House Show Results from Cleveland, OH, 2/7/99

House Show Results from Cleveland, OH, 2/7/99

By Bullzdog, Louis A., Bull and Matt K.
(Posted in the order received)

Bullzdog's report:

Louis A. sends the following report:

This is my first time at a live wrestling event so please forgive me.
Guy that they advertised for but didn't show up are:

Like I said it was my first time and it was great only I wish at least one Wolfpac member was there

Biggest pops: Goldberg, Sting, Diamond Dallas Page, Flair, Jerry Flynn(!), and Norman Smiley

Biggest boos: E. Miller, Vincent, Bam Bam Bigelow

Bull sends the following report:

I got to go this afternoon to my first live wrestling show, and let me tell you, it was great! Despite the fact that we were definitely in the nosebleed secton (One row from the back) and we had a couple of annoying drunks who seemed to personally hate several wrestlers and felt the need to scream obscenities the entire night, it was still well worth it. And fortunately the CSU Convocation Center in Cleveland isn't that big, so even way in the back we still could see fairly well. Plus me and a buddy snuck down closer to watch the Sting match, so it was all good. :]

I really wanted to have my buddies digital camera for this, but found out at the last minute that he couldn't get it, and I didn't have enough notice to get my hands on one, so no pics. We also decided against taking signs, since this wasn't a televised event and we were in the nosebleed section. Bummer, I really wanted to take my "Disco is God" and "Don't Sing It, Sting It!" signs! :]

We start the show off with David Penzer coming out to tell us the rules for the show, as well as to iunform us that "due to injuries" there were a few changes to the card.

The original card had DDP vs. Bret Hart, Sting vs. Lex Luger, Kevin Nash vs. Goldberg, Konnan vs. Someone, Saturn vs. The Cat, and Hennig and Windham in a three man with Brian Adams (The Singer? :)) against Malenko, Benoit, and Flair.

These were changed to DDP vs. Curt Hennig (Obviously he couldn't wrestle with the NWO B-Team anymore), Sting vs. Bret Hart, The Cat vs. Jerry Flynn, Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Goldberg, Konnan was missing, and none of the Wolfpack was there. Despite the fact that I now boo the Wolfpack, I still wanted to see Nash. Plus, despite the fact that he's goofy, I like Konnan. And I was REALLY hoping for some Disco Inferno.

The first match started with Damien and Ciclope coming out and dancing around. They tagged up against Super Calo and Norman Smiley! Norman got huge pops throughout, especially the couple times he teased the wiggle. He spanked Damien a couple times through the show, and the ref even got into it after getting bumped once, tagging one of the Luchadores in the nads! This was one of the best shows of the night, and despite a sloppy performance from all four men, you could tell they were having a ball out there. Norman and Calo won it, and afterwards, Normy spanked Damien again with the wiggle. They left and afterwards Damien and Ciclope tried to get over with the crowd on the mic. They said some stuff in Spanish, and even sang "Aye Yi Yi Yi...", getting a laugh out of a good portion of the audience. This was a great warm up match for the show, and really got the crowd into it.

The Second match was even better. It was a three man title match between Juvi, Kidman, and Rey Mysterio, Jr.! This was a fun match to watch, with all three men doing a great show, and both Kidman and Rey getting a huge pop and some nice heat from the crowd, and Juvi getting more than his share of boos (Especially from the drunks behind us, who kept telling everyone how Juvi looked like Michael Jackson and liked little boys. Sigh. Some people). Rey took a nasty spill over one of the ropes that we don't think was planned, as he landed hard on a table set up outside the ring. He hit the edge of it, knocked over Penzer and the bell, who was sitting at it, and bent the leg a little. And he took a while to get back up. It seriously looked to us like he forgot where he was and missed his jump. Kidman won it by pin with the Shooting Star Press. Afterwards Kidman and Rey hugged in the ring, with Kidman looking a bit concerned. Rey's mask stayed on the whole match.

The Cat came out to face "Lightfoot" Jerry Flynn. Ummm... This should have been a snoozer match, but the crowd was really into it, and the "Jerry" chant that circulated through our section of the crowd sounded almost like it was from the Springer show! :] First time I've ever heard Jerry cheered for, though shortly after that a "Jobber" chant floated around. Also a fun "Miller Sucks" chant. Anyways, the cat did the usual, and this was a pretty good match, though Jerry goofed and kicked the mic out of Cat's hand (Smacking the cat with it and sending it flying. You could hear some snaps from the mic as he kicked it). He then picked up the mic and told Miller that he and the fans were giving the Cat till the count of five to get out of Cleveland. The entire time, the mic was sputtering and only half working. The rest of the night they used a corded mic. Whoops! Anyways, the Cat won the match, sadly enough.

Next up was The Four Horsemen vs. NWO B-Team. Flair, Mongo, and Benoit headed up the Horsemen, while Stevie Ray, Horace Hogan, and Brian Adams (w/ Virgil, err... Vincent in the corner) were the B-Team. This wasn't a bad match, and Ric got some huge heat from the crowd by playing to the hometown. He responded to a taunt from Stevie Ray saying that he was going to stuff Stevie Ray and stick him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, right next to Chubby Checker. (The RnR HoF is in Cleveland, right down the street from the arena, and isn't Chubby Checker still alive? :)). Flair won this one when Vincent missed with the slapjack and knocked out Stevie Ray. the B-Team argued bout this for a bit afterward.

DDP came out to a great response, and faced off against Curt hennig, who took a long time to get to the ring, then spit his gum into the crowd. Later in the match, it looked like someone threw some gum back at him from the same area. The same gum? Not sure, but that would be funny (Sick, but funny). This was a fairly short match, and DDP took it with a Diamond Cutter. Hennig then laid in the ring for a couple of minutes before wandering out. Hennig was acting a bit bizarre.

The long awaited Sting Sighting happened finally in the next match. Bret Hart came out and got on the mic, saying that he had a real serious groin injury, but that if Sting wanted him so bad (Penzer had said earlier that Sting's stipulation for returning to the ring was a change to face off with the man who hurt him :)), that he'd have to hurt Sting again. But, he said, Sting wasn't there, so he was going to get the night off anyways. However, Sting's old music kicked in, and the man himself walked out, wearing the old black and white crow make-up. He came in and immediately started kicking the crap out of Hart. He beat on Hart outside the ring, threw the table in the ring, threw Hart in, then set the table on top of Hart (folded up) and stomped on it! Hart eventually got some offense going, the ref took a bump but it really didn't affect the match, and Sting won it with a Scorpion Death Drop.

Then we had the final match of the evening, Bam Bam vs. Goldberg. Bam Bam came out in his big Fireball costume (We were kinda hoping for the black and white Cow Costume so we could Moo at him! :)), then Goldberg came out to huge cheers. This match was fairly quick, with a little bit of a lack in intensity, unfortunately. However, it was still fun to watch, as my whole group is a bunch of Goldberg fans, and Goldberg put Bam Bam away with the Spear/Jackhammer combo. He seemed to have a bit of trouble lifting Bam Bam for the Jack though, and settled for getting him about halfway up.

Overall, it was a great show! We had a blast, got to see some good big name matches. Hell, this was better than most Thunders, and was about 2 - 2 1/2 hours long, not counting intermission. The Luchadore matches were great, Sting was Sting, and that's all that's necessary, and we had Goldberg. Flair was great, Norman wiggled several times for us, and we had Rey and Kidman leaping around. Great night overall, and well worth the price of admission. Next time though, we go early when tickets go on sale and get front row seats! :]

Best pops: Norman, Flair, DDP, Sting, Goldberg, Rey Mysterio, and Kidman. Sting got the best one, I think, and Norman probably got the most, since his match was long, and he got one every time he started to wiggle.

Best Boos: The Cat, Hennig, Bam Bam, Hart. The Cat got the worst of it, especially with the 'Miller Sucks' chants. Course, might have been a bad batch of beer, too.

What they should have done different: Wolfpack and Disco in da house! It also would have been nice to have longer main events. They were all less than 10 minutes long, most around 5, while the lucha matches early on were 20 minutes long.

Anyways, until next time, remember: Rick "Dog Faced Gremlin" Steiner vs. Ernest "The Cat" Miller is a great collar match just waiting to happen. Dog vs. Cat? Get it? Bah, I'm going to bed.

The Vore sends the following report:
Match 1:
Damian & Ciclope v. Super Calo & Norman Smiley
The heels got absolutely no reaction until the end of the match, but the crowd went wild for Norman. The referee also put on quite a show, delivering a low blow to Damian. Not a bad match.
WINNERS: Norman Smiley & Super Calo via submission after the Norman Conquest

Match 2:
Triangle Match for the Cruiserweight Title:
Juventud Guerrera v. Rey Mysterio, Jr. v. Kidman (c)
Juvy got no reaction, but Rey and Kidman got nice pops. Same match we've seen over and over, with Rey flying outside leaving Kidman and Juvy alone. WINNER: Kidman via pinfall after the Shooting Star Press

Match 3:
"The Cat" Ernest Miller v. "Lightning Foot" Jerry Flynn
Miller got booed MASSIVELY, expecially while berating the crowd. Pretty quick match, thank God. Miller won with a superkick. On a side note, Flynn didn't come out to his usual kickass music.
WINNER: "The Cat" Ernest Miller via pinfall after a superkick

Match 4:
The nWo B-Team (w/Vince) v. The Horsemen
Adams (my personal favorite), Stevie Ray, and Horace got NO heat at all. Flair had the place shaking. Back and forth match, which ended up with Adams, Horace, McMichael, and Benoit on the outside fighting, and Stevie Ray holding Flair for Vince to hit with the slapjack. Of course, Vince missed, hit Stevie Ray instead, and Flair slapped on the Figure Four. After the match, Stevie Ray tore Vince's shirt off and chased him to the back. WINNERS: The Horsemen via submission after Flair applied the Figure Four.

INTERMISSION

Match 5:
Curt Hennig v. Diamond Dallas Page
Hennig got a little less heat than Miller, who had the most of the night. Page, of course, got a huge pop. Actually a pretty short match. Hennig carried the match, and Page missed the Diamond Cutter three times before finally getting it. My friends and I were all over Page during this match, which pissed off the row of drunk rednecks behind us.
WINNER: Diamond Dallas Page via pinfall after the Diamond Cutter

Match 6:
Non-Title Match
Bret Hart v. Sting
Hart got a loud, mixed reaction, but drew a lot of heat when he complained about his groin injury. Sting came out, insulted Hart, and they had another short match. Hart knocked out the ref, and took brass knuckles out of his tights, hit Sting, and made the cover, but Sting kicked out. SDD, and it was over.
WINNER: Sting via pinfall after the Scorpion Death Drop

Match 7:
Bam Bam Bigelow v. Goldberg
Bigelow got no reaction, which was surprising. Goldberg drew a major pop, helped out by the obligatory "Goldberg" chant that WCW piped in over the public address system. Goldberg won with a spear, followed by a HORRIBLE Jackhammer. He couldn't even lift Bigelow above his head, so it turned into a side belly-to-belly suplex.
WINNER: Goldberg via pinfall after the Jackhammer (sort of)

The crowd was pissed after this, because WCW really screwed with the card, taking Kevin Nash, Lex Luger, Scott Hall, Scott Steiner, and Barry Windham off. All in all, not a bad show, although the last 3 matches were ALL very short, but the show was MUCH better than the last time WCW came to Cleveland for Thunder in May.

Biggest Pops:
  1. Sting
  2. Goldberg
  3. Norman Smiley
  4. DDP
Most Heat:
  1. "The Cat" Ernest Miller
  2. Curt Hennig
  3. Bret Hart

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