SuperBrawl 1997
The video with Piper escaping from Alcatraz is pretty cool tbh. If you've been there anyway.
Syxx pinned WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko to win the title at 12:02 when Syxx hit Malenko with the title belt after a tug-of-war over the belt with WCW US Champion Eddie Guerrero, who came out late in the match to prevent the challenger from using the weapon; Syxx came to the ring in possession of the belt after stealing it from Malenko weeks earlier - ***1/2. Syxx's belt stealing gimmick was pretty cool tbh. I've always thought he was extremely underrated as a worker and this match goes a long way towards showcasing that. Surprised they had Syxx win and it was Eddie Guerrero's fault so that was cool.
Konnan, La Parka, & Villano IV defeated Juventud Guerrera, Ciclope, & Super Calo at 8:54 when Konnan pinned Guerrera with the sit-down crucifix powerbomb; Guerrera seemingly kicked out at 2 but the decision stood; Mike Tenay did guest commentary for the bout - **3/4, ending got botched somehow but the crowd was into this. It's funny watching lucha trios matches now when AEW does the same exact shit every couple weeks. Or you can just watch TripleMania, which you couldn't do back then.
WCW TV Champion Prince Iaukea pinned Rey Mysterio Jr. at 8:57 after Lord Steven Regal came out, pulled Mysterio off the apron - causing Mysterio to hit his face on the apron - and shoved him back inside the ring; after the bout, Iaukea, not wanting to win under those circumstances, handed the title belt to Mysterio who later handed it back - ***1/4. Facing Iaukea is way beneath Rey, but this guy does have a title after all. Pretty good match but it's a carryjob and there was very little heat. Didn't like the finish and the post-match was lame.
Diamond Dallas Page defeated Buff Bagwell via disqualification at 9:46 when WCW Cruiserweight Champion Syxx, Vincent, Michael Wallstreet, and Nick Patrick rushed the ring after Bagwell sustained the Diamond Cutter, with Page then leaving through the crowd - **. Expecting this to be demonstrably less good than the first three matches. It was and this match didn't really matter but they had the NWO run in to protect Buff from taking a loss. DDP was really getting over though.
WCW US Champion Eddie Guerrero pinned Chris Jericho with a crucifix into a sunset flip at 12:04; after the bout, the two men shook hands - ***1/2. Crazy every time I see Jericho this far back in history while watching him every week. Eventually I'll stop saying this. It's also interesting because a lot of WCW guys talk about how nobody got elevated. Well this is for the US title but by 1999 none of these guys could get even close to the US belt. So yeah, I mean, that seems awfully correct and if anything they got depushed. Jericho does a release German here that looks more stiff than anything Brock's ever done. Crowd wasn't really into this but they did good work.
Public Enemy defeated the Barbarian & Meng and Harlem Heat (w/ Sister Sherri) at 7:45 when Rocco Rock pinned Barbarian when, after the Barbarian caught Rocco in mid-air as he attempted a somersault splash off the top, Grunge came off the top sending Rocco on top for the win - **1/2. Love two of these teams and hate one of them. It's funny old guys complain about modern wrestling being nothing but spots. This match is nothing but spots. They aren't telling a story here at all, the guys are just far bigger than modern wrestlers. And that's cool. Ending comes literally out of nowhere with Public Enemy doing jack shit all match and winning somehow.
Jeff Jarrett pinned Steve McMichael (w/ Debra) at 8:13 when Debra threw the steel briefcase over her head behind her into the ring, as McMichael tried to get at it, with Jarrett then hitting him with the weapon; due to pre-match stipulations, Jarrett became a member of the Four Horsemen - *. Love Mongo but this is not a good matchup. Not a good match either but this crowd is really not into this show in general. So that doesn't help. The Debra angle was dumb too.
Chris Benoit (w/ Woman) pinned Kevin Sullivan (w/ Jacqueline & Jimmy Hart) in a death match at 8:34 following a headbutt off the top as Sullivan was laid across a table in the ring, with Jacqueline covering Sullivan; Woman and Jacqueline were strapped together for much of the match; after the bout, Arn Anderson was seen near the entranceway watching; moments later, Paul Orndorff, Terry Taylor, and Lee Marshal came out to check on Benoit, Sullivan, and Jacqueline, who were then taken backstage on stretchers and loaded into the back of ambulances - ****. This ruled while it lasted, which wasn't very wrong. Two matches going on at once, Benoit and Sullivan brawling everywhere, a fantastic finish and good post-match. This was a complete package of a segment but it feels like Sullivan's career was sort of wasted because it took this long to get entertaining stuff from him.
Lex Luger & the Giant defeated WCW Tag Team Champions Kevin Nash & Scott Hall (w/ WCW Cruiserweight Champion Syxx) to win the titles at 8:53 when Nash submitted to Luger's Torture Rack; the Giant wrestled the match as a handicap match, since Eric Bischoff didn't allow Luger to compete due to having a cast on his hand following an injury, but Luger appeared at the 8-minute mark, shoving Bischoff out of the way in the aisle; after the bout, the Giant hit the chokeslam on Hall and had referee Marc Curtis count Hall down for 3 - **3/4. Haha and they say the NWO never put anyone over. Well it doesn't take a genius to point out that the Outsiders were there to make money and in their matches they did what it took to stay over and that's all that mattered. You know sometimes that really is all that matters and you can't fault their approach. See for me Scott Hall is the second best performer to not win a world title. He was over enough, he could talk enough and he could work enough. A lot of guys usually in this conversation couldn't talk enough. The best performer not to win one is obviously Piper. I also realize during this match that while the Giant/Big Show was still in shape he was barely bigger than Nash. And if you think Nash couldn't work go watch him bump over the top rope here. Crowd LOST THEIR SHIT when Luger came down to the ring lmao. Loved that even though it wasn't much of a match, it was a master class in gaining heat and keeping it.
I understand that the titles went straight back to the Outsiders but in the grand scheme of things that isn't a big deal. They gave the Cow Palace crowd what they wanted.
WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan (w/ Ted Dibiase) pinned Roddy Piper at 11:00 after hitting him with a foreign object placed in his hand by Randy Savage, who appeared ringside mid-way through the bout; early in the bout, Piper fought off Vincent and Michael Wallstreet; Sting and Savage appeared mid-way through, with Savage coming ringside as Sting went backstage; Piper thought he had won, and the bell rang, at 10:14 with the sleeper but Hogan's foot was outside the ring; after the bout, Hogan and Savage double teamed Piper, with Savage dropping the flying elbowsmash on Piper three times as Hogan held him down - -*, this is a negative star match here. You can't send the crowd home like that. I liked that Piper showed up like he was actually stuck in Alcatraz. You know I was thinking that Hogan was able to maintain his heat as a heel without ever cursing and wondered if someone could do that now. Probably not? This match is much worse than the last because both guys did literally almost nothing and didn't take any bumps. They had a hard time retaining my focus. Crowd was also very suspicious of Macho and obviously for good reason. Now see the difference is that they fucked the crowd over while they were in the building. I also feel like maybe this finish was botched lol. Or maybe it was just a bad idea or something. I mean obviously it was a bad idea but MAYBE it was just that. I'm gonna have to look it up.
This was a good show anyways but if I was there I woulda felt like I'd been cucked.
