1998 Discussion

Discuss

The Weekend of June 5th to 7th, 1998
Worldwide Warrior of the Week - RICK FULLER. He's put over everyone from Juventud to Jim Duggan on the WCW syndie circuit, and is apparently finally being rewarded with a mini-push, as he's featured for next week. He's as big as Hugh Morrus, but a bit less complacent in his in-ring work. Check him out on the show next week and read about him right here on this page! Funkdafied!

What Worked

~BENOIT! vs Barry Horowitz. This started out like one of those Benoit squashes that is only now beginning to approach Luger's in terms of absolute annoyance. However, Benoit's instincts took over. He let Horowitz have an extended offensive sequence in which Barry hit a credible Northern Lights Suplex and a stutter-step leg drop that parodied the Hogan one and looked like nothing so much as a leg drop answer to maivia's People's Elbow. Barry got so much work in, in fact, that he got a 'Barry Sucks' chant going. It was the best Horowitz match since his match with Flair on this program a few months back, in which Flair was not afraid to sell. Finished with the Crossface, of course. But Barry apparently wasn't selling enough, so Benoit leaned back in it and convinced the timeless enhancement man to sell. Pump up the Volume!
~FIT! vs Scott Louden. Ah! Continuity glitch; Fit comes out without the belt. Guess this was supposed to air in two weeks... Stiff kicks and Fit's usual pressure-point intensive offense predominate in this squash, in which Fit looked like a more credible Ronnie Garvin. Bring the pain!

Villanos versus Disorderly Conduct. What a fun match. The Villanos work tecnico, DC looks like Condrey/Rose, a whole slew of 80s double team moves, and the luchadores go over. It was like one of those Thunder dark matches that blow away everything else on the show, show you how good and underused much of the WCW roster is, and makes you realize how you wish you could've gone to a house show instead.


What Didn't Work

Lee Roy Howard (with theme music) vs Goldberg: Lee Roy looks a bit like Tiny Lister, in that he's bald and black. Then again, so is a bus driver I often ride with. Typical 3 move Nikita2000 squash, which doesn't get Goldberg any more over and doesn't enhance his skills. But I liked him on those first couple of Nitros, yes I did.

Kendall Windham vs Tim Cheeks: This might have worked if it had been Maurice Cheeks, I don't know. As it was, it was Kendall working superloose, and it gave Kendall something to do between getting squashed by Goldberg on Nitro once a month. Kendall lost it, if he ever had it to start with.

Brian Adams versus Bobby Eaton: Yeah, this was on last week's Worldwide. But it was new to me, since I saw it on the Pro. Horrible match, but it gives me a platform from which I can illustrate a very important point about WCW. Brian Adams. Marginal in-ring skills. No interview skills to speak of, especially in the context of a feud in which Hogan, Nash, Konnan, and Savage all have their own distinct, yet popular, styles. Adams, like many of the people Bischoff lured from Titan in the last nine months or so (Hennig and the Hart Foundation as examples), is about as over as day-old bread. It was a mistake to hire him in that sense. Yet Adams differs from Hennig, DBS, and Bret in a key sense. He's NEVER been over. Not as Kona Crush. Not as Demolition Crush. Not as Nazi biker. And not now. Especially not now. Asses in seats, indeed.

Lee Marshall interviews Booker T: Sucka, sucka, sucka. Benoit's a sucka. Can you dig it?

Reese (with Flock, woo hoo) vs ~Ol' Hacksaw! Whip ass! Rocky King is ref! USA! Because Reese is, like, unAmerican and stuff. Reese pops an exploder suplex! Duggan SHOOTS with the double axehandle! Reese butt-bumps Hacksaw in the corner! Duggan debuts the Hacksawlt! Whipass! It's a BUYER'S MARKET, because no one's SELLING! Asses in seats! HOOOOOOOO! USA! Ol' Glory kneedrop! Pin, no run-in. Some of this didn't happen.

A final note: Next week will really suck, as Chris Adams, Hammer, and DDP are promised.

The Weekend of June 19th to 21st, 1998
Worldwide Workrate Warrior of the Week: Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine. Recently tributed in a Wu-Tang Clan song, Greg Valentine has spent his career as a lead heel in many promotions, most notably Crockett's Mid-Atlantic and mid-80s WWF. Although the 90s has been a bittersweet time for The Hammer, saddling him with atrophy in both skills and physique as well as an exponential decline in workrate and push, Valentine nonetheless received what someone somewhere could call a push right here on Worldwide. He was put over a few people, including one of today's combatants, Mike Tolbert. His finishing move is an elbow smash. Go Hammer!

What Worked

Tokyo Magnum and Judo Sawa (heels, 'cos they're Japs and stuff) versus Psicosis and La Parka: Oh, how I long for Silver King. The latter aren't my favorite luchadores or anything, but are helluva better than any of the main eventers I'll be skipping out on at the Bash tonight. I think the Villanos are better suited to go against the Grupo workers (as they did on the Pro the other week), but what the hell. Gulliotine Legdrop, enjoyed it, Magnum and Sawa can work.

What Didn't Work

Lee Marshall interviews ~EDDY!. I love ~UNCLE EDDY. Make no mistake about that. However, I'm bored with the Eddy/Chavo angle. And Eddy looks as he is as well. But who could blame him? Second match on the PPV, dead-end booking -- this isn't going anywhere. Eddy has been set up as the underdog here, but in such a way that his credibility is ruined for a while. Eminently forgettable stuff...

Brett Hammer vs Rick Fuller, who is a previous Worldwide Workrate Warrior, and who is carryable, but not by Hammer. Total big lug match -- bodyslam/shoulder block/ canned heat. Fuller debuts his finisher here, a tombstone piledriver, which he apparently has dubbed 'The Fuller Effect'. Such a Meng/Duggan match, and it seems like all Fuller is being groomed for is an issue with Mr. World Class, Chip Minton.

Buddy Lee Parker vs Chris Adams. More of 'The Filler Effect' here, as two carryable wrestlers work to the sound of one hand clapping. Larry Whistler talks about the PPV... I kept thinking about Gino Hernandez during this match, wondering if Gino would be doing this had he lived. I like Parker generally, and can stand Adams, but this didn't quite gel.

Mike Tolbert vs Van Hammer and Saturn vs DDP. My feelings about all ten minutes of this are summed up in the US dub of Drunken Master (with Jackie Chan) when Thunderfoot, the villain, says 'Crawl Through My Legs. Then go clean some toilets or something.' As much as I bitch about Mero, DOA, LOD, et al, at least there are only seven of them. WCW collects these stiffs like baseball cards.

The Weekend of June 19th to 21st, 1998
NOTE: I will undoubtedly miss the next four or so weeks as I will be at a writers' conference in upstate New York. For you aspiring novelists out there, writers' conferences are great ways to get work done, to seduce the ladeez, and to make professional connections. BOOYAA! Dean Rasmussen will stand in my stead.

Workrate Warrior of the Week: ~THUNDERFOOT #2! During the Crockett glory days, there was a team called the Thunderfoots who got pushed as a Low Pressure System sat over Charlotte for a week or so. The weather changed, as is its wont, and the push ended. T#1 disappeared soon thereafter, leaving Thunderfoot #2 with certain enviable Mulkey duties, such as putting over Robert Gibson in forty seconds and pretending Jimmy Valiant had offense. Pukka! Last I heard of this warrior, he had a tight feud with George South in some of the more sordid North Carolina indies. I seriously doubt it was Omega, Mister Rasmussen... BOING!

What Worked

~JERICHO! interview. If one accepts the theory that Jericho is the next Shawn Michaels, then this interviw provides ample support. Jericho is funny, intelligent, and altogether on point. With no disrespect intended to Dean Malenko, who is probably my favorite mat wrestler, Jericho is beyond that angle.

~KIDMAN! versus Bart Sawyer. Ah, yes. The hits keep coming, as Billy works with an unheralded enhancement man from the days when Van Hammer worked the semi-main event. But this wasn't bad, especially since Master Billy has learned from, and even arguably surpassed, that Guerrera boy in terms of stringing together relevant spots. What this here boy needs now is an extended feud with Malenko, or someone else that can tighten up the mat stuff.

Barry Horowitz vs Bobby Eaton. Jobbers of yesterday and today mix it up in this one, as Beautiful Bobby -- the only security guard with a no-compete clause -- mixes it up with the man he stole his recent losing streak gimmick from. Oh, wait. It's not Bobby's gimmick, explicitly anyway. Barry draws the "_____ sucks" chant, a novelty amongst the funereal Universal Studios crowd. Bobby goes over with a VERY Akira Taue kneedrop from the top rope, and hugs referee Rocky King afterwards. (Ironic and all, esp. in light of all the genuinely great Midnight Express squashes of Techwood Drive lore). And Barry carried another faded champ to positive stars, yes he did.


What Didn't Work

Goldberg interview: And I quote the phuture of professional wrestling; "I'm here to bring it to a new era, okay? What's done is done." Golly, Dusty, maybe you and Arn can raid Darsow's locker for his old Krusher Khrushchev tights, so Goldberg can work the growling Russian gimmick. Because, lemme tell ya, Goldberg is NOT going to be able to pull this hesitant valley-speak off on Nitro. You canned ~REGAL! for this?!? Goldberg's mincing, halfhearted interview presence is like nothing so much as that of the bullied camp counselor, psychically cracked by the malevolent eight year olds in his charge...

Glacier vs Todd Griffith: Just your standard Johnny Weaver versus Gene Ligon squash here as Glacier, like Matt Damon in 'The Rainmaker', is a protagonist who inspires neither believability or interest.

Evan Swinger Versus Johnny Courageous: Imagine if MTV had the two guys in Savage Garden meet up in a Deathmatch (tm) to determine who gets the band name after an OMD style breakup. Generic muscles, generic moves, whatever.

Barbarian vs Davey Boy: I can't imagine these two actually enjoy wrestling. I guess it pays the bills, though. And that's something.

The Weekend of June 26th to 28th, 1998

What Worked

Y'know. WCW should just make Worldwide into WCW Saturday Night because this episode stomped into the ground the sack of total shit that they served up on the SuperStaion last night. The best match was- Jiminy I got THREE to choose from! I don't even get that luxury in the Nitro Report on a really good Monday. Hmmm... I'll go with NORMAN SMILEY vs BARRY HOUSTON. SOMEONE in the BIG TWO needs to PUSH barry Houston. He is a better wrestler and KICKS HARDER than those choades Saturn, Glacier, Jerry Flynn and Ernest Miller; He can high-fly, he is willing to take MONSTROUS bumps and has had REALLY memorable matches holding his end up with FIT MOTHERFRICKING FINLAY AND JUSHIN MOTHERFARKING THUNDER MOTHERFRIGGING LIGER. He TRIED to hang move for move with Liger and tried to match stiffness with Finlay and if you have the balls and desire to do that, you deserve lots of squash wins over Bryan Adams, Barry Darsow and Hacksaw Duggan. This match here was cool because he plays to Smiley's UWFi experience (without the amazing amounts of gas for our man Norman). Houston works on his leg but strays to going for the knockout. Smiley gives him a straight kick to thigh, paralyzing it enough to roll in to the kneebar. Slight props to Schiavonne for getting a lot of the call right.

Booker T and Ultimo Dragon was really great because Booker T is a real good worker and Ultimo Dragon is the best wrestler in WCW. The size difference was pretty striking, but they wrestled it smart- with Booker T selling all the moves that shows off UD's impossible quickness, and UD selling Booker T's more skull-crushing powermoves to show that he isn't glossing over the size advantage. This was the main event so there was enough time for each to go on offense a few times with Booker T getting out of the Dragon Sleeper once and UD kicking up after an axe-kick. UD hits a SWANK Quebrada and Booker T hits his big ole Missile Dropkick. I love the fact that Booker T has a legit NJ Junior finisher. Ultimo Dragon- NONE MORE SMOOTH.

Psicosis vs Prince Iuakea was really good for the most part. They blew some stuff and Prince needs to work on his striking not looking so pansy-assed like Glacier or Saturn. Psicosis throws in a top rope Hurricanrana and Prince beats him with a Northern Lights Suplex into a Bridge. I should be cheesed off about the vastly more talented Psicosis putting over the journeyman Iuakea, but Prince was cool to Hangman Tim while the Prince was hanging out in the hall eating pizza at the Houseshow in Charlottesville and expressed to Tim his desire go back to New Japan again, so how can I hate him. That's Worldwide, Jake.

Silver King beat the crap out of Lorenzo, but he sold a whole bunch because he's Silver King- the best wrestler in WCW- and he wanted to make Lorenzo not look like the clueless rookie dipcrap that he is right now. He doesn't beat the holy living shit out of him like Finlay did on one of the all-time greatest Finlay matches ever, but he does smack him around and tries two moonsaults as SK goes all Luchadelic as he only he can do. Silver King with the Standing Somersault Guillotine. I'm wondering if WCW is gonna ship Silver King over to New Japan for the IWGP Tag Title Inaugural Tournament since his WILDLY RESURGENT brother Dr Wagner is getting the Fat Ass Push over there. That would be cool way to bring in Wagner and get Silver King into the mix over here because Liger is a booker with his head squarely not up his ass like everyone in WCW and Liger would put the belts on them for kicks. And they could lose the titles to Ohtani and Kanemoto on Nitro or something. Dreaaam...dream-dream-dream....


What Didn't Work

Ernest Miller vs Frankie Lancaster! Oh boy. Lancaster is so very not good. Miller is so very not good. This was so very not good. Not Good. No. Fast Forward say, "MUY TAI MY ASS!"

Dammit! I wanted something to REALLY suck so I could steal the Tom Servo joke from MST3K yesterday- "If I run out of vomit can I have some of yours." On a brighter note, I'll probably get to wear that joke out after Nitro and Monday is just a day away.

There you have it.

The Weekend of July 3rd to 5th, 1998

What Worked

HEY! Magnum Tokyo and Bobby Blaze weren't afraid to have a good little match. Magnum gets in his toprope hurricanrana and does a disturbing little lap dance plus he does a homage to the Master with the Ultimo Dragon TigerMask Sayama spinning kick sequence- YES! A HOMAGE TO A HOMAGE! You don't get that on Nitro or RAW! Blaze does a lot of less-than-spectacular suplexes, but I dug the butterfly suplex into the Northern Lights suplex, but it wasn't Chris Benoit-like, but what the hell is? Magnum leans into a kick to the face by Blaze LIKE A MAN and it looks great. Blaze is a good worker and Magnum Tokyo is gonna be a REALLY good worker to possibly an actual GREAT WORKER in two years so this match is a no brainer for the wonderful and frightening world of WCW Worldwide.

Spike Moore and Lenny Lane had an okay match for the simple reason that I'M COMPLETELY INSANE! How do I know that I'm insane?!?! Because I loved Moore's idiot "I'm a Lil Road Warrior" wrestling style. Kinda like if Scott Putski was good or something. Hell, he hit all of his powermoves and had a lot of verve, what else could I ask for from a young punk? Lenny Lane just sold the whole match, which is better than if he attempts to do a bunch of stuff sometimes- because HEY! when Lenny Lane is on he's really not bad, but when he's off, nobody stinks more in the whole world of WCW Cruiserdom. They blow a spot and the Bulldog was weak, but I like this Spike guy as quite the rookie Worldwide Warrior.

ALLRIGHT! The Villanos! Golly, they fuckin rule. Hey. It's High Voltage. Whaddayaknow. HV don't irritate me like they irritate other folk. They aren't the worst wrestlers on earth. Hell, this would have been REALLY good if it wasn't a measly three minutes long. The Villanos do a perfect Midnight Express impersonation for the bulk of this and since they are just really smooth workers like all good rudos are, there is very little that High Voltage has to do but sell and go to the finish, so once again- the Villanos are the perfect rudos and make something out of nothing. Not a lot of something, but a enough to work. This is the key to the coolness of Worldwide- you have two teams that aren't pushed; there is no continuity so there is no idiot storyline to alot an intricate screwjob; you are booking in a vacuum so you just tell your boys that HV is going over so go out and wrestle to the finish. Villanos are great wrestlers so they work a good match and put HV over clean, just like HV would do for them if asked. They should try this on Nitro. It would make it easier and more enjoyable to watch.


What Didn't Work

What's going on here?!?!? My TV is picking up a crappy match from WWF All-American Wrestling from 1987. Good God! What happened to those striped pants Virgil usually wears? Where's Ted Dibiase? Where's that other Midnight Rocker creep? God! Could they possibly steal any other ideas for their names? Hmm...since I'm obviously time-warping, maybe the Midnight Express or the Rock and Roll Express will be over on NWA Worldwide on channel six because this WWF Rock-n-wrasslin' crap sucks. And what the hell is this Rocker guy wearing? Where's my Husker Du album? Does this mean I get to sleep with Jennifer from California again?!? WOO-HOO! Then my mind split open... HEY NOW! Maybe this match rocks!

John Nord once had one of the best brawls in the history of Chicago when he and Bruiser Brodie tore up an entire auditorium in an attempt to kill each other during a Windy City Wrestling card. The pinnacle of that match was the hideously HARDCORE BEFORE HARDCORE WAS ANYHTING vision of John Nord licking the blood off of Bruiser Brodie's forehead, as I realized that at that moment as I watched that tape that neither of these guys gave a shit about ANYTHING once the bell rings. Everyone dies and everything gets broke and there's nothing anybody can do to stop them- promoters cry, the police stay out of the way, parents cover their children's eyes- this was the world of Bruiser Brodie- and John Nord was part of this world one glorious night. Meanwhile over in the Worldwide Universe, Nord tries to make it interesting against the load of shit that is Goldberg, but it's Goldberg. Boy, does he suck. Nord should have busted him open hardway with a table and licked the blood off of his forehead. That would have worked. This didn't.


THERE YOU HAVE IT!

Ultimo Dragon vs. Saito (08/01/98)
SAITO either wrestles now (or recently) as Ryo Saito or Super Shisa I think, and this was good fun as a teacher/student match should be. Saito looked real good here eating Ultimo's offense. Saito got to do a ton of moves and the crowd was way into it. Ultimo threw a spin kick that caught Saito right under the chin and it was great. For a guy who hates stiffness, Ultimo sure popped him there. I can't think of any other situation where two Japanese guys working in a vacuum would get the crowd this excited.

Sick Boy vs. Julio Sanchez (08/01/98)
Sick Boy was not a good wrestler. Time has told us that. And I will forever hate Sanchez since ECW used him regularly as a wrestler while employing Chris Hamrick as a manager. Travesty. These guys looked like mirror images of each other here, one in cutoff shorts, one in tights. These guys weren't great. Although Sick Boy's pedigree really plants guys painfully. He doesn't let go of the arms like HHH. And Sick Boy did a fist drop, so what more could you really ask for?

Kendall Windham vs. Disco Inferno (08/01/98)
This might sound like hyperbole to some, but Kendall vs. Disco might be the best WCW match I've seen in ages. Not sure how much influence the Simpler Times are having at this point. The only syndicated matches (off the top of my head) that could compete with it are Benoit vs. Big Train Bart (Necro's trainer) from '95, Kendall/Barry vs. B.A./Swoll from '99, Hak vs. Bull Pain from '99, and Raven vs. Kaz Hayashi from '99. Kendall vs. Disco was just too completely awesome and -- no joke -- made Kendall look like one of the best in the world. Kendall's left hand is arguably the greatest punch in wrestling...EVER. Seriously. It looked like a million bucks in this match. Kendall punched Disco the whole time, stomped him in the corner, kicked him hard in the stomach, and MAN did Disco sell it all well. He sold each of Kendall's punches perfectly, whipping his head back, writhing on the ground holding his face. Disco's comebacks were peppered in perfectly as well with a great swinging neckbreaker and a piledriver that Kendall took and sold GREAT! This match was awesome and Kendall just looked like a monster, completely badass. Disco helped that out to a big degree. These guys made each other look great and this was just a killer match that gets a bunch of time, like 7-8 minutes. I would rate this 8 stars.

Juventud Guerrera/Psychosis vs. Villano IV/V (08/01/98)
For those of us who got big into lucha, I assume WCW syndicated TV had some hand in that, and stuff like Villanos IV & V vs. Psychosis/Juvy gave us a short fun sprint with some big dives, a big springboard dropkick, Psychosis dumping himself on his own head, and good times had by all. If all lucha was like this, but longer and with even more guys, then of course we were going to start buying tapes.

The Gambler vs. Hugh Morrus (08/09/98)
Morrus really stinks here but THE GAMBLER is a guy I've always dug, and he gets even better the more I see him. Morrus is always really selfish in his squash matches, taking like 95% of them with so-so offense. Gambler had a nasty back elbow and not much else, which is a shame as whenever he gets the chance he always has great offense. It's funny that Gambler was a jobber back then, but somebody like Karl Anderson gets regular Japan bookings these days with the same look and less talent. Anderson doesn't even have a jacket with playing cards on it. Idiot.

Vincent vs. Frankie Lancaster (08/09/98)
This was a real nice Vince showcase and he really made the most of it. Just stiffs up Lancaster the whole match, takes a big bump for him, and ends it with one of the nastiest arm bars I've seen. He did a single-arm DDT and looked like he just posted Frankie's wrist right into the mat and then wrenched it into a great Fujiwara armbar, but working it from his back. Just awesome. Vincent/Curly Bill could really work, and it would only come through in small flashes of brilliance like this. You know Frankie Lancaster today from his debilitating kidney disease (I assume).

SUWA vs. Jerry Flynn (08/09/98)
SUWA match! SUWA at one point was my favorite wrestler in the world, and with Finlay is the man I most wish would return to wrestling matches. SUWA was my favorite in the workd like 5 years after this match. I'm not even sure Toryumon had started at this point. Flynn's matches are always best when his opponent doesn't mind being a punching bag (erm...kicking bag). When he's in with a bigger star, usually that guy won't take any of his stiff kicks. But lower card guys and foreigners? Yeah. You're getting kicked. SUWA was not the biggest dick in wrestling as he would become a few years later, but he still was doing stuff like eyepokes and snarling at all the wide eyes in the crowd. Flynn kicks him a bunch and this was awesome.

Sick Boy vs. Hardbody Harrison (08/09/98)
To the surprise of everybody, this wasn't that good. The only thing Harrison was worse at than wrestling, was defending himself in court.

British Bulldog/Jim Neidhart vs. Steve & Scott Armstrong (08/09/98)
This was a perfectly fine little tag to main event the start of My Favorite Wrestling, with Armstrongs getting plenty of offense and heeling it up. Bulldog has looked pretty lousy at other points in WCW, but he looked alright here. But these kinds of matches are almost always the Armstrong show, and an Armstrongs tag that gets 6+ minutes is almost always going to be good.

And that's kinda the best thing about WCW syndicated TV. For some reason (atmosphere, sense of surprise, beer) even the crummy matches have worth and are fun. It's the ultimate pro wrestling comfort food. And it's why it will always be My Favorite Wrestling.

Harlem Heat vs. La Parka, Silver King (Worldwide, 01/03/98)
Heat pretty much dominate this entire thing. Parka brings a chair to the ring but doesn't get to use it, so I'm infinitely disappointed. Booker T looked alright here, but Stevie Ray was nothing special, duh right? Their gold singlets look awfully camp, especially for big, strong black men. The announcers don't even address the action once, which is depressing because I don't care if Bobby Heenan might be joining the nWo.

Steve Regal, Dave Taylor vs. Bobby Walker, Jim Powers (Worldwide, 01/03/98)
No prizes for guessing who wins this. Regal's singlet looks a lot more tight fitting than usual. There was a Taylor promo before this that might've suggested him turning face, but I don't think they ever got that far. Walker and Powers get way too much in for their standing in the company. Match ends out of nowhere with a sweet suplex from Taylor. Nothing to ride home about. Although Tony and Bobby actually cover the action here.

Konnan vs. Johnny Boone (Worldwide, 01/03/98)
Who the fuck is Johnny Boone? This was shit. Konnan is shit. It's an absolute squash as you can imagine but everything Konnan does looks sooooo half-arsed. Vincent gets a couple of punches in from ringside. To cover for the shittiness here, they tell us that Bobby isn't in the nWo, but he's merely spying on the nWo. Fuck sakes. You know that feeling when you're waiting for a match to end? Yeah, got that here. But oh well, I knew there'd be a lot more shit than good going into this. Tequila Sunrise for the win.

Lorenzo vs. Mark Starr (Worldwide, 01/03/98)
Heenan sees dollar signs in Lorenzo...really? Seeing as this is the only match on the show comprising entirely of nobodies, I'll let it go. Why does Worldwide have more star power than Saturday Night? This felt like I was watching a try out match that would lead to a dark match. Lorenzo looks like a jakked up Kid Kash. Nothing noteworthy happens, Lorezo goes over in squash fashion, everything is sloppy. Yawn.

DDP vs. Fit Finlay (Worldwide, 01/03/98)
This looked a lot better on paper than it actually was, but what do you really expect from a sub 5 minute match. DDP with the early offence, Finlay takes over and then Diamond Cutter out of nowhere. I can't believe Heenan had to say "Impressive win believe it or not". I must say, these 1 hour shows are a hell of a lot easier to get through but it's still effort cutting through the crap. I don't mind matches like this, but their insignificane makes it hard to care. There was some good to it though, both guys punches looked great and the crowd popped pretty big for the finish considering it's a soundstage.

Curt Henning vs. Booker T (Worldwide, 01/10/98)
This was basic enough, but I still found it enjoyable. Booker starts off strong, but Henning catches an opportunity and then proceeds to work the leg for a lot of the match. Obviously, Booker ain't hittin no scissors kick with a knackered leg so Henning actually picks up the win here clean, as he's the heel. Strange enough. It's a non-title match anyway, so it doesn't really matter but it's an odd decision to have your TV champ lose meaninglessly like Booker did here.

Juventud Guerrera, Lizmark Jr., Hector Garza vs. Villianos VI and V, Damien (Worldwide, 01/10/98)
This made very little sense but who cares? Going in, you know rightly it's just going to be a 5 minute spotfest with no rhyme or reason to anything. I don't like Damien, he reminds me of Mideon looks-wise. Things are normal tag-rules for the first portion of this but then things break down into constant spots for the rest of the time. Garza and Lizmark felt more likely babyface lackeys for Juvi here than anything. Juvi picks up the win with a nice 450. This could've been a lot worse, but it's really nothing memorable which is sad because the luchadores as probably what I look forward to most in these shows.

Chris Benoit vs. Konnan (Worldwide, 01/10/98)
This was boring. Konnan is so boring, even Benoit can't bring him a match that I'll care about. It's a 6 minute match and I fell asleep around the 2 minute mark, I think. Crossface finish where Vincent doesn't try and help Konnan because he's doing Bagwell impressions all round for the world to see. I can't imagine the match as being anything worthwhile but I had a header typed out for the match so I figured I may as well type this too. I tried to stay awake, I really did.

Steve Regal vs. Doc Dean (Worldwide, 01/17/98)
This lacked a bit of pace, but it was a pretty good squash otherwise. It was like Regal teaching this kid a lesson, he pulls him into position several times and has the upper hand for 99% of the match. The fact that both of these guys are British is mentioned numerous times and it's blatantly obvious that Heenan is drunk as a skunk in the booth. The finish gave Regal some nice heat since he took advantage of a badly injured Dean and still applied the Regal Stretch. Cool stuff.

Barry Horowitz vs. Hardbody Harrison (Worldwide, 01/17/98)
This was odd. A lot of stuff was clearly mis-timed and there lack of chemistry between these two guys in evident. Horowitz has a thing for patting himself on the back, even odder. It looked like he was getting frustrated by the fans and I thought that might play into him losing, but he didn't even lose. He just squashed Harrison is awfully slow fashion. The finish with the 3/4 roll up looked weird and awkward to pull off, a simpler finish would've benefitted the match. Nothing remarkable here.

Dave Taylor vs. Mike Anthony (Worldwide, 01/17/98)
Despite going over, Taylor managed to get over this nobody nicely here. He played up to the crowd, got them riled up and such and then everything Anthony even got a look in, he was getting automatic pops. At least that's how I like to view it and not think that there being a CHEER/BOO sign in the roof played a part. Anthony looks like your typical vanilla cruiserweight and has a lot of 'meh' kicks but Taylor makes him look like a threat of sorts. Nice tiger suplex for the win too. Enjoyed this.

Norman Smiley vs. Manny Fernandez (Worldwide, 01/17/98)
Nothing to see here, Smiley tries to be all submission-y and it just doesn't suit him. It's a shame that the most effective he ever was, was with the Screamin' Norman Smiley gimmick in 2000. Fernandez is too bland to even consider writing anything about. But fuck the match, the commentary is where this is at. Heenan is spouting off about his shitty maid at home and how she fucks up his meals and then Shiavonie calls Smiley's shoes, which are clearly runners, "foot covers". I don't even....

Bobby Walker vs. Rick Fuller (Worldwide, 01/17/98)
Jesus there's some real rednecks and degenerates in the Worldwide crowd. Well this sucked balls, hard. Fuller does something that gets him control and he has it for like a second before Walker makes the most epic of comebacks. Fuller has possibly the worst knee sell that I've ever seen in all my years of watching wrestling. But hey, one of Teddy Long's guys actually won a match. Therefore, this is a significant match, at least in that respect.

Giant vs. Louie Spicolli (Worldwide, 01/17/98)
Giant doesn't look pleased knowing that he had to travel just for this shit. Spicolli is actually wearing an adidas singlet, showing that any 'ol joe can get into wrestling. Giant looks bored and just squashes the shit out of the nWo stooge. Didn't Spicolli be a lackey for the Kliq in the WWF? That must be how he got that nickname. Giant hits a superkick, a terrible one. It's sad that this wasn't even the worst match on the show.

Definitely a poor showing this week.

Giant vs. Vincent (Worldwide, 01/24/98)
Squash city. Vincent didn't even get anything resembling a move in. Giant just takes things slow and plods through the match, looking awfully bored. When this started, I feared that this might be Vincent squashing someone, but I'll take Giant squashing Vincent over that anyday. Watching this, I'm really surprised that Giant stayed in WCW for another year, he looked ready to leave at any time.

Super Calo vs. Barry Houston (Worldwide, 01/24/98)
This was much better than I thought it was going to be. From the onset, it looked like this was going to be another squash but it was actually a really fucking close contest. Houston looks like a skinny Trevor Murdoch, and moves like Murdoch in his dreams, which means he's a cruiserweight. There's a couple of nasty bumps to the floor here, and that causes me to notice for the first time, the ring apron on Worldwide is really small, like backstreet midget brawling small. Either way, good match. Finish looked awkward but it didn't blemish the match.

Silver King vs. Lizmark Jr. (Worldwide, 01/24/98)
This was a step down from the previous luchas match. Also, two luchas match on a 1-hour show? That's almost unheard of. But this was too much of a my-turn/your-turn sort of match and it got a little irritating after a while. The action itself was nice but I just wasn't interested enough to follow it intently. That said, Lizmark is one hell of a bumper. In the slow-mo highlights at the end, he gets fucking planted on a tornado DDT. Forgettable match really.

DDP vs. Yugi Nagata (Worldwide, 01/24/98)
Standard DDP formula match. Y'all know how it goes. Nagata works a nice enough control segment and DDP works a great comeback getting all fired up with the crowd behind him and shit. Even his facial expressions contribute greatly to these matches. I wish DDP was on the C-Shows more often. Sonny Ono is pointless at ringside although he does look a little funny when he mouths off about DDP. That asian prick had some fucked up teeth. Next puhweeese.

John Nord vs. Roadblock (Worldwide, 01/24/98)
Eskimo Boots himself is back! This was another close enough encounter but it felt terribly slow. The announcers say Roadblock is one of the more agile bigmen you'll ever see....is he fuck! He can take a bump on his back made of bricks and that's it. He actually carries a roadblock sign to the ring, and here I was thinking that goofy gimmicks were long gone in WCW at the time. Roadblock causes an earthquake when he misses the splash, and Nord takes advantage with a sweet looking camel clutch to bring a slow painful death to this slow painful affair.

Randy Savage vs. Chris Adams (Worldwide, 01/24/98)
This was actually a lot less of a squash that I thought it would be. Yeah, it's only 5 minutes long but both guys get enough in to pass it off as a competitive contest. Savage looked great early on, like he had a chip on his shoulder. But during Adams' shit, Savage appears to lose interest and doesn't make much of an effort to sell anything. Liz looks hot as shit at ringside and plays her part effectively as your everyday evil vixen at ringside. This probably would've been so much worse had two nobodies worked the same match but it's significant seeing Savage on the C-Show which piques my interest and my enjoyment.

Yugi Nagata vs. Sumo Fuji (Worldwide, 01/31/98)
Nice little back and forth contest here. I don't know who Fuji is but he wrestles in his bare feet. There's some sweet slaps and kicks here and for a while there's a sense that this isn't even gonna have a predictable winner. But once Nagata hits that pump handle, you know, you just know. Heenan had a great line on commentary where he said something along the lines of "If you squint your eyes, it looks like Nagata is wrestling Yoko Ono". Nice match, glad I watched this.

Fit Finlay vs. Buddy Lee Parker (Worldwide, 01/31/98)
Filthy match right here. Can't say I liked it at all. Sure, there's the usual stiff strikes that you would expect in your everyday Finlay match but my God, Parker sucks so much it's actually cringeworthy. The guy can't do anything right. Also, this followed the usual C-Show formula without adding anything worthwhile to it. It doesn't last all that long thought so it's not all bad news, I'm just disappointed that I can't get into a Finlay match.

La Parka vs. Barry Houston (Worldwide, 01/31/98)
Parka's mask got really fucked up here. Nothing spectacular happens, I'm surprised that Houston got in as much as he did, I think he spent more time on offence than Parka actually. Sadly, the chair at ringside doesn't get used but hey, Parka wins and that's something in itself in WCW. The finish felt like it was simply done to finish the match because the mask was falling apart but I've no complaints, I was getting a little bored with it anyway.

Randy Savage vs. Ultimo Dragon (Worldwide, 01/31/98)
Yeah, this was a squash and predictable before I even popped in the disc. But you know what? I loved it! The beginning was great with Savage bowing trying to show respect and then kicking Dragon right in the gut. Little things like slipping Liz his bandanna to choke Dragon and Macho actually taking a bump or two for Dragon had me marking. When stars like Macho come on the show, you can really feel the difference in capability, he just has that something about him that I wish a lot more of these guys had. Macho dropping the big elbow on Dragon? Oh yes please.

There's a Meng/Barbarian vs. Nova/Heath (I don't know either) match along with Luger/Norton, but it's getting late and there's isn't a hope in hell of me putting myself through that. I know rightly how they'll go and that's good enough for me, I've seen the matches I wanted to see on this episode.

Duggan vs. Barbarian? No thanks, I'll skip that.

Chris Benoit vs. David Sierra (Worldwide, 02/07/98)
Benoit against a tubby Cuban? Yeah, I can work with that. Obviously, this is a squash, well it's more of a competitive squash really. There ain't a whole lotta moves, more brawling than anything but it works ok. I've never heard of Sierra in my life and never expected him to win but it was nice to see him get some shots in. Benoit's headbutt at the finish got some serious air, he flew at least 2/3rds across the ring. Crossface for the quick win. Still better than any Duggan match ever.

Harlem Heat vs. High Voltage....nah. I'm not gonna put myself though stuff that I know won't appeal to me in the slightest.

Tenzan vs. Tony Carr (Worldwide, 02/07/98)
And not a single move was sold in this match, at least by Tenzan anyway. Slow, sluggish and not very interesting. I thought Tenzan's squashes would be more entertaining than this. He wins with a headbutt than looks a lot less impressive than Benoit's. Probably the most entertaining part of all of this was saying that the only reason Dusty Rhodes speaks like he does is because he eats 20 pounds of hay every day.

Ric Flair vs. Barry Horowitz (Worldwide, 02/07/98)
It's strange seeing Flair on such a low-level show, neat at the same time though. Horowitz doesn't get an awful lot in here but Flair isn't afraid to bump a little for him. Flair himself gets all his stuff in and it's like he's just going out there and playing the tunes that everyone wants to here, sending everyone home happy. Eye pokes, chops, Figure-Four, you know the shizzle. Tony mentioned at the very beginning that these two have actually wrestled eachother before and I'd be interested to see if that was a more competitive match or not. Even still, this was probably the best match on the show.

Rick Martel vs. Barry Houston (Worldwide, 02/14/98)
Martel controls everything for an almighty 3 minutes. Houston doesn’t even get a look in but he bumps good. Martel looked good too, especially considering he was in the twilight of his career here. It’s a shame that a former world champ like Martel was placed on Worldwide a few weeks after his debut. He gets the Boston Crab over nicely and looks motivated. Houston on the other hand, looks orc-like.

Goldberg vs. Joey Maggs (Worldwide, 02/14/98)
Do I even need to discuss this one? I’m sure we all know how it goes. Maggs is a tackling dummy and we’re done within 20 seconds. Next please. Goldberg looks more jacked than usual here. Just saying.

Bobby Eaton, Bobby Walker vs. Jerry Flynn, Mark Starr (Worldwide, 02/14/98)
So, the only thing this did was make everyone except Eaton look useless, which really isn’t a bad thing in retrospect. Flynn’s always annoyed me, he feels like a poor man’s Steve Blackman. Starr? I don’t even know. He sucks anyway. Walker’s had better showings but there’s this spot where he walks the ropes for no reason whatsoever. It boggled my mind in all sorts of ways. Eaton, for the little time he was in, looked good and actually picked up the win here which was refreshing because in most of the Eaton matches I’ve recently watched, he’s come up short. There’s nothing worth seeing here though.

Marty Jannetty vs. William Worthy (Worldwide, 02/14/98)
Very similar to the first match, easy squash for Jannetty. He doesn’t have to do much, but what he does do looks alright, I really hate his Japanese arm drags though. It’s a wonder as to why WCW never paired jannetty up with anybody, it was clear from this that nobody was gonna give him a chance in WCW as a singles guy, even an Eaton/Jannetty pairing could’ve worked. Oh well.

Renegade vs. Bobby Blaze (Worldwide, 02/14/98)
Well, wouldn’t you know it. We’ve got an upset win on our hands. Despite getting his ass kicked for the entire match, Blaze picks up the win here out of nowhere with a weak looking Nortern Lights Suplex. Renegade looked good here and had finally stopped trying to be Ultimate Warrior, I would’ve expected a win from him here because it looked like he was trying a lot more. Average match really.

La Parka vs. Ultimo Dragon (Worldwide, 02/14/98)
This was a bunch of fun, really. I’m not normally that big on Dragon but he looks really great here. Neither guy manages to blow any spots which genuinely surprised me. La Parka’s always great fun to watch and he has a sweet cutoff here, his piledriver though, could be better looking but it still did the job fine. For a match that pretty much just moves and a chance to turn the head off, this was fine. A fine main event for Worldwide.

Disco Inferno vs. Jerry Flynn (02/21/98)
As far as Flynn matches go, this was pretty good. As far as normal matches go, this was just about passable. Disco’s always a bunch of fun, despite stealing Austin’s finisher but he doesn’t use it here, no, he wins with an almighty swinging neckbreaker. Flynn’s kicks look stiff here, what a prick, stiffing on Worldwide. Apparently he’s a former kickboxing champ too, I still don’t care for him. Disco’s still in the good books though.

Disoderly Conduct vs. Public Enemy (Worldwide, 02/21/98)
PE feel sooo out of date, it’s actually cringeworthy. They’re really over with this crowd, singing and dancing along with them and whatnot. Makes me sick, who do they think they are making kids happy? DC start off strong but they’re squashed within 3 minutes. PE are scumbags simply for teasing the table spot but not actually delivering. I feel cheated of 5 minutes of my life.

Konnan vs. Rick Fuller….Like fuck.

Super Calo vs. Saturn (Worldwide, 02/21/98)
Poor Calo gets squashed into a million tiny pieces here. Saturn heels it up nicely here but he almost injured Calo multiple times, especially on that Tazzplex, or at least that’s what I think it’s called, you know the overhead belly to belly where the opponent’s leg is raised too? Yeah, Tazzplex will suffice. Saturn ignores ref counts, stiffs his shots, wears ripped jeans and uses submissions, my hero. At one point Hennan asks what Lodi actually does to which Tony responsds with “Absolutely nothing, he is a useless idiot that designs signs”.

Yugi Nagata vs. DDP (02/21/98)
This is their second bout in a few weeks, their first one wasn’t too bad and this one was almost identical to that match. DDP squashes definitely follow a formula but it works so hey, why not? I liked how as soon as DDP got going, Nagata slowed things down to his pace and made them work from there. The DC wasn’t as impressive this week as it normally is, but then again, neither was this entire episode. All in all, a pretty forgettable episode of Worldwide. Nothing really stood out, and every single match was more or less predictable. Oh well!

Goldberg vs. Jerry Flynn (Worldwide, 03/07/98)
I don’t even need to explain this one, although Goldberg does hit perhaps the shittiest looking spear I’ve ever seen from him. Flynn tries some karate tricks but it all goes to waste, Goldberg looks like a beast and Heenan wants to marry him.

Ric Flair vs. Brad Armstrong (Worldwide, 03/07/98)
Really good match here for all 6 minutes that it lasts for. It actually comes across as a legitimate contest rather than Flair squashing Armstrong. They talk about these two having a 60 minute draw in the Omni years ago, oh how times have changed. Despite Armstrong’s shitty booking, he went toe for toe here with Flair, a lot of the submissions looked a tad awkward but it wasn’t anything that would take me out of the match. Back and forth till the Figure-Four really, but much better than I’d expected.

Kidman vs. Super Calo (Worldwide, 03/14/98)
Pretty useless match here even though Kidman takes a beating. Super Calo is just doing flip after flip after flip and there’s no reasoning behind anything. Kidman actually looks good in what he does hit which isn’t an awful lot, the SSP on the back on Calo looked cool though. Bleh.

Scott Hall vs. Hugh Morrus (Worldwide, 03/14/98)
Well, it’s the Outsiders in 1998 on the show that’s lowest on the pecking order. It’s significant enough for that alone. Hall and Nash are really just taking the absolute piss for this whole segment. Oh yeah, the ring is so small that Nash is still taller than the highest rope when he stands outside. But Hall just takes some shit from Morrus, never really selling anything and then he hits a stupidly dangerous looking version of the Razors Edge for the win. Although, Nash and Hall’s celebration dance afterwards was probably the highlight of this episode.

Shiima Nobunaga vs. Ciclope (Worldwide, 03/14/98)
I don’t even know what to make of all of this. It’s hard enough paying attention to a match like this at the best of times, but when your feed starts going iffy and Cicope is dressed up as a pumpkin, all things good in this world go right out of the window. Cicope actually wins with a pendulum swing, it just looks like a dirty sex move, who has even won a match with that before? Shiima was just the generic bump-taking Jap here, I’m still baffled by Cicope though. A PUMPKIN.

Bobby Blaze vs. Mark Starr (Worldwide, 03/28/98)
Starr works the arm and shoulder area of Blaze in quite a non-convincing fashion, slowing things down to a tragically boring pace. Starr does have a nice looking bodyslam though, I’m not quite sure what I would qualify for a bodyslam to look nice, but his did. Blaze doesn’t look to be in the best of shape, he actually looked a little gassed after hitting just a leg sweep. However, Blaze does hit a nice looking northern lights suplex for the win. Nothing special here, some boring armwork and a move or two. Not quite sure why I watched this now.

Rick Steiner vs. Tenzan (Worldwide, 03/28/98)
So Steiner wants to take out the entire now since his brother joined their evil forces, and he starts this nicely to go with that by socking Tenzan in the mouth and stretching him out on the mat. Tenzan does get some stuff in but none of it’s convincing and there’s never any sense that Steiner is losing this. After a few chops and headbutts, Steiner picks up the win with a nasty looking bulldog. So, a squash more than anything, but I’m liking the way this Steiner-storyline is going so far. I’ll try keep my expectations low though.

Chris Adams vs. Black Cat (Worldwide, 03/28/98)
Holy Shit, I went in expecting this to be absolute shite. This really caught me off guard, starting with a plethora of stiff shots that had no sign of stopping. Adams tried to keep Cat down, but there’s no keeping a fat Jap down when he can stiff you in the eye. I love punches to the eye! At one point, it looked like Adams blew a spot, and then Cat hits a DDT that seemingly knocks Adams loopy for a bit. I love this match. A surly Brit against a tubby Jap? YES. More of this please! It’s sub-5 minutes, but still, best C-show match I’ve seen in a while.

Yugi Nagata vs. Tenzan (Worldwide, 04/04/98)
This sucked. Between average wrestling, horrible production and even worse commentary. Nagata does all the work here, hits a couple of kicks, couple of slams, you know the deal. Tenzan does sweet fuck all. When it looked like Tenzan was hitting a powerbomb, the camera went into closeups of the crowd and upon return, Nagata’s just lying on the floor. That pissed me off more than it should’ve. Oh yeah, commentary. According to Larry Z, Tenzan isn’t a true Japanese wrestler because he has weird hair and Nagata doesn’t. I…I just don’t know.

Black Cat vs. Booker T – Not even Cat’s awesome performance last week can get me to watch a Booker T match from 1998. Judging by the highlights at the end, Cat didn’t even get a look in.

Dave Taylor vs. Ohara (Worldwide, 04/04/98)
Who the fuck is Ohara? WCW had way too many Japanese guys that they did nothing with. According to Larry, he’s an Oddjob lookalike. Taylor’s all manly and shit here with his grunted face and firework uppercuts, nothing fancy from him but I wouldn’t really expect any otherwise. He makes quick work of Ohara who was pretty terrible and wrestled in his robe for some reason. Nothing match.

DDP vs. Saturn (Worldwide 04/04/98)
There’s 6 minutes left on the clock, I haven’t got much hope for this one. Larry is coming out with plenty of one liners here; “Lodi lives to write signs, he loooves signs”. The first half of the match has nothing happening, but when things get going, it’s not all that bad, definitely the best match of the show thus far, but that’s not really saying much. There’s like 2 minutes of actual action before the finish, but DDP goes Diamond Cutter crazy afterwards on the Flock. Kidman takes a particularly nice one actually. Definitely one of the more forgettable Worldwide episodes so far.