Unlike the prior WCW PPV War Games, this didn't have any outstanding matches to redeem it from the schlock. There were only 2 decent (at best) matches to make this watchable, and that was it. There were matches on Nitro that were better than anything this PPV had between War Games and Halloween Havoc (such as anything with Eddie Guerrero in it, who wasn't even in a match here; for shame).
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1.) DDP vs. Johnny B. Badd
DDP is just a mediocre wrestler here. Johnny was the one who managed to make this a decent match, with a nice moment between him and DDP's girl at ringside.
Rated: 3 / 5
2.) Randy Savage vs. Zodiac
Zodiac sucks, which is why I'm partly thankful this match was cut so short (seemed like Zodiac may have possibly been injured after flying off the top of the turnbuckle onto the mat, which caused this match to be cut short). What's hilarious about this is that a fan rushed in to try and cause a ruckus, near the start of the match, with the referee restraining him and security to eventually detain him outside the ring; and the matches ended within a minute after you see security rush the fanatical fan out of the arena. That's how fast this match went.
Rated: 1.5 / 5 (the fan attempt at interference bumped this up a notch)
3.) "Road Warrior" Hawk vs. Kurasawa
This was too short, and the screwjob ending made it even worse.
Rated: 1.5 / 5
4.) J. L. vs. Sabu
It's a typical Sabu match, which means it offers some decent entertainment and nice spots. For as long as the match lasts. It doesn't last very long, and we get yet another short match. J. L. Seems like a solid enough wrestler to keep up with Sabu's hit-or-botch style.
Rated: 2 / 5
5.) Meng vs. Lex Lugor
It seemed like Lugor was carrying Meng a bit. That's usually not a good sign. The match was given plenty of time to breathe. In fact, I'd say too much time. This could've had 5 minutes removed from here, and added to any of the previous 3 matches, and it probably would've been better. Plus the ending was a bit strange.
Rated: 2 / 5
6.) Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman vs. Sting (and Flair?)
Match of the night, though that's not saying much. This was more of a handicap match, which was entertaining enough for the first half. But the whole second half was Sting struggling to make the tag for Flair to come in. Considering the end-payoff of this in-ring storytelling, that ended up working. But this isn't exactly a match anyone will consider to be in the same league as "all-time-greats."
Rated: 3 / 5
7.) Hulk Hogan vs. The Giant; Monster Truck Brawl
I quote one of the commentators: "This has taken WCW to a whole new level." Yeah, and that level is f^&@!*^ boring.
Rated: 0 / 5 DUD
8.) Randy Savage vs. Lex Luger
This was just an ok match. Honestly, I was more into their encounter at Nitro a couple weeks prior to this. But that Nitro match suffered from outside interference causing a no-contest ending. Here, they just weren't given enough time to make anything memorable out of this. But I was enjoying how Luger was overselling every hit he was giving/receiving with his yells and grunts.
Rated: 2.5 / 5
9.) Hulk Hogan vs. The Giant; this time in the actual wrestling ring.
This was shaping up to be a 2 / 5 match, but then the ending happens and makes this one of the most baffling and goofy things I've ever seen. Well... at least it made me laugh. As did Bobby Heenan's post match comment:
"Everyone is looking directly into the ring."
He says this as a very obvious portion of the audience is living the stadium in the background.
Rated: ? / 5 It's not really a good match. Slow and boring and without any wrestling talent beyond acting. But your rating may very depending on how much you laugh at the finale and post-match comments.
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This PPV isn't really worth watching. There aren't any matches that make it redeemable or worth suffering through the poor stuff. No matches here should show up on a wrestler's biography DVD, or on any "history of" DVDs. Because if any do, then they're scraping the bottom of the barrel.
