career best for either participant. (3/5)


I read a review on Cagematch that joked about the irony of WCW finally putting on a good show when it no longer mattered. Calling this a "good show" is a stretch, though. While the effort of guys like Kwee Wee, Jason Jett, Rey Mysterio, DDP, and the Rhodes is commendable, and this show's surprisingly respectable 2.4-out-of-5 Kwang Rating actually hoists it well above most of the WCW PPVs of 99' and 2000, only the Cruiserweight Championship match feels like a "must watch." The problem with a show like this is that the writing was on the wall and watching it in hindsight, knowing the final Nitro was just a few weeks away, only makes things feel less meaningful and weightless. Nostalgic fans searching for a show heavy on legends will also be disappointed with this one as guys like Sting, Goldberg, and the men that made WCW the top promotion in the US in the late 90s - Hogan, Savage, The Giant, Hall and Nash - are nowhere to be found (not to mention midcard stars like Raven, Benoit, Guerrero, and Jericho, who had long abandoned the promotion). And so, instead of this show being a The Big Chill-esque reunion of WCW's biggest stars, all back and up to their old hijinks for one last ride, its a muddled mix of established guys trying to deliver the greatness of what used to be (the main event, the Rhodes/Flair & Jarrett match) and a bunch of hard-working young guys clearly hoping to turn their final spotlight moments into job applications for the WWE (both cruiser title matches). While not the dumpster fire that one might expect from the last WCW PPV, it's definitely not worth watching for the average fan.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver