WCW World Cruiserweight Title / J-Crown Title Match: Dean Malenko (c) vs. Ultimo Dragon (w/Sonny Onoo) (c)
A fine opening match. It reminded me of a Juniors match in the 90s which isn’t exactly the biggest praise in the world. The match starts out with both men working holds and looking for submissions. Soon Malenko gets the advantage and attacks Ultimo’s leg with a long leg hook but I would be lying if I said that it was interesting. Malenko’s work on the leg felt aimless and, honestly, boring. One of the main criticisms of Malenko is that he works to his own beat, ignoring the crowd entirely half of the time. This was a good example of just that. The crowd was sitting on their hands for the mat-work - which was most of the match. Ultimo interjects some of his awesome aerial moves like his Asai Moonsault and pops the crowd a little but he doesn’t offer much else either. The crowd bite on some of the nearfalls at the end and Malenko locking on the Texas Cloverleaf but the match ends soon after with a goofy switch around into a Tiger Driver sequence. Okay match. Not awful but it was underwhelming to say the least. **1/2
WCW World Women's Title Tournament Final Match (Vacant): Akira Hokuto (w/Kensuke Sasaki & Sonny Onoo) vs. Madusa
A short match, thankfully. Akira Hokuto is amazing and a legend of Joshi but this is an audience that knows and cares very little about her and the women's division. Plus Madusa isn’t exactly the greatest opponent. Hokuto killing Madua with a Northern Lights Bomb was awesome though. **
Roddy Piper had some horrific promos in WCW that would totally make you rethink his claim to being a great promo. But he has some funny quips when speaking with Mean Gene about Hogan’s height, talking about Jurassic Park, and his hip injuries. One of his better WCW promos, for sure.
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
This is a dream match among Jr Heavyweight wrestling fans. Liger was the guy in Japan, Rey was the guy in the States (and to a lesser extent, Mexico). Both are great innovators in their own right as well. As the commentary mentions, Liger is just coming off a return from brain tumor surgery in the Summer of 1996 and yet here he is, ready to wrestle. This is a more deliberate and methodical approach from him than what his other WCW appearances would show. He uses his power advantage and submission skills wisely to pick Rey apart. Rey Jr does an excellent job at staying competitive against Liger with his aerial moves and smart laying of traps to set up his Hurricanranas. The finish was great with Liger telegraphing the Rana off the top rope, landing on his feet and splating Rey with the rolling kappo kick before the Liger Bomb. While the match wasn’t the classic that it could’ve been, it was still a very good match. The crowd was a bit out of it though. Even more so than the opener. How WCW never did this again is beyond me. ***1/2
No Disqualification Match: Jeff Jarrett vs. Chris Benoit (w/Woman)
I thought this was really poor except for a few moments where Jarrett was firing off punches. This was a rare off night for Benoit who was usually Mr Consistent. Benoit works snug like normal but it was all first gear offence without ever progressing into something bigger. And the finish was a total mess that caused no one over with Dungeon of Doom interfering. So counterintuitive. **1/4
WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) (w/Syxx) (c) vs. The Faces Of Fear (Meng & The Barbarian) (w/Jimmy Hart)
You can criticise Nash and Hall all you want but they played to the crowd and didn’t waste time going heel when it wasn’t going to work. They worked babyface and sold for the whole match. So for that I’d give them credit when it's due. Hall takes the brunt of the damage and is able to make Barbarian’s nerve grip look devastating. And Nash works the crowd from the apron to make the comeback a hot one. Good match. ***1/4
WCW United States Heavyweight Title Tournament Final Match (Vacant): Diamond Dallas Page vs. Eddie Guerrero
Much better than their Halloween Havoc match that I saw. Although it went much longer than it needed to and it suffered as a result. Both put in solid performances with tons of creative counters to help keep the match ticking. The finish with the NWO coming out at laying DDP out was good to serve the ongoing story and further fueling into a DDP face turn. ***
Lex Luger vs. The Giant
This was an awesome match. The match is done in a very logical way where Luger used his punches and any leverage advantages he could to get something on the Giant. Luger got a great reaction off the crowd and he fed into that well with his offence. Luger came off like a total star and the crowd came unglued when he was on top. Giant is great at selling any vulnerability, perhaps too great, and when he gets rocked, the crowd gets so excited at the possibility of him losing. The pop for Luger picking Giant up for a Torture Rack was big. The interference, like most of it tonight, was used well to progress a potential face turn for the Giant. Luger looked great overcoming Syxx and Nick Patrick coming in. And the commentary did a great job at pushing how the NWO didn’t really care for The Giant as evident by who had interfered. ***1/2
Non Title Match: Roddy Piper vs. Hollywood Hogan
This was a big main event, obviously, but watching it, I never really got that grand spectacle feel that you’d expect. It just felt like a match that had the crowd behind it. Hogan stalls his way through it and aggravates the crowd. Piper doesn’t exactly do much past the basics. The attack on the hip was a smart idea but I wish it was developed more by Hogan. The finish was messed up by the fan coming into the ring, causing Hogan’s timing for the failed Chokeslam to be off (the fan got a brutal knee for his troubles though) and Piper’s win was brushed off almost right away by the Giant and NWO bickering. Again, it’s for the story because that’s all WCW cares about, progressing the story despite having what could’ve been a big moment right there. It says a lot that the biggest moment from this match is Hogan spitting into the camera and celebrating with the belt. And I know that he was in total denial about the loss and that’s a good heel moment but it still annoys me. **3/4
Overall
This was an uneven show. The crowd in attendance was obviously only there to watch two matches and nothing else. I blame WCW for that because they were the ones who brought in flyovers who weren’t entirely over or known to the audience. Liger has been in WCW before but even he was unfamiliar to the surge of fans that came with the NWO. The lack of Ric Flair hurt as well. There was no big marquee match besides Hogan v Piper. It was just a lacklustre card overall with a few bright sparks. Liger vs Rey was very good despite the aforementioned dead and unfamiliar crowd. The Outsiders put in a good shift for the Tag Team Title match. Luger vs Giant rocked. The main event was fine as well.
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