WCW/nWo Fall Brawl - Sunday, 9/13/98

• Howdy everyone, once again. I am Big Mike, and it's time for Fall Brawl. Been away too long. I'll have to shake the rust off for this one.

• Props to Jim Ross for acting like a man on his hotline report when commenting on Tony Schiavone's WWF comments a couple of weeks back. Rossie took the high road and refused to make a comment against his buddy Schiavone. That was impressive.

• What about Arn Anderson's "return to the ring" on Monday night? As Bill and I were discussing though, they were very careful with him. He did not come close to taking any bumps. Could we see another former Horseman's comeback tonight??? And, no, I am not talking about Tully Blanchard.

• OK, enough pre-show comments. Now, with a cold one in hand, on to the show............

• We start with a montage of the combatants in tonight's WarGames competition. This one ought to be a fun one to try to describe.

• We are live from the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

• Tony "OHMYGODWE'REOUTOFTIMESEEYOUONTHUNDER!" Schiavone, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and "Iron" Mike Tenay commentating.

• Well, looks like satellite problems. My reception is very fuzzy AGAIN tonight. It was like this on the last PPV.

• Heenan's wearing a tux with a ruffled shirt that looks like it is out of a 70s prom scene.

• Tony states there are new rules for WarGames. He says that Hart and DDP are the first two men in and the next combatants will come in as names are drawn. They say that WarGames could possibly end before all nine men are in. Uh, yeah right. Cut backstage to Ernest Miller being restrained by security for some reason.

• Scheme Gene is out in his waiter's tux. He is discussing the card and is interrupted by "Whineheart" Chris Jericho. Jericho is talking smack about Goldberg. Jericho said he challenged Goldberg to a match and Goldberg accepted. Wow! A title vs. title Goldberg/Jericho match! That's news to me.

• "The Dancing Fools" Disco Inferno and Alex Wright vs. "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith and Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart.
  • Damn, the Cowboys just got finished getting smoked by Denver.
  • The announcers speak about how Bret Hart turned against his kin to fight with Lex Luger on Thunder.
  • Davey Boy and Alex Wright to start this exciting (note the sarcasm there) match.
  • Bulldog with his typical display of power before both men tag their partners in.
  • Slow match, as expected.
  • Disco literally stomping a mudhole in the Anvil. Anvil responds by biting Disco's head.
  • Alex Wright and Bulldog are in, and Wright throws some chest chops in, with the obligatory "WOOOO!" We are in North Carolina, after all.
  • Disco goes outside after tagging in, and the Anvil introduces him to the safety rail.
  • Man, already "We want Flair!" chants from the crowd. Uh, let's see, this match sucks, what the hell, let's start a "We want Flair!" chant.
  • The Fools showing good execution with a double-team on Bulldog
  • Bulldog gets rid of both of them and gets the (gulp) powerslam for the win. Your winners: The British Bulldog and the Anvil.

• Gene "Play it Again Sam" Okerlund is in the corridors back stage at the coliseum. Okerlund says Scott Steiner may not compete in the main event. He finds Steiner, who looks even more 'roided up than usual tonight. Buff is with him in his Papa Shango hat, and has a document from "Dr. Cecil Schwartz" saying that Big Papa Pump doesn't have to wrestle. JJ Dillon just happens to be there. How lucky (more sarcasm)! JJ Dillon says the document won't fly and Pump will wrestle.

• Jericho's music is playing, so it looks like our special added match will take place right here. Jericho's "security staff" is leading him out. They are lost backstage. This is a pretty good spot! His security guards look like guys who are regulars for Macaroni and Mystery Meat Night at Ryan's Steakhouse. They go into the banquet room, and take the door outside, and finally make in into the arena! Jericho comes out and is waiting for the fireworks, and a few little sparks pop out of the holes in the ground. That's hilarious! Jericho looks incensed, and starts kicking at the fireworks. HAHAHA! Some bald guy comes out who's supposed to be Goldberg! He even has the tattoo! He's shorter than Jericho, and he is really flabby. You can't see him until the pyrotechnics die down, but, baby, it ain't Goldberg, that's for sure! He shakes his head like Goldberg, and then stalks to the ring like Goldberg.

• Chris Jericho vs. Some Jobber who is supposed to be Goldberg
  • "Bulls-t" chants coming from the crowd and then Goldberg chants
  • This guy doesn't even qualify as a jobber!
  • Weak spear by whoever this is.
  • Liontamer by Jericho and it's over quickly. Jericho's got the TV belt and the toy world title belt that the guy brought out.
  • That was a damn funny spot right there.

• They replay the interview Tenay is doing with the Armstrongs for WCW International. Ernest Miller interrupts and punks the Armstrongs. This is what was shown the other night. Norman Smiley even gets some play here.

• Norman Smiley vs. Ernest "The Cat" Miller
  • Interesting how WCW is actually setting up undercard events more now. They are not just throwing them out there.
  • The Cat is drawing decent heat. Good thing, he sure didn't cut it as a face. He gets on the mic and makes sure Smiley knows that he is "a three-time World karate champion." He says he can take a man apart in five seconds, but "since you are a brother, I am going to give you five seconds to get out of here."
  • Of course, Smiley stays there, and punks The Cat at the count of five.
  • The Cat is getting pretty vicious, but the crowd is reacting some.
  • OK, the screen has gone blank for about ten seconds three times here. Either my cable company has major problems, or WCW is having some production problems.
  • Well, The Cat with a Feliner that misses but Smiley sells, and then the spinning wheel kick, and it's over. Could have been worse, but at least the Cat was drawing a little heat. He gets on the mic and says "I am the greatest!"

• A special look at the Steiner feud. It's funny. They show Scott Steiner calling himself "genetic perfection." Don't you mean "pharmaceutical perfection?"

• Scott "Big Papa Pump" Steiner w/ Buff Bagwell vs. Rick Steiner
  • It starts quickly, and they go at it like, oddly enough, two brothers fighting in the back yard.
  • They are trading punches, and Rick puts Scott down. That's a nice start. Then he levels Scott with a clothesline.
  • Scott goes out of the ring and tries to go over the safety rail and out, but Rick goes over and pulls him back.
  • They're back in, and Scott counters a belly-to-belly suplex attempt with a good ol' fashioned nutcracker.
  • Rick comes back with a DDT, which used to be a finishing move. Rick goes up on the top rope and Bluff Bagwell tries to interfere, but get thrown out by Rick for his trouble.
  • Rick grabs Bagwell by the neck and throws him out. He is laying there like his neck got re-injured. I see double cross. The crowd is yelling "Bulls-t" as Mark Curtis stops the match for a minute and Scott checks on Buff.
  • That pisses me off that they are apparently making light of Buff's very serious neck injury. That is not something to play around with and use in an angle. The trainers come out and are waving the wrestlers away. The fans are booing. If this is an angle, how in the hell would they know if he is really hurt?
  • Rick is yelling "You better not be lying to me!" This leads me to believe it is a work, but that is just terrible if it is a work. How can you use a life or death situation to further an angle?
  • Well, I guess the match is over as the paramedics cart Buff to the back on a gurney.
  • They are following the paramedics taking Buff into the back. Bischoff is now following the procession of security and paramedics. Maybe it is real. Buff is saying, "Call my mother...please." They load Buff into the ambulance, and Scott Steiner gets in with him. As Rick walks away, Scott and Buff jump out of the ambulance and attack Rick Steiner until security breaks them up! I think that is the worst thing I have ever seen in wrestling. Whoever booked that should be shot. That ain't even funny, boys. That is an insult to anyone who has ever had a serious neck injury.

• Cruiserweight champ Juventud Guerrera defends against Silver King?!?
  • Who in the hell did Silver King sleep with to get this push?
  • Well, we ought to see some high flying at least.
  • Isn't Silver King too fat to be a cruiserweight? [Note from Bill: Don't be fooled by his stocky physique.]
  • Nice head scissors takedown by Juvy.
  • Standing dropkick by Silver King. Tenay states that Silver King is 31 years old with 13 years of ring experience.
  • Juvy's out on the floor and Silver King with a nice plancha. For some reason, the announcers begin talking about Pete Sampras. Maybe they were comparing his interview skills to Malenko's, I don't know
  • Hook and ladder move for a two count by Juvy.
  • Nice missile dropkick by Juvy, but he waits a while to cover and only gets a two count.
  • Silver King hits Juvy with a standing kick in the jaw that flattens Juvy. Silver King covers for a two count.
  • Juvy hits an inverted Frankensteiner! Wow, that looked great! They were both facing away from the ring on the turnbuckles, and Juvy flips Silver King over his head as he goes under. Silver King kicks out thought!
  • Juvy hits a Juvy-driver and 450 splash, though, and it's all over.
  • Nice match.

• They go backstage to the Internet location and as Konnan is talking about Scott Hall, Hall comes out and there is a little confrontation between them, with Scott Hall throwing his drink on Konnan's face.

• Rehash of the Raven-Saturn-Kanyon situation.

• Raven vs. Saturn with the leadership of the Flock on the line.
  • We are under Raven's rules. If Saturn loses, he must be subservient to Raven for the rest of his career. Apparently, Kanyon will be handcuffed to ringside, as JJ Dillon comes out with Dillenger and security. Kanyon is yelling "I am not an animal! I am not the Elephant Man!" That's great.
  • Saturn states that this if for honor. Lodi sign: "Saturn is Bald!" OK.
  • Saturn with a superkick. Two count.
  • Saturn throws Raven out and into the safety rail. As Lodi is helping Raven up, Saturn does a suicide dive onto both of them!
  • Lodi is periodically interfering, which is legal under Raven's rules.
  • Lodi sign: "Bill, did you inhale?" That's beautiful!
  • This is a really tame match for these two guys.
  • Here we go. Here comes the chair. Raven sets it up and as he throws Saturn into the ropes, he trips Saturn, who goes headfirst into the chair.
  • Here comes the Flock with a table. Interference city. Kidman runs in and dropkicks Raven off the top rope to a tremendous pop! The other Flock members (besides Lodi and Kanyon) chase Kidman to the back. Saturn hits the Spicoli (Death Valley) driver, but Lodi is distracting the ref. When the ref finally gets over there, Raven kicks out at two.
  • Saturn hits about three difference suplexes and a guillotine leg drop, but Raven kick out at two. Pancake suplex by Saturn. Another two count!
  • Saturn has the Rings of Saturn on Raven! Lodi pulls Saturn off. Lodi tries to come in off the top rope, but gets a nutcracker. Uh-oh, the ref gets taken out right by Kanyon and he gets the handcuff key. (If you watch carefully, you can see Kanyon actually pull the key out of his own pants before rifling the ref.)
  • Kanyon comes in and gives Saturn a flatliner and puts Raven on top of Saturn. He then re-handcuffs himself and wakes up the ref, who starts the count. Saturn kicks out at two!
  • Saturn comes back and pulls Lodi up on the apron. HE GIVES HIM A DEATH VALLEY DRIVER THRU THE TABLE ON THE FLOOR! Incredible move!!!!
  • Raven catches Saturn with an Evenflow DDT as he comes back in. Saturn kicks out at two!!!!
  • Saturn catches Raven with a Spicoli (Death Valley) Driver again and gets the three count! The Flock is free.
  • Well, it started out slow, but it turned into a hell of a match.

• Tony makes an announcement from Deborah Duggan, the wife of Jim Duggan. It states that Hacksaw came out of surgery OK, and they removed a cancerous tumor the size of a football. My goodness. Tony, Mike, and Brain give Hacksaw a thumbs up and a "Ho!" As a kid growing up, Hacksaw was one of my favorite wrestlers because of his energy and brute physical power. I didn't give a crap about technical skills or anything. I loved to watch Hacksaw Jim Duggan wrestle. Sure, as I got older (and he got older), I didn't like to watch him as much, but he is still one of the good guys in wrestling. My prayers go out to him and his family at this difficult time.

• Replay of the Malenko-Hennig cage match and the incredible Arn Anderson run-in! I am with Bill on that one. That is probably the most pumped-up I have been about wrestling in a long time. They then show the interview on Thunder with Anderson and Malenko.

• Dean Malenko vs. Curt Hennig w/ Rick Rude
  • This one starts quickly with Malenko pounding on Hennig.
  • They are outside and Rude tries to get involved, and gets pounded by Malenko for his trouble.
  • Tony states that Malenko is doing things "Horseman style." Oh yeah.
  • One of the things I forgot, which Brain brings up is that Schiavone was there from the beginning of the Horsemen. He was right there interviewing when they were formed.
  • Malenko is working on Hennig's knee. Schiavone states that working on one part of the body intensely is an old Arn Anderson trait.
  • Malenko goes for the Texas Cloverleaf, but is rebuffed by Hennig.
  • Hennig is trying to beg out of the match. He claims his knee is hurt, so Malenko dropkicks him in the knee just to check on it.
  • Malenko goes back to the knee, with some sort of leg lock, but Rude drags Hennig to the ropes.
  • Hennig goes for the Hennigplex, but can't get it because of the knee. Malenko turns it and Malenko hits the Hennigplex! Rude comes in and breaks up the pin, and we have a DQ. Rude and Hennig are both working over Malenko.
  • Here comes Arn Anderson! He gets pearl-harbored by Hennig and Rude. He is getting worked over. They work on his left arm to damage it before the arm wrestling match. Arn took some bumps here. Very loud "We want Flair" chants, as Hennig and Rude leave Malenko and Arn laying in the ring.

• Promo for Halloween Havoc.

• Scott Hall w/ Vincent vs. Konnan
  • Looks like Hall is drinking iced tea as he is coming to the ring. Is it maybe of the Long Island variety. It seems to have salt on the rim. Schiavone is wondering aloud whether Hall is in any condition to wrestle. He is consciously acting drunk. There are two rings for WarGames, and Hall gets in the wrong ring as he comes out and just about falls over the ropes trying to get to the other ring.
  • Hall is working the mic for what Heenan calls his "Foster Brooks impersonation." For anyone who doesn't know who Foster Brooks is, never mind.
  • Hall gets a drink of whatever he's sipping on as he begins to talk. Well, let's see, this is twice tonight they are making fun of someone's real-life problems. This one is kind of funny, actually. Hall runs his survey, and the crowd is behind the Wolfpack.
  • Konnan comes out by himself.
  • Heenan says that Konnan's hat makes him look like "a Mexican Karl Malden." Good one.
  • Konnan gets on the mic. You already know what he says. He does make a reference to the N.C. State Wolfpack football team.
  • Sick! Hall's ass is hanging out of his trunks.
  • Hall and Konnan are playing around a little, talking a little smack. Konnan shakes his drawers at Hall, and Hall shows what he thinks of Konnan's anatomy.
    
  • Rolling lariat by Konnan, and Hall tries to escape to the other ring. Konnan stomps him down in between the ring. Schiavone goes absolutely nuts saying how he's never seen that before. Typical Tony, seeing as it happened at the last two Fall Brawls. It happened to Luger in a tag match last year (and directly played into the finish), and it happened in the WarGames match in 1996 to Arn Anderson.
  • As Konnan is jawing with Vincent, Hall crawls under the ring and comes up behind Konnan, but Konnan is ready for him with a clothesline.
  • Hall is mocking the ref's count. He looks as out of it as George "the Animal" Steele.
  • Lots of rest holds. Armbars and the like are dominant.
  • Hall hits the fallaway slam and gets a two count.
  • Hall puts Konnan in an abdominal stretch and Vincent gives Hall his drink for a little sip. That's my kind of wrestling right there!
    
  • Hall works Konnan over a little and puts him on the top rope for a belly-to-back suplex off the top rope. Nice job. Hall signals for the Outsider's Edge, but he first has to go get a drink from Vincent. Konnan gets up, comes up behind Hall, and throws a pancake suplex on Hall. Tequila sunrise by Konnan and it's over. Tenay says, "Was he tapping out or ordering another round?"
  • I don't know whether to laugh or not on that. I thought it was funny as hell, but I could see all these AA people getting pissed off about making light of alcoholism

• Here's Buffer. He announces the teams before the cages drop. The cages drop, complete with pyrotechnics. Buffer announces the rules. DDP and Hart will start, and after five minutes, a new man will come into the cage. After that, new men will come in every two minutes. The winner will be the first man to score a pinfall or submission. It is basically nine men for themselves, as anyone can score a pinfall over anyone. The match can end at anytime, even before all nine men come in the cage. The draw for the order of entry is random. Any member of any team can be drawn to come in at any time. They do not announce it until the man comes out.
  So, instead of "last man standing", it is now "first man to be pinned or submit".

• WarGames, with the winner to face Goldberg for the World Heavyweight Championship at Halloween Havoc.
  • OK, I'll try to keep up with everything. That looks like this could be decent.
  • DDP and Bret Hart make their entrances.
  • We are underway, and the five minutes has begun. These are the good old-fashioned cages with no room on the floor. Slick Nick Patrick is your referee in Ring 2, with Charles Robinson in Ring 1.
  • They begin in Ring 2.
  • DDP goes for the Diamond Cutter but Hart counters.
  • Heenan states there are six former world champs in the match (Hart, Hogan, Warrior, Sting, Luger, and Nash).
  • Stevie Ray comes after five minutes.
  • Hart and Stevie Ray are working over DDP. Stevie Ray will not go for the pin after he has DDP down.
  • Sting is in next, and he goes after Stevie Ray, who has moved to Ring 1, like a house afire.
  • Stevie Ray goes into Ring 2, and Sting flies over the ropes onto him with a Stinger Splash. Meanwhile, Hart and DDP are still going at it. Stinger Splash on Stevie Ray against the cage.
  • Out comes Piper to a huge pop!
  • Piper is going after all four men, even DDP. It is classic Piper. He is biting Stevie Ray's ears a la Mike Tyson.
  • Piper and DDP are mixing it up in the middle of the ring. Sting is trying to stomp Stevie Ray in between the rings. Hart is going after everyone.
  • Here comes Luger. Five bucks says Warrior comes out last.
  • Luger goes after Hart. No one is working on just one. They are sort of all moving from guy to guy. Piper has the sleeper on Stevie Ray. Ten seconds left.
  • Here comes Big Sexy Kevin Nash to a big pop and he breaks up the sleeper and starts working on Piper. He then goes for the Jackknife on Stevie Ray, but Piper breaks it up. Luger has Hart in the torture rack.
  • Hogan comes out with 1:20 left and starts going after everyone. What?
  • It is apparent that Stevie Ray is playing Hogan's lackey here. He is saving the win for Hogan.
  • Hogan's got a blackjack, and he starts knocking everyone but Stevie Ray out. Everyone's down except Hogan and Stevie Ray. They are posing while Hogan leg drops Nash, who is out cold. Hogan is going for the pin on Nash, but the rings fill up with smoke. When it clears, the Warrior appears!
  • Hogan pearl-harbors Warrior, and the rings fill up with smoke again. The Warrior is gone, and Hogan is left holding his jacket! The Warrior then runs out from the back! How in the hell did he do that?
  • Hogan is trying to get out with help from the Disciple. He gets outside. The Warrior and Stevie Ray are the only ones left standing. Hogan padlocks the cage as he stands outside. Hogan wants no part of the Warrior. Warrior puts Stevie Ray out and climbs on the cage where Hogan and the Disciple are standing. Hogan and the Disciple are taunting the Warrior from the outside.
  • The Warrior peels the cage back and climbs out! Oh my goodness. He goes after Hogan and the Disciple as security pulls them apart.
  • Meanwhile, Page gets up and puts the Diamond Cutter on Stevie Ray! He gets the three count as Hart makes a move for him. DDP gets the title shot at Halloween Havoc!
  • Halloween Havoc promo, and it's all over.

• Well, not a bad PPV. As I said, the Buff Bagwell things was way over the top, and I'm not sure how to react to the Hall situation, but the Jericho whole schtick was awesome! Juvy's match was pretty good, and Raven-Saturn was great. Malenko-Hennig did a good job of setting up the new Horsemen/Flair angle. WarGames was pretty good, but with a weird ending. Pretty solid job though.

• Well, adios everyone, I am Big Mike, and as Stevie Ray Vaughn says, I am "livin' life by the drop."

Hey, I am a student at Wake Forest University and I was at Fall Brawl tonight. I thought that you might want to know some of the stuff that went on that you might not have seen on the broadcast.

One, is this was a HUGE wolfpack crowd. Very anti-black and white. During the cage match, the crowd was going nuts as the next contestant came to the ring and went absolutely silent when Stevie Ray came out.

Also, on the cage match, when Hogan snuck in the ring, he was carrying the "slap jack" and that's how he knocked everyone out. When Warrior ran in and Hogan ran out, the Disciple tried to lock the cage door, but when Warrior ran over and pushed the door, it swung right open. I don't think that was supposed to happen because Warrior looked really surprised and then he closed the door again and ran over to kick a whole out of the cage for his "escape".

One final thing, I think that Piper was actually hurt during the match. He stayed in the ring for a while after the filming stopped. A trainer came out and the Wolfpack guys stood over him looking pretty concerned. Then the Wolfpack left and after a little while Piper did too. My seats were behind the screen and I could see into the walkway/prep area - Piper didn't even make it to the dressing room before he had to rest. He seemed in a lot of pain and it looked like his face was bleeding, but I couldn't tell.

Anyway, I'm not sure if any of this was enlightening but I had a great time at the show! Oh yeah, one more thing. During the "Goldberg" match, the majority of the crowd couldn't see well enough and took a LONG time to figure out what was going on. And at the end of the whole pay-per-view there was a lot of booing. That happened at the last two Fall Brawls I was at, also. It's really difficult to watch a double cage match and figure out what is going on without announcers.

Hey, I was lucky enough to attend Fall Brawl last night and thought I'd give you a few of my impressions from the arena.

There were TONS of Wolfpack shirts; I think it has something to do with some college team, I'm not really sure.

My friend Brandon and I had made the drive from Lynchburg, VA. If you've ever heard of it, we both run the Celebrity Superfight Main Event. (http://www.mrev.net/slack/main-event/) We created the "Goldberg Vs. a Speeding Truck" thing, which has gained semi-infamy to our own surprise.

Before the event went live, they were testing out some of the theme music over the P.A. The Horseman theme got a huge response, and started a deafening "We Want Flair" chant. This was the loudest and longest chant of the night, and it wasn't even on TV. John Boy and Billy were apparently in the audience, but we couldn't see them. They might have gotten a box or something.

For some reason, the crowd started chanting "USA" during the Disco/Wright Vs. Anvil/Davey Boy match. This of course pissed off the German and the Brit at the start of the match. Really weak match, the stuff at house shows are usually better than that.

Norman Smiley live on PPV! I doubt if you picked it up on the television, but several failed "NORMAN" (Just like the "Goldberg") chants were started, none of them catching on. From where I was sitting (Directly across from the Fall Brawl video screen), the Feliner was off by a mile. I wanted Smiley to win, damn it!

I was not pleased with the whole Buff thing. That's just not something you joke about, in my opinion. Some retarded 16 year old skater punk two rows in front of me screamed for Scotty the entire match, holding up his sign and shouting "THE POWER LIES IN BIG POPPA PUMP!!!" Uh, yeah. My friend made a comment that sort of went (In his best Scott Hall voice) "I think that kid's a little funny. He takes a left on Lenny Lane right onto Queer Street". Then the obvious "I bet he would like Scotty to pump him cracks". Brandon's weird. Earlier in the night, (During the Disco match, I think) the guy directly in front of me had nicely asked the kid to please keep his sign down when they were showing the match. The kid and his friend (With his mom sitting right next to them encouraging them to be jerks) eloquently told him to "suck it", and started holding the sign PURELY to block the guys view. The guy went to get a cop, and the cop basically brushed the guy off giving the kid a weak warning. Then the guy grabs the sign ("Kanyon") out of his hand, and the cop gets in his face. Of course, you don't go around taking matters into your own hand like that, but the fact that over 10 people (Including myself) were telling the cop that the kid's been intentionally egging the guy on should have been a clue.

Nothing of real note happened during the Silver King Vs. Juvi match, but I was almost fooled by his stocky physique. The audience got excited when Juvi pulled out his mad lucha-moves towards the end. It was a pretty good match.

Raven Vs. Saturn. Uh oh, here's cool skater kid again. At least this time, he stood in the walkway out of everyone else's view. He basically screamed for Kanyon the entire match, jumping up and down and waving his sign. "KANYON IS NUMBER ONE!!!" At one point, Kanyon glanced over at the kid and gave him a kinda weird look. I'd like to think that Kanyon was thinking what a idiot he was... As for the match, it was probably the best of the night for me. Kidman was out of there like a rocket after he dropkicked Raven, my friend sitting next to me completely missed it thanks to "Big Poppa Pump" mark. Lodi sign you may have missed: "Why Bill, Why?"

Malenko Vs. Henning. Any Horseman fans out there? After the match, when you heard the "We Want Flair" chants and the Halloween Havoc promo, you missed the loud BOOs when... Flair didn't show. I think pretty much everyone in the coliseum really expected him to come out, myself included. Bogus. One cool thing was that after Henning and Rude left, Arn and Malenko help each other up, and Arn said (As best as I can read lips) "It's time"

Scott Hall Vs. Konnan. K-Dawg! I don't know if the camera caught it, but Hall did DX crotch chops like three separate times. I'm pretty sure the rest holds were on account of two fights in the crowd. The first one had pretty much the whole audience's attention; it ended with a loud "Na na na na, hey hey... Goodbye" sing-a-long. The second happened when cool skater kid told some guy's wife across the walkway to "suck it" again. The guy started yelling, and the wife and another woman tried to pull him away... The kid just encouraged him. As they were leaving, the guy gave him a STRONG kick, that was inches away from connecting. It tore right through his "Big Poppa Pump" sign, ah damn. Skater kid's having the time of his life. Here come the cops to take the guy away. Once again, everyone's yelling for the cop to kick out the kids. A minute later, they come back with the guy's wife, and the cops kick out the kids and the mom. That made everyone sitting around us pretty happy. My friend reached out and gave the wife five, heh. While I can't really say that the guy did the right thing by swinging at the kid, I know pretty much everyone sitting around us wanted to do the same thing.

WarGames: The first time Warrior appeared, it seemed to me like it was a double. Hard to tell with all that smoke, and I couldn't get a good look from where I was sitting. I'm not certain, but I think the reason everyone was out cold was due to a Slapjack from Stevie "I got my Sears sucka pants sucka" Ray. Don't ask where that comes from. I honestly wasn't expecting DDP to win, but I can't wait to see him up against Goldberg at Halloween Havoc. Which face will WCW push?

Signs that may have not been on TV: "Legalize Flair", "Free Tupac Shakur" (Huh?), "Alex, Don't Toss!", "I'm Surrounded By Marks"

And that's when we made a run for the parking lot. Great show, I had a lot of fun.

I attended Fall Brawl last night. My friends and I paid 50 bucks for 4^th row seats. We got royally screwed, and I'm not talking about the quality of the show. First of all, we walk inside the lobby and a staffer checks our signs. He let's us through and we go through the turnstiles. Well, three Winston-Salem cops converge on me like I'm Rodney King and take my signs from me and look at them. One cop takes one because I had "sucks" written on it. Then I get to my seats, and a staffer takes all my signs. He says that we're on the same side as the cameras so, no signs. At this point, I'm starting to get a little pissed. Well, we think we have good seats as we're right at one of the rings. However, the only matches in front of us were Disco/Alex vs. Bulldog/Anvil and The Cat vs. Norman Smiley. Every other match was in the ring farther down from us. Not only that, but the camera man climbed on the ring apron and blocked our view of the other ring. So, all-in-all I would say that WCW doesn't give a flying s**t about the fans or what they want. Massive "We want Flair" chants, and they couldn't even produce him a day early for his North Carolina fans. Unfortunately, people who paid less money for seats than we did, got treated better. I figured you would like to hear this, since the organizations should treat the fans better.

Pre-show: We, being myself, my wife, and a friend from work, get there at about 6:30. Despite the fact that 6:30 is printed on the tickets, there are no dark matches. The crowd doesn't seem to mind, however. They even cheer Arn Anderson's old theme music when it comes over the P.A. When Penzer mentions Team Wolfpack, there is a huge pop. Pops also for the Warrior and DDP, but the crowd is strangely silent for Piper's name. Even Penzer himself is cheered robustly. He spiels the rules, then points to the announcers, the Internet guys and the Spanish announcers. Penzer points to a section of the arena near where we are when introducing the Internet announcers. This'll come up again later.

Disco/Wright vs. Neidhart/Bulldog: Hyped crowd is slightly disappointed by first match. Disco is cheered; others are barely noticed. Loud "We Want Flair" chant. Crowd chants USA! USA! for Bulldog/Neidhart's benefit, which results in Wright covering his ears also.

Goldberg/Jericho: Wait a second. . .Goldberg never wrestles this early. Jericho gets nice heel heat, has everyone in stitches with his tantrums. Goldberg, no wait, a midget comes out. Match is funny, but the crowd shows its feelings with chants of Bull***t.

Cat vs. Smiley: OK everyone, let's go pee! I come back just as Cat is putting Smiley away. That's not even a Thunder quality match. Hey guys, the crowd's losing interest here!

Steiners: Fast exciting matchup while it lasts. No one, I mean NO ONE, buys Buff's act. The lengthy, drawn-out ending served to kill the crowd's enthusiasm that much more.

Juvi vs. Silver King: My wife asks "Who is that?" when Silver King comes to the ring. I warn her not to be fooled by his stocky physique. People who didn't get refreshments during Cat/Smiley (all 15 of them) go now. Crowd gets into it with the reverse Frankensteiner, then give a good pop to the 450.

Next, we watch the video wall as Konnan's Internet time is interrupted by Scott Hall. I look down to where I remember Penzer pointed, and by gum nobody's there. Did I imagine that, or was it taped earlier?

Raven vs. Saturn: Best match of the night, easily. Big pop to Kidman, who nails Raven with a beautiful missile dropkick, then splits. Crowd gets behind Saturn fully about midway through, and the roof comes off with the DVD through the table onto Lodi. Speaking of which, his sign "Why Bill, Why?" got laughter and scattered applause on our side. By the way, we're facing the main camera, upper level, 10 rows up.

It was around this time that security and Wildcat Willie came out to the ring, pushing a cart filled with free shirts, caps and other goodies. My friend Jody says he sees an open trapdoor on the cart when its wheeled away from the ring. Wonder who THAT could have been?

Malenko vs. Hennig: One of the finest scientific matches I've seen in a while, with Malenko focusing on one body part. This, however, seems to bore my wife, and most of the crowd. So much for actual wrestling, I guess, which is kind of sad. Arn gets HUGE pop, followed by "We Want Flair" chant. It becomes apparent shortly thereafter that Flair will NOT be here. He lives in freakin' Charlotte! Is an hour and a half too far to drive? If he shows up, do you really think that would hurt Nitro's ratings on Monday? Not a lot of happy campers here.

Hall vs. Konnan: Guy behind me yells "This Bud's for you, Hall." It is official: I am the only person in the arena who's tired of Konnan's spiel. Everyone else screams it at the top of their lungs. He's over huge. When Hall starts with the rest holds, the crowd immediately senses this and fights among themselves to keep amused. At least two fights, and I've heard more, broke out.

WarGames: Who'll beat Stevie Ray? That's the big question. It's hard as heck to see, what with the roof of the cage partially obstructing the view. Sting comes out to a big pop, surprisingly big. The crowd is on his every move, whether leaping across the ropes to hit the designated jobber or splashing him against the cage. By the way, I thought this was an elimination match? The way Buffer announced it, it'll end when one person gets a pin or submission. Since most of the crowd's not listening to Buffer to begin with, this creates some mighty confusion amongst those there. The video wall helps the crowd to count down the time before someone's allowed in, but they go dark after Hogan gets into the ring. Smoke, Warrior's in the ring, no, he disappears. Meanwhile, the other guys make easy money since they have to pretend to be knocked out. Warrior runs out to pop, kicks out cage wall and runs out just as quick. Boy, Hogan and Warrior really think a lot about the title shot, don't they? Somebody's up, must be DDP since I just saw a Diamond Cutter. This is a shock, I really thought Nash would win. What's not a shock: Guess who's pinned?!

After the match is over, Piper continued to lay in the ring. Team Wolfpack went over, stood over him for a bit, then helped him up and left. Penzer reminds us to watch Nitro tomorrow night. Now knowing fully that it's over and this is all we get, the crowd chants Bull***t and boos Penzer heavily. This is a complete 180 from about four hours ago. By the way, no one bothered to tell us about Duggan's successful surgery. Thanks, guys. At least four Thunder quality matches. I liked the Jericho skit, but I also think that should have been reserved for Nitro or Thunder. At least bring Goldberg in to get in Jericho's face, for pete's sake. A dismal effort, especially since it followed what most think was the most successful Summerslam ever. The Nitro Winston-Salem hosted earlier this year was much more exciting.