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WCW Worldwide by E.C. Ostermeyer |
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This is the WCW Worldwide report for Saturday, 10 March 2001, and I'm your recapper, ol' E.C. himself. Opening credits. Terry Taylor plays "Spot the WCW Superstar Who's Getting Paid to Sit At Home!" Your hosts are Scott Hudson and "The Perfesser" Mike Tenay. Opening topic is WCW World Champ Scott Steiner's feud with Diamond Dallas Page, and DDP's playing "mind games" with Steiner. Hudson segues nicely to WCW's CEO (and Dark Lord of the Sith) Ric Flair's attempts to eliminate all rivals prior to WCW's new owners taking over. Hudson says that the latest to feel the wrath of the "Flair-Steiner Axis" is Kronik. (Huh?) Footage from the UNO Lakefront Nitro in New Orleans shows Scott Steiner walloping two defenseless WCW Security thugs before he's dragged off them by a struggling Buff Bagwell, and then become enraged when DDP shows up on the backstage monitor. Steiner punks out the monitor in his fury, then charges to the ring. DDP taunts Steiner some more, then says that one of those "dead" guys on Steiner's "Rest In Peace" list "ain't so dead as you might think!" Awkward segue to the Cat relinquishing his Commissioner's job to stalk Kris Kanyon for what he did to Ms. jones, and Ric Flair comes out to rag on him, calling him "Citizen Cat!" and giving the Cat his marching orders for the "Greed" PPV. Flair punctuates the orders with a punch in the mouth. Well, as you might expect, the Cat responds negatively to this treatment, and wallops Flair but good. Man, nobody can sell a move like Ric Flair! Later, Hugh Morrus helps the Cat clobber Rick Steiner, and Booker T returns to win a six-man tag match on Nitro, and follows up on Thunder by squashing Scott Steiner. Booker T and the Cat join DDP to oppose Flair's "Magnificent Seven" faction. This week's trivia Question: How many times did Booker T hold the WCW World Heavyweight Title? Commercials. We come back, and the elimination tourney for the new WCW Cruiserweight Tag Titles is discussed. Tenay and Hudson run through the brackets and the winners of the first elimination rounds. Footage shows Jason Lee & ECW legacy Johnny Swinger getting trounced by Billy Kidman & Rey Mysterio, Jr., while the Jung Dragons bested the surprisingly good team of Kwee-Wee and Mike Sanders. WCW Spring Breakout 2001 Calendar: 3/16 University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 3/23-3/26 Panama City Beach, FL in a 4-day grand finale. The one on 9-11 March in Knoxville, TN was pretty good, judging from the enthusiasm the UT students exhibited at the Nitro/Thunder show at the Civic Coliseum. And while we are at it: WCW Upcoming Events Calendar: 3/18 Jacksonville, FL (Greed-PPV) 3/19 Gainesville, FL (Nitro) 3/25 Mobile, AL (House show) 3/26 Panama City, FL (Nitro) (Note: Still no word as to any dates beyond 3/26. Stay tuned.) Commercials. It's time for "Ask WCW!" This week's question comes from Jenny Hawkins of Newton Grove, NC, who asks the Cat, "Where did you learn to dance?" Over to the Cat, who says he learned from watching James brown on TV, but only to supplement his own innate skill because he's the Cat and "The Greatest Entertainer of All Time!" Mike Tenay gets a question "from Scott Hudson in Atlanta, GA: 'Where did YOU learn how to dance?'" "Well," reflects Tenay, "a lot of people think it was after I had that bad fish taco in San Diego, CA... y'know, this is ridiculous! The question shouldn't be 'where did the Cat learn to dance?' It should be "WHAT were you THINKING when you stepped down as WCW Commissioner?!" "This just in, " says Hudson, "It WAS the fish taco!" Commercials. We now present Part 2 of Scott Hudson's interview with Shane Douglas, where we learn that: 1. while he was in ECW, he built upon his earlier stint in WCW, where he was Tag Champ with Ricky Steamboat. 2. As THE man in Eastern Championship Wrestling, it was Douglas who proclaimed a corporate change of direction, divorced the promotion from the NWA, and changed the ECW's name to Extreme Championship Wrestling. (If you can find the video of this event, watch it. Douglas' performance will stand the hairs up on the back of your neck, as you realize you are watching history literally in the making!) 3. When he arrived back in WCW, he had forgotten about the politics, false smiles, and back-stabbing that goes on behind the scenes. 4. He sees his injury as a response from "certain people" (i.e. Ric Flair) to Douglas' meteoric rise to stardom. 5. Flair wanted the US Title for "his man" Rick Steiner, and Douglas wouldn't give it up without a fight. So, 6. Rick Steiner had better look out, because if the Franchise could fight him when injured, he will be devastating when healed. 7. Lastly, Douglas is looking beyond Rick Steiner's US Title, and even beyond Scott Steiner's World Title. His target is Ric Flair, and vengeance. "...just before I hurt you, Ric Flair, you will know that YOU made me!" Back to the studio, where Tenay says that Ric Flair not only has to worry about Shane "Franchise" Douglas, he's got to worry about the new ownership of WCW. "We know what Shane Douglas thinks about Ric Flair, but what we do not know is what the new owners think about how Flair has handled the company?" Commercials. Hudson and Tenay run the fight card for the upcoming "Greed"-PPV in Jacksonville, FL. Featured bouts are: Scott Steiner v. DDP (World Title) Totally Buff v. O'Haire & Palumbo (Tag Titles) Chavo Guerrero, Jr v. Shane Helms (Cruiserweight Title) plus the finalists for the new WCW Cruiserweight Tag Titles (who turn out to be Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo v. Billy Kidman & Rey Mysterio, Jr.) Commercials. Professor's Pick of the Week: Ric Flair & Sting d. Rick Rude and Vader (w/ Harley Race), (Sting w/Stinger Splash on Rude/ pin, we saw 6:25), Tag-team Elimination Match, Clash of the Champions, January 1994. Your play-by-play announcers are Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone (who sounds like he's still in the throes of puberty), and the just-proclaimed WCW Commissioner, by-God, freakin' NICK BOCKWINKEL! Joined in progress, we've got Rick Rude's doin' the toothpaste tube squeeze on Sting, who, as we learn from a screeching Schiavone, has been in the ring since the start of the match. "And Flair is still on the apron!" says Heenan, "still on the apron, and Vader is just staring him down!" (Flair had put his career on the line and won the World Title from Vader at the just previous 1993 Starrcade.) Sting breaks the bearhug,and hits a facebuster on Rick Rude. He then tags in Ric Flair, who wallops Rude with a double axehandle, follows up with a reverse Atomic Drop, and then starts chopping away. Rude winds up in the corner. Flair charges in for the kill, but inexplicably winds up on the mat. Well, he sold the move, whatever it was. Tag to Vader, who works Flair over real good. "Call 9-1-1 and get the gurney ready!" says Heenan. Scoopslam and a middle-rope pancake on Flair, and Harley Race is motioning Vader to go up top again. Flair's bellowing like a bull calf at steer-making time. Superplex off the second turnbuckle by Vader splatters Flair all over the ring. Holy cats, Vader drags Flair across the ring, and hits a TOP-ROPE superplex on Flair. "You know, Flair was in a plane crash..." says Heenan. "In 1974, twenty years ago," says Schiavone. "...and I don't care, you break your back like that, you NEVER heal!" says Heenan. "Oh my God!" says Schiavone. "I think we've seen the end of an era, here!" says Heenan. "Vader doesn't want to pin Flair. He wants to eliminate him!" Vader sets Flair up for the Giant Splash, but Sting pulls Flair out of harm's way at the last second. Vader shoves Sting right into a running lariat by Rick Rude, who finishes with a DDT that Sting sells like crazy. Rude then rolls Flair back in just to stomp the daylights out of him as Vader goes after a steel chair. Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel's chair, as a matter of fact, and da Commish ain't havin' any of THIS, especially from the likes of Vader, and says so in no uncertain terms. Harley Race joins the fuss-fest, as Vader gets ready to wallop Bockwinkel. Race persuades Vader to put the chair down, to which Vader blurts a nasty expletive, tosses the chair away and begins pummeling Flair at ringside. Meanwhile, Rude and Sting are going at it in the ring. Doug Dellinger and some Security people separate Vader and Flair, then help the injured Flair from the arena. Flair and Vader get counted out. Back in the ring, Sting nails Rude with a flying clothesline, but misses an Atomic Drop when Rude hammers him with an elbow. "Can somebody get me word as to what's going on in the back?" hollers Heenan. "What's Flair's condition? Vader could finish him off in the back! Get a camera back there!" Flying elbow smash by Rude staggers Sting. "Mr. Commissioner," says Heenan, " why did you get involved in that mess?" "Well," says Bockwinkel, " I did not think that the first day at work was going to be this hectic! I never approved of chairs, and the condition that Flair was in, I had to step in!" "But you can't protect people!" says Heenan, "You've got to let 'em go at it!" Clothesline and a punch, then Rude goes for the cover but only gets a two count. Rude locks Sting into a camel clutch, from which Sting eventually escapes by powering into a fall-away slam. Double clothesline, and both men go down. Heenan says that Flair's been taken into a dressing room, and that "several officials" from WCW are also in there to ascertain Flair's condition. Rude gets to his feet first, then starts to set up his "Rude Awakening", but Sting fights him off by holding onto the ring-ropes. Turnabout's fair play, as Sting hits his own version of the "Rude Awakening" on Rick Rude, but only gets a near-pin when Rude gets his leg through the ropes. Rude recovers, and hits a reverse Atomic Drop. Cross-corner whip, but Sting ducks the charge-in, and Rude eats a whole lot of turnbuckle. Sting charges in, and gets a boot in the breadbasket. Rude gets sting up in a piledriver, but Sting bridges over, and reverses it into a piledriver of his own, which Rude sells like he's just had his spine ripped out! Sting goes way up top, and hits a maximum air Stinger Splash. Referee Nick Patrick does the count 1, 2, 3 even as Rude almost kicks out, and Sting wins this spectacular match! Back to the studio, where Mike Tenay dedicates this week's Professor's Pick to the memory of Rick Rude, who passed away in April of 1999. Tenay fills us in on where the other participants are these days: Vader's wrestling in the Orient. Sting's future in WCW remains in question, after being injured at the hands of Scott Steiner. And Ric Flair is "large and in charge" as the current CEO (and Dark Lord of the Sith) of WCW. Tenay then reiterates his question from earlier in the show, "What must the new owners be thinking of the way Ric Flair is running WCW?" Hudson and Tenay promo the "Greed" PPV one more time, and we are done. See you next week. E.C. Ostermeyer [slash] wrestling Email the Author Comment about this article on the EZBoard |
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