1998 Discussion

I skipped a lot of crap on this episode and stuck to the good stuff. Making my life easier, get me?

Disco Inferno vs. Evan Karagias (WCWSN, 02/28/98)
This was decent enough actually. They talk about how Disco's focus on being a wrestler rather than a dancer has translated into victories a lot, and put him over as a new Disco. Except, he gets dominated for the most part here by Karagias, who actually looks pretty good while Disco tends to retreat to the corner time and time again. In the end, Disco does pick up the win but it looks more like a fluke than anything, although it does put over the Chartbuster as being vital to his arsenal. This would've worked a lot better if Karagias was getting a push, but he's clearly not. I've seen better from Disco, but this probably the best Karagias match I've seen since I started this whole thing.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Bobby Blaze (WCWSN, 02/28/98)
Decent enough match, Eddie scumbagged things up nicely here and made Blaze look like a million bucks, even though Blaze looks like he's spent a million bucks on doughnuts. Blaze dominates most of the match and looks like he's gonna get an upset win which makes Eddie look like he's severely underestimated Blaze. Probably the best Bobby Blaze match I've ever seen, but that's not really saying a lot.

Chris Benoit vs. Raven (WCWSN, 02/28/98)
This RULED. It might be just because I was stoned off my balls, but I was properly enthralled in this. Both guys are so great here and still to their guns, Raven with his brawling/hardcore shizz and then Benoit with his proper wrestling shtick. Raven looks like a serious threat too, he dominates Benoit for the majority of the match. They incorporate the chair spots nicely and they look nasty for basic spots. Raven switches things up too to keep Benoit on his toes, like he hit an arm drag on the chair rather than a step toehold, but then hit the step toehold later on when Benoit wasn't expecting it. It takes the announcers until this to tell us that it's Raven's Rules but even at at that, the match still ends in a DQ because the Flock cause a whole kerfuffle. A nice little hidden gem right here.

Jim Duggan/Rick Fuller, Chavo/Swinger, High Voltage/Eaton and Walker, Windham/Karagias, Finlay/Powers, Disco/Lodi and Iaukea/Horshu all sucked so bad that they don't deserve a mini write-up.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Villiano IV (WCWSN, 03/07/98)
This was different, especially for a cruiserweight's match. It's got a slower pace than what we're used to and surprisingly, Villiano controls most of the match. He puts in a really good showing and snaps off a lot of great stuff here like full nelson headbutts and a crisp-ass powerslam. Juvi kinda takes a back seat but he takes everything like a champ, it just felt like a little Super-Cena-ish since Juvi managed to win the whole thing with just 2 moves. Juvi Driver/450 combo looked real nice here though. This was just after Juvi got unmasked too, so Scott Hudson expects a title around Juvi's unmasked waist.

Dean Malenko vs. Kidman (WCWSN, 03/07/98)
Awfully vanilla match. Things started out looking kinda promising but it all just descended into things being about Jericho at ringside taking notes and eventually attacking Malenko with the Flock. There was some neat counters here, particularly when Malenko turned a bulldog into a belly-to-back suplex. It's not like this was that long anyway, I just thought it would've been better considering who was in it. Kidman wouldn't become half as good the worker he got to be until a few months after this. Disappointing stuff, which saddens me since I've skipped a lot of crap already.

Scott Steiner vs. Ray Traylor (WCWSN, 03/07/98)
ANGLES! Yeah, this wasn't much of a match but for the 2 minutes of actual wrestling, it's pretty fucking entertaining. This is right at the very start of the Steiner gimmick we all know all too well. All of this shtick feels fresh watching it here as opposed to say 2008 Steiner. Traylor is basically trying to show Scotty the light, but Steiner is all nWo and doesn't give a shit. Pretty much a squash for Scotty but Traylor gets in some shitty looking uppercuts too at one point. The Steiner Recliner looked more painful here than it does these days, and Scotty shouldn't have won here, Traylor's foot was under the rope. SCANDALOUS!

Juventud Guerrera, Ciclope, Super Calo vs. Villianos IV and V, Silver King (Saturday Night, 03/14/98)
This started out with plenty of potential but fell apart to shit after a few minutes of really good stuff. Villianos are a hell of a team when given the chance like they kind of are here. Silver King's "stocky" physique is mentioned right away just like it is in every match and he takes a lot of bullets here, landing awkwardly multiple times. Ciclope? I don't even know. He didn't do a whole lot and whatever he did was very average, nothing stood out from him. Juventud is reserved for the bigger spots here so he doesn't do a whole lot so Calo is the workhorse of the match. He does a decent job but you can tell he's tired of it by the end and he's can barely full off a full flip by the finish. The finish was dangerously botched too, Juvi fucking up dat 450 mane. Pretty sub standard lucha trios match if I'm honest.

La Parka vs. Lenny Lane (Saturday Night, 03/14/98)
Short, but sweet. As per usual, Parka brings the chair but it doesn't get used. No fun there. Lane actually looked really impressive here, he just lacked that little bit of charisma that might've gotten him over. He looks like a really camp Jericho but wrestles neater than Jericho himself. Parka has a few memorable spots by SN standards here with a nice smash into the steps and a lofty looking senton splash. Corkskrew Plancha for the win.

Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr, Chris Jericho (Saturday Night, 03/14/98)
Easily, oh so easily, the best match on this show. Jericho really was fucking great around this time-period, he's the absolute star of the show here. If only he had Eddie tagging with him instead of Chavo, oh well, the announcers try cover that up by saying Eddie was too scared and did his best to make Chavo take his place. Malenko and Benoit are as good as ever together and completely rock the house, they don't do anything in particular that stands out but they get the match over nicely being a crutch to Jericho's antics that lead the way. Chavo is pretty much just a crash dummy here but Jericho's screams, and whines, and crowd abuse and offence (what little there is of it) is gold. Malenko sends "A MESSAGE" to Jericho by beating Chavo with the Cloverleaf whilst Jericho runs away. Okay. Great match anyway.

DDP, Benoit vs. Saturn, Hammer (WCWSN, 03/21/98)
A pretty average match as far as C-Show ME’s go, but it was still entertaining in parts. Saturn should’ve been used more here, Hammer works too much of the match and I really really don’t like Hammer. I can’t think of any genuine good qualities about Van Hammer. Anyone know any? Doubt it. If Raven was tagging with Saturn here, we might’ve had something special. DDP and Benoit feels like a weird combo on paper, but they compliment each other quite well in-ring. Benoit takes most of the beating here and Hammer hits him with STIFF Spinebuster here, legit looked nasty. I enjoyed the way they built upto DDP’s hot-tag simply because they didn’t just hand it to us on a silver platter and it came across all the better because of it, which sounds weird considering there wasn’t a whole lot of build-up time here due to time constraints. These guys must’ve been rocking the absolute house down at house shows during this time. Can’t say this is anything I’ll come back to watch but it certainly did the job. The post-match antics with Raven were fun, he looked like the perfect incarnation of Raven that there’s ever been, huge Flock and all.

Silver King vs. Evan Karagias (WCWSN, 03/21/98)
This is easily the most dominant I’ve ever seen Silver King, it’s actually quite shocking not to see him get beaten by a midcarder or just involved in a luchas match. Karagias is basically just a crash dummy here, but he takes some crazy bumps that were probably more unnecessary than anything. Of course, Tenay has to tell us not to be fooled by Silver King’s stocky physique. King’s dropkicks look really fake, he should really work on them more. Some of his stuff looks really clumsy too, I’m surprised he didn’t injure Karagias here. A fun squash if anything, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting more.

Kidman vs. El Dandy (WCWSN, 03/28/98)
This sounds much better on paper than it actually was, and it doesn’t even sound THAT good on paper. Kidman’s very Flock-ish and keeps itching himself for some reason. I don’t understand the gimmick, anyone got any info on that? Apparently he’s renamed the SSP to “The Seven Year Itch” which is downright ridiculous. This is pretty much just Kidman working over Dandy for a few minutes with Dandy getting the odd kick or two in here or there. Nothing’s really impressive but it looks like Kidman potatoes Dandy badly with a faceplant at one stage. The SSP at the finish looked like it barely connected too, which made for a lackluster finish to a lackluster match. Not gonna lie, disappointed with this one.

Chris Jericho vs. Psychosis (WCWSN, 03/28/98)
We’ve got a title match here apparently. Jericho’s got the Cruiserweight strap, I really like this particular era of Jericho, in the middle of the 1004 holds angle. He’s even got 1004 written on his arse. Psychosis looks good here but his offence really takes far too much time to set up, there’s this legdrop at the start of the match that takes forever to set up and it’s kinda hard to watch. Psych and Jericho don’t have the best chemistry but they can certainly work a watchable match together. Jericho does his usual shtick of complaining and screaming, although I wish he did a bit more in-ring than rest holds and the odd move. The only story going on here is Jericho getting lucky with opportunities, whereas Pscyhosis is…not. Seeing the old school Liontamer made me miss it as opposed to the Boston Crab he does nowadays. Decent little match, about as good as you’d expect for a SN match between these guys.

Kevin Nash vs. Rick Steiner (WCWSN, 03/28/98)
I knew Nash was lazy, but I didn’t think he was this lazy. This only goes like 4/5 minutes but it felt a lot, lot longer. There’s only so many times you can do slow, plodding punches in the corner and hold my interest in the match. He only takes like 2 bumps the entire time whereas Rick is up and down like his bumps are cocaine. Rick doesn’t even do anything interesting but at least he bumps. There is nothing to this match, literally nothing. I only bothered watching it because I thought it was a rarity to see Nash on a WCWSN card, and I also enjoy his promos, but his promo here was terrible too. Poor form from both men really.

Psychosis vs. William Worthy (WCWSN, 04/04/98)
Hmmm, weird little match here. Psychosis takes almost all of the offence and uses literally none of any of the material that he’s known for apart from like, the Guillotine Legdrop. Worthy isn’t a great worker by any stretch of the imagination, he looks like Carlton from Fresh Prince just found a singlet and he’s quite sluggish, slow, boring, any other adjectives I can put you to sleep with? Oh yeah, for the finish, Worthy has to pretend that his foot is tied up in the ropes when it’s clearly not, but that doesn’t stop the announcers from saying it is. All just so Psych can hit a leg-drop and put this thing to rest. Poor start.

Kidman vs. Evan Courageous (WCWSN, 04/04/98)
This match felt like one of those instances where they throw shit at the wall and try and see what sticks, unfortunately, none of it really sticks for either of these two on this occasion. Kidman’s alright here, he’s more of a feeder in this match but Courageous is absolutely shocking. Seemingly, he can’t do anything right, botching shit left, right and centre. Even Kidman looks pissed when Evan fucks up a springboard moonsault big time, so he drags him right into the finish and gets this over and done with.  Second weird match of the week.  Although an obvious highlight was Kidman’s entrance consisting of him getting a piggyback from Big Reese “to get a better view”. I still don’t like this “itching” gimmick from Kidman though, it’s just fucking odd.

No force on this planet can get me to watch Prince Iaukea/Rick Fuller. Neeext.

Chris Adams vs. Hardbody Harrison (WCWSN, 04/04/98)
In what’s become a regularity, Chris Adams once again provides the MOTN on WCW C-Shows. He’s just got a real nice way of working, never making anything look like a spot but rather, an actual natural action. He doesn’t wait for his opponent to come back after an irish whip, he runs at the motherfucker and takes his head off. Hardbody does fine here, although I’ve a hard time paying attention to him, all I can think about when I see him is “A black guy….with a bleach blonde beard…”. Decent little match, the run-in from Glacier afterwards was weird. He doesn’t like the fact that Adams is using his finisher, despite Adams using it for the past 20 years and Glacier only being around the past 2.

Brian Adams and Bulldog have a shitty brawl for the last 5 minutes of the show and it’s just poor stuff altogether. The match gets thrown out because Hennig walks into the ring and then the show ends as Neidhart runs in to save the day. This Hart-family angle is shocking stuff all round.

Ultimo Dragon, Kaz Hayashi vs. Scott Armstrong, Steve Armstrong (WCWSN, 04/11/98)
This was short and sweet, and served it's purpose perfectly. Dragon and Hayashi haven't teamed before but the announcers talk as if this is going to be a permanent teaming, and for a first match together, they make a real good impression. The Armstrongs don't really do much, and Tenay actually questions if they've fallen to the "Armstrong Curse", whereby you have solid matches but never really win. Well, I think that's a certainty. Hayashi's senton bombs go down an absolute treat here and bring some life to an otherwise dead, taped to absolute bits crowd. Good stuff.

Chris Benoit vs. Bobby Eaton (WCWSN, 04/11/98)
I went into this with high expectations? Was I right to do so? I'd like to think so, Eaton and Benoit are two of my favourite workers in terms of TV matches. However, this didn't really connect with me at all. They go for about 5 minutes and the majority of that is Eaton working the arm, he does this weird stretch on the ropes using Benoit's arm that really doesn't look sore at all, so they transition into a plain as day armbar and Benoit's selling is good enough to keep my attention but sadly, it's just not all that interesting. It doesn't help that Benoit manages to lock in the Crossface out of nowhere and force a submission, made all of the previous armwork look completely pointless. Disappointing match, even by WCWSN standards. Maybe others would like it, but I wasn't feeling it at all.

Fit Finlay vs. Booker-T (WCWSN, 04/11/98)
I only bothered to watch this because I figured Finlay would be able to keep Booker in line. And you know what? He does. For a short match, he manages to make Booker come across a lot better than he actually is. Right off the bat, he throws Booker over the top and Booker takes a crazy looking bump from that. He got a lot more air than you would expect from a spot like that. Tenay and Hudson actually play up the fact that a throw like that would've been a DQ in WCW until "The Championship Committee" changed the rules like a sound group of lads. Finishing stretch is standard enough, as Booker becomes superhuman after doing the spinaroonie. Oh yeah, Finlay takes a great scissors kick, he doesn't fall like most guys where they kinda just tumble onto their chests, he goes down and smacks his face off the mat first and then sells from there. It's the little things that count. Much better than expected, although that's not really saying much.

Curt Hennig vs. Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart (WCWSN, 04/11/98)
This was about as routine as it gets in wrestling. Hennig looks totally uninspired to really give it a go, but can you really blame him? Neidhart is useless, he can't sell a leg to save his life and for whatever reason, he steals one of Stings signature spots. You know, the one where Sting no-sells a host of chops and goes wild? That. But 100x shittier. I seen it discussed on PWO that Hennig is like the perfect "finesse" wrestler, or at least was during his AWA days. I don't think he's necessarily lost that by this time, but it's certainly not as predominant as it could be. His work is still as good looking as it ever was, but I'll put down him not really having a great '98 due to being generally uninspired by what he had to do. Even during the whole Rap is Crap gimmick, I found his work to be a lot more engaging than anything from this Hart family feud, save perhaps that PPV match he had with Bret which I haven't seen in yonks. Non-finish to close the show as for the second week running, we get the exact same finish. Bulldog, Neidhart, Brian Adams and Hennig brawling. Yaaawn.