Spring Stampede '98 - Sunday, 04/19/98

By Bill

"What is this? Saturday Night's Main Event?!"

Trivia Question: (This one's kind of vague, but here goes...) When Ricky Steamboat was in the WWF, he had major feuds with Don Muraco, Randy Savage, and Jake Roberts. What two things did all three of those feuds have in common? (Answer at bottom of the report)
A bunch of people let me know that Sting's gloves are not Macho Madness gloves but are, in fact, Mechanix Gloves which are used by guys in the racing pits. All the mail I've gotten says those gloves have great grip. (Thanks to Phuzzy in Miami, OK, for the link.)
Another correction is that I misquoted Mike Tenay. He said Goldberg and Kevin Greene were roommates in their pro football days, not college (as I had written). My apologies for that one.
The mailbag:
- From Kaye S. at Rutgers:
  Just wanted to let you know that the official figure for 3 Ninjas opening weekend gross was $150,127. It came in 33^rd place (just ahead of the James Bond movie which has been out for 115 weeks).
- From Todd B.:
  I know who the man driving the Viper is! It's so easy to figure out! I can't believe no one else has figured it out. If you look up and down the nWo roster, only one member has the skills to pull the hit and run off -- Kyle Petty!
- From Nick R. in Herndon, VA:
  My brother was skimming through channels right before WCW Saturday Night was on. He stopped on Nickelodeon and we both saw the Giant. He was on the show "Figure It Out." That's what my little brother said it was called, anyway. A game show host asked him a bunch of questions and at the end he got slimed in the traditional Nickelodoen way (from the ceiling). The game show host asked if he would hold it (the sliming) against her and Giant said no. I wish he had gotten pissed and begun choke-slamming everyone in sight while security tried to stop him. But hey, it's Nickelodeon.
- From Simon of Maplewood, MN:
  The St. Paul Pioneer Press ran an article on Monday, April 13^th (Nitro night at the Target Center) about Verne Gagne. Kind of a 'what does he think of the state of wrestling today' article. The gist of the article says that he doesn't pay much attention to it anymore. He still sounded a tiny bit miffed about everyone abandoning ship to go to the WWF from the AWA, but then they talked to Jesse 'The Body' Ventura and he said that '(Gagne) treated his talent like crap' and Vince McMahon welcomed everyone with open arms. Also, the ran a 'where are they now' feature about old AWA era wrestlers such as 'The Iron Claw' Baron von Raschke (who is running a souvenir shop in Lake George, MN) and Greg Gagne (who is a car saleman in Bloomington). Anyway, if you are interested, I could snail mail you a copy of the article, or you could get them from http://www.pioneerplanet.com/ (search the news archives under wrestling). Unfortunatly, the blasted paper charges you a buck/article.
  Also, just this morning after I got off from work my fiance let me know that A&E is going to be running a 6 hour documentary called 'The Unreal Story of Professional Wrestling' on April 26. They have a short description and programmming info on their web site, http://www.aande.com/viewers/premieres/wrestle.html.
  Although in the description the 'modern' wrestlers they mention include 'The Iron Claw' (must be von Raschke), Gorgeous George, and Brain Buster, Only one of whom I have actually seen wrestle (in the early eighties), so who knows what their definition of 'modern' is. Guess I'll just have to wait and see.
I got some more mail about the WCW vs. nWo video game. I'm guessing that this subject only interests a minority of my readers, so I've put the latest mail behind this link. That is the last mail I'm printing on the subject. Given how much mail I've gotten on the subject, someone else must have a website about this.
I was watching some WCW videotapes from late 1995, and I'd forgotten how people were chanting "Hogan sucks" at the 'good' Hulk Hogan back then.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I like this Horshu guy. He hasn't done too much yet, but he's got the right cocky attitude, great entrance music, and seems to work well. I really like the "horseshoe" gimmick with the arms, but then again, I liked Barry O.
For those of you who were WWF fans in the mid-1980s, or a fan of Smoky Mountain Wrestling, check out the news in Saturday's daily update on Scoops. There's a story about Johnny K-9/Bruiser Bedlam.
Tom B. from Tustin, CA, sent me a link for a very current WCW drinking game. There's a bunch of these out there on the Web, but this one is very current and very funny and, even though there's a lot of misspellings, I corresponded with the guy who runs it and he is currently in the process of cleaning it up and updating it.
The special edition hardcover versions of Arn Anderson's autobiography are sold out, but the regular soft cover edition is now on sale. See Arn's official page for more info. Actually, I noticed on WCWSN that there's going to be a feature on the book in this month's WCW Magazine.
By the way, according to the pre-show intro with Zbyszko and Schiavone, the Luger/Steiner vs. Bagwell/Steiner match will be an elimination match.

We are live from Denver, CO. According to Schiavone, this show sold out in three hours.
Savage's cast is off and he will be wrestling tonight. And Sting and Savage have agreed make this a no-DQ match. According to Tony, that would favor Sting since Savage is injured. I have no clue what he's talking about.
Goldberg pinned Saturn following a jackhammer on a reversal of the Rings of Saturn.
- Hey, Lodi's back! The sign guy returns.
- Saturn with a few punches, but Goldberg comes right back and tosses him around.
- Body scissors by Goldberg and Kidman distracts to free up Saturn.
- Two leg drops from top by Saturn.
- Goldberg's taking a beating.
- Goldberg hits a gorilla press into a drop slam.
- It's obvious Goldberg's a rookie in this match, but Saturn's making him look good.
- Saturn snaps Goldberg on the top rope.
- Godlberg is thrown into the stairs.
- Head scissor take over outside ring on Goldberg
- Moonsault attempt to the outside by Saturn, but he slips coming off. Oops.
- Corkscrew by Saturn.
- Saturn's working on Goldberg's left arm.
- Side suplex by Goldberg.
- Saturn connects with a dropkick.
- Saturn hits the spear, but Kidman distracts.
- The Flock attempts to interfere, but Goldberg fights them all off.
- Goldberg press slams Saturn from the second turnbuckle!
- Rings of Saturn, but instead of submitting, Goldberg stands and reverses it into a Jackhammer! Incredible!!
- 1-2-3, it's over!
Ultimo Dragon made Chavo Guerrero, Jr. submit to the Dragon Sleeper.
- The Brain notes that the no-DQ rule will be an advantage for Savage. Finally, a voice of reason.
- The match starts with an "Eddie Sucks" chant from the crowd.
- Chavo falls for the headstand.
- Eddie's got the towel over his head outside the ring.
- Ultimo Dragon with a standing reverse figure-four.
- Nice bridge and chinlock by Chavo but Dragon gets to ropes.
- Two nice flying headscissors by Chavo.
- Dragon with a couple nice moves into a surfboard.
- Eddie: "I'm trying, mom!"
- Series of near-falls. These guys are cookin'!
- Dragon kicks Chavo off top.
- Dragon suplexes Chavo out of the ring.
- Dragon hits his moonsault out of the ring.
- Eddie does the drill instructor thing on Chavo.
- Chavo does a running suicide flip out of the ring. Key word being "suicide". Yikes!
- Double clothesline back in the ring.
- Savatte kick by Dragon.
- Chavo dropkicks Dragon way low. Referee tells Chavo to back off. Eddie goes absolutely nuts when Chavo does and slaps Chavo.
- With a flourish, Eddie puts the towel back on his head.
- Finally, Chavo continues the beating.
- Chavo hits a brainbuster, tries a tornado DDT, but Dragon turns it into the Dragon Sleeper.
- Two great matches to start the show tonight.
In a controversial finish, WCW World Television Champion Booker T pinned "Crippler" Chris Benoit following a Harlem Sidekick.
- Face-to-face showdown to start the match.
- Slow start. Benoit hits his head hard on the mat and rolls out.
- Kicks traded, single leg trip by Benoit, and he picks up Booker T by the ankle and drops him hard. Booker T reverses the second attempt.
- Big clothesline by Booker, and he slows the match down with some rest holds.
- Benoit goes absolutely friggin' nuts with some kicks in the corner.
- Big backbreaker by Booker T.
- More rest holds by Booker T.
- Benoit drops Booker T across the top rope with a suplex.
- Snap suplex by Benoit back in the ring.
- Chinlock by Benoit. Benoit misses a dropkick. Big belly-to-back by Benoit.
- Benoit hits the diving headbutt! Booker T is too close to the ropes on the cover.
- Benoit attempts a suplex, but Booker T counters with one of his own.
- Benoit fixes his hair. Weird.
- We've just gone past the ten minute mark.
- Three German suplexes in a row by Benoit.
- Belly-to-back from top turnbuckle by Benoit, but they both hit hard.
- What a hard hitting match! Totally different than the previous two, but still awesome.
- Benoit crawls over for the cover, but only gets two.
- Sidewalk slam by Booker T!
- Flying forearm by Booker T.
- Pancake by Booker T...and a breakdance!
- Axe kick on...Mickey J!!
- Benoit gets the Crossface on with Mickey J still out. Booker T is going for the ropes but it looks like he could be tapping out. Hmmm...controversy.
- Benoit gets the Harlem Sidekick over Mickey J's head!
- 1-2-3! It's over!
- Benoit's pissed.
- Mickey J doesn't look too good.
- In the replay, it looks like Benoit pulled Mickey J into the way of the Axe Kick.
Curt Hennig pinned Davey Boy Smith after sending him facefirst into the exposed bolt attaching the top turnbuckle.
- "Yeah, baby!"
- Incredible...all Neidhart and Bulldog are known as is the brothers-in-law of Bret Hart. Oh, well, that's probably appropriate since that's the only reason WCW hired them.
- Brain: "Stu's real lucky he got those two dogs married off!"
- Rude will be handcuffed to Neidhart during this match.
- It takes forever for the match to start because Rude doesn't want to be handcuffed. Hey, I'm paying $30 for this. Let's get a move on.
- Hennig's got a brace on his right knee.
- In case anyone cares, Neidhart is keeping Rude from interfering.
- Smith and Hennig going at it in the ring. *yawn*
- Smith's got the advantage early on. He's working on the leg with the brace.
- Neidhart, just standing there, is sweating like crazy.
- Smith does the ten faces in the turnbuckles. Three on top, three in the middle, four on the bottom.
- Outside the ring, Neidhart is choking a cop! What the??!!
- Oh, the cop was Vincent! And while Neidhart was choking Vincent, he didn't notice Rude handcuffing him to the ringpost.
- Hennig puts Smith's face into the bolts above the turnbuckle and gets the pinfall.
- The bad guys choke out Smith and Neidhart with the nightstick.
- Tenay starts complaning about the nightstick, so Heenan complains about Duggan's 2x4.
- Hey, where's Bret Hart to make sure his brothers-in-law don't get screwed?
WCW World Cruiserweight Champion "Lionheart" Chris Jericho made Prince Iaukea submit to the Liontamer.
- Jericho is announced as 224 3/4 pounds. Heh.
- Jericho addresses the Jerichoholics on the way to the ring.
- Jericho says Malenko can live vicariously through him.
- "Jericho sucks" chant from the crowd.
- Prince Makimaki with the early advantage.
- According to the announcers, no one has seen Malenko since he went "home". Hmmm...
- Jericho attempts to skin the cat, but Iaukea kicks him off.
  - I thought only faces skinned the cat.
- Iaukea hits a flip outside the ring.
- Jericho guillotines the prince on the ropes with a drop toehold.
- Big suplex by Jericho.
- Iaukea's really punchy at this point.
- A lot of showboating by Jericho, and Iaukea comes back with two feet up on an attempted Jericho splash.
- Liontamer, but Iaukea gets into the ropes.
- Iaukea sits down on an attempted sunset flip, but only a two count.
- Iaukea and Jericho fight on the top turnbuckle, and both fall off! Ouch!!
- Iaukea turns a Liontemer into a small package, but only two.
- Northern Lights suplex by the Prince, but Jericho reaches the ropes.
- Sunset flip attempt by Iaukea, Jericho turns it into a third attempt at the Liontamer, and he gets it this time.
- Jericho takes another trophy...Prince's skirt.
"The Total Package" Lex Luger and Rick Steiner defeated Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner when Luger racked Bagwell.
- Bagwell comes to the ring wearing a cast.
- Bagwell says he doesn't have a doctors' release, so the match is canceled.
- Dillon comes to the ring with Okerlund. Why Okerlund is there, I don't know.
- Dillon says Bagwell does need a release. So, Dillon brings in Doctor Cipello, an orthopedist. (He must be the guy treating Savage.)
- As the doctor removes the cast, Bagwell grabs Dillon's tie and yanks it, which proves that the wrist is okay.
- The bad guys get the early jump.
- Surprisingly, the brothers face one another early in the match. But not for long.
- Bagwell's still selling a hurt wrist.
- Rick's taking a beating and Luger hasn't been in the match yet.
- Luger with the hot tag and comes in house a-fire. Luger goes for the rack and Scott interferes.
- After a melee, Rick goes after Scott, and Scott runs back to the dressing room, never to return.
- In a foregone conclusion, Luger racks Bagwell.
Gene promotes his crappy hotline.
Psychosis pinned La Parka following a guillotine leg drop.
- This is an unadvertised match.
- La Parka dances on the way to the ring.
- La Parka gets a few shots in and dances some more.
- Some good lucha stuff to start.
- Split-legged moonsault by La Parka out to the floor. Maybe it's Rob Van Dam under the mask.
- La Parka does his dance standing on the second turnbuckle. Yes!
- Twisting corkscrew moonsault by Psychosis onto the floor.
- Big splash by Psychosis from the top. Nobody home. La Parka pulls him up at two.
- La Parka hits a powerbomb. Yes, a powerbomb. Hmmm...why isn't he disqualified? La Parka pulls him up at two again.
- For the ending spot, La Parka was supposed to be hanging in the ropes. He fell out, and actually purposely pulled himself into the ropes again for the finish.
Kevin Nash and Hollywood Hogan defeated Giant and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in a bat match when Hogan pinned Piper.
- Nash and Hogan come to the ring with separate entrances.
- The bat is hanging about twenty feet above the mat, above a turnbuckle.
- Hogan is announced as being accompanied by Bischoff, but Bischoff doesn't come out with him.
- There's a Konnan lookalike in the crowd.
- The Giant is announced as 501 pounds.
- Someone hits Piper with a t-shirt as he is on his way to the ring.
- Boy, Piper has gotten fat.
- Hogan and Giant talk trash before the match.
- Piper immediately goes for the bat, and Hogan slams Piper's head repeatedly into the pole and then punches him out.
- Hogan tags Nash in to beat on Piper some more.
- Nash tags Hogan back in and Piper no-sells. He wails on Hogan and then the signature eye poke.
- Piper pulls Hogan's hairs out. Giant headbutts Hogan, Piper headbutts Hogan.
- Hogan whips Piper with his weightlifting belt and starts choking him.
- Hogan goes for the bat and Piper tags Giant in. Giant gets Hogan's pants down and starts whipping him. Then Giant puts Hogan over his knee and starts spanking him.
- Then, in a stupid spot, Nash and Hogan go out of the ring to clear their heads. Everyone, including the announcers, is screaming at Piper and Giant to get the bat instead of just standing in the ring looking tough.
- Finally, Giant and Nash are in the ring, one-on-one.
- Giant with early advantage, but Nash gives him the big boot.
- Nash administers a beating, but Giant eventually no-sells.
- Nash and Giant "big boot" each other simultaneously, and both go down.
- Piper and Hogan with hot tags.
- Piper with ten shots to the head of Hogan, and the double eye poke.
- All four men in the ring, and the Giant dropkicks Nash out of the ring!
- Piper puts Hogan to sleep.
- Giant and Piper get the bat, but Hogan grabs the bat away from Piper and just tosses it away. Nash takes Giant down.
- Disciple shows up with another bat.
- Chaos ensues, but the brunt of it is that Nash eventually takes an accidental shot from Hogan right between the wickets. Piper eventually nails Nash good with the bat.
- With Disciple's help, Hogan nails Piper with the bat and gets the win.
- After the match, Hogan invites Nash to powerbomb Giant, and Hogan nails Nash with the bat as he's about to do it.
- Giant and Piper chase Hogan away. Nash is out like a light.
Raven pinned "Diamond" Dallas Page with an Evenflow DDT into the kitchen sink with help from the entire flock and a cameraman to win the WCW U.S. Title.
- Oddly enough, Page comes out first.
- Sick Boy holds Page as Raven goes to nail him with the belt, but Page ducks and Sick Boy gets nailed.
- Page is beating on Raven pretty bad.
- Raven eventually gains the advantage.
- Spinning neckbreaker by Page. Page goes for Cutter. No dice.
- They start fighting in the aisle and DDP jumps off the stagecoach onto Raven.
- Raven goes through the fence and DDP uses the conveniently placed garbage can.
- Raven is suplexed into the WCW web site.
- Raven kicks DDP into the banners for the website.
- Raven breaks a plexiglass cake pan over DDP's head. Brain: "What's a cake pan doing here?"
- Raven jumps out of the crowd onto DDP.
- Raven whips DDP with a rope.
- Raven with the garbage can to the back.
- Raven chokes DDP with the rope and cowbell.
- Sick Boy delivers the kitchen sink to Raven.
- Raven nails DDP with the sink. Two-count only.
- The announcers had about six sink-related cliches ready for that spot.
- DDP drop toeholds Raven into the sink.
- Kidman attempts a splash, and lands on Raven by mistake. Two count only.
- Sick Boy nails DDP with Lodi's crutch. Two count only.
- Page with small package. Two count only.
- Hammer tries to nail Page, hits Raven instead. As Hammer is apologizing, DDP hits him with the sink.
- Raven with low blow (the look on Mark Curtis is priceless). Two count only.
- Reese with a slam. Two count only.
- The stop sign comes into the ring. DDP nails the flock one-by-one with it. Kidman gets hit with a diamond cutter.
- Then, a stagehand comes in and nails DDP with the stop sign, Raven Evenflows DDP into the sink. Three-count, it's over.
- The stagehand helps Raven to the back. When the stagehand ran in, I thought it was a fan. Wade tells me that it's Horace Boulder, Hulk Hogan's nephew, who was a member of the flock at the recent TV tapings. (Thanks, Wade!)
- Sort of makes one wonder about those two "fans" that attacked Raven the last two times he was on TV leading up to this, doesn't it? I'll admit, I was fooled...until now.
Michael Buffer does the introductions. Nice to know my $30 has been well spent.
Randy "Macho Man" Savage pinned Sting to become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion after Kevin Nash powerbombed Sting.
- Savage on the offensive to start.
- Sting comes back. Savage tries to leave, and Sting and Savage starting giving a replay from the last match.
- Sting drops Savage throat first on the fence.
- Sting nails Savage with a bale of hay.
- Sting attempts a splash with Savage on the safety rail and Savage moves out of the way.
- Back in the ring, Savage on the offense, attempts piledriver, Sting reverses it into a back body drop.
- Wow, Savage is taking his usual bumps. That can't be good for the knee.
- Savage with a low blow.
- Savage crotches Sting on the top rope.
- Savage goes up top, but Sting nails him.
- Sting goes for the Stinger Splash, but the referee takes the bump.
- Savage with a piledriver, but Sting no-sells.
- Elizabeth nails Sting with a chair, but Sting no-sells.
- Sting blocks a Savage punch, and tosses Savage into the corner.
- Stinger goes for the splash, but nails Elizabeth!! What is this, Saturday Night's Main Event?
- Savage nails Sting with the chair, goes up top, but Hogan knocks him off.
- Nash comes down, powerbombs Sting, and puts Savage on top of him.
- Nash drags the referee over. 1-2-3, new WCW World Heavyweight Champion!
- As we fade to black, Hogan's saying, "Nash can't do that...it's my belt!"
OK, so now I finally believe the "Flair is on the outs" thing is true.

Trivia Answer: All three of Ricky's opponents seriously injured him during their feud. Don Muraco threw salt in his eyes, supposedly giving Steamboat permanently impaired peripheral vision. Randy Savage gave Steamboat serious throat damage coming off the top with the ring bell. Jake Roberts gave Steamboat a DDT on the floor, giving him a severe concussion. All three of these men turned face soon after their feuds with Steamboat.

Christopher R. sends in the following arena report:

My girlfriend bough me tickets for my birthday and she is coming with me. She is sorta clueless about wrestling in general and this will come into play before the night is over.
UGH...the event starts at 5:00 and they don't open the gates until 4:30!
The place is packed and I find myself surrounded by total marks. This too will come into play before the night is over.
Goldberg vs Saturn
- Most of the people in the arena had no clue Goldberg was coming out until he was announced.
- HUGE POP for Goldberg...he easily got the second best pop for the whole night.
- The people behind me are terrified his winning streak is gonna end...then again they think this is real.
- Goldberg gets another massive pop when he wins the match. Maybe Bischoff learned a lesson with Glacier...why waste advertising on a guy when you can have him come out and just win matches?
Chavo vs the Dragon
- Good match with some nice spots...crowd was not really into it, though...most of the people were more concerned spending time chanting "Eddie Sucks".
- On Chavo's suicide flip looked to me like he went right over the Dragon and straight onto the pavement...ouch!
- My girlfriend referred to Dragon as Birdhead...she may have a point there.....
Benoit vs Booker T
- Crowd could not decide who to root for..Benoit got a louder pop though...
- My girlfriend refers to Booker T as Mr Firepants....
- This match pissed me off....give Benoit a friggin' title already!
- Crowd cheered Booker T as he won but a lot of people I heard wished Benoit had won it.....
Hennig vs Bulldog
- Hennig and Rude got a huge pop...better than the Bulldog by far....
- Vincent at least made the match semi-interesting with his cop disguise....took the marks behind me about 5 minutes to figure it out, though...
Jericho vs Iaukea
- Except for a nice "Jericho sucks" chant the crowd was not really into this one either
- That fall off the top rope did not look like it was planned...looked like a blown spot to me
Steiner and Luger vs Steiner and Bagwell
Psychosis vs La Parka
- Crowd totally died for this match..even the marks behind me were bored...sorry, Bill, I guess Denver ain't La Parka country...I missed half the match because people kept walking in front me on the way to get drinks.
Nash and Hogan vs Piper and the Giant
- Piper and the Giant got the loudest pop of the night!
- Nash came in a close third to Goldberg second best pop.
- When the Giant started spanking Hogan I thought I was gonna have to start tranqualizing the marks behind us...one was in love with Nash and her husband was in love with Hogan.
- Crappy ending...I guess Nash doesn't have to job anymore...for any reason....
- Bummer we never even got to see the Giant use the bat on anyone....
- Bad spot in the match...the ref was yelling at the Giant while Hogan and Nash were double teaming Piper...it was pathetic because the Giant was just standing there looking at the ref like he was an idiot.
DDP vs Raven
- The flock got booed all night long...hardcore...if they moved or did anything the crowd was all over em for boos...
- Fight in the stands as DDP and Raven head for the props and beat the crap outta each other...sad thing is most were watching the fight in the stands while Raven and DDP took some insane bumps...all that work..unapreciated.
- Nice catch by Raven when the stop sign got thrown in...it could have taken his head off or..better yet...might have hit someone at ringside. Penzer tells us not to throw things in the ring...but what about the flock.
- Penzer?...What about me?...sorry Raven rant flashback
Sting vs Savage
- Sting and Savage got about the same pop as Nash...maybe a little less...
- The marks behind me kept waiting for Sting to drop out of the rafters...would have been a thought if the building had someplace for Sting to drop from!
- Look at the tape...one of Macho's legs is bigger than the other...he must have some serious bracing and bandages on it to keep him standing...even my girlfriend saw it
- The spot with the stinger splash on Liz really got to the marks behind me...yadda yadda
Post event
- We stood by the rails to see who would come out...the highlight was Reese in a car being driven by Prince Mackymacky...Reese rolled down his window and told us the Prince was gay! Reese doesn't look so big in person..he looks a lot thinner and not so tall...
- Benoit was being driven by Chavo..I think Eddie was in the backseat....
- Bobby Heenan, Lee Marshall , Mike Tenay and Tony Schiavone as your driver all left together...looked like Bobby really really hated the weasel chants he was getting.
- Overall it was a good show but the big question is will Raven drop the strap to Goldberg tomorrow night? Will Goldberg lose his first match? My guess...somehow it will be a no contest or no decision

Spring Stampede '98 - Sunday, 04/19/98

By Bill

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