-12/29/91
-From Norfolk, VA
-Hosts are JR & Tony
-So, this is the first BattleBowl tournament. The idea is that 20 teams are picked at random, then paired in a series of 10 matches, with the winning teams advancing to a 2 ring battle royale to end the night. I like the idea, just not as what is supposed to be WCW's biggest show of the year.
-Eric Bischoff, Missy Hyatt, & Magnum TA draw the teams. All forty wrestlers involved are on the stage, and head to the ring when their name is called.
-Match 1: Michael Hayes & U.S. Tag Team Champion Tracey Smothers VS Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Jimmy Garvin
-Smothers and Bagwell start. Smother flops around after taking a shoulderblock. Lots of stalling to start, with Smothers bitchig at the ref after every move. Bagwell completely owns Smothers, who refuses to make a tag to Hayes. Garvin gets tagged in, and Smothers mocks the Freebird dance. Crappy dropkick sends Smothers to the apron, where Garvin kicks Smothers in the face, sending Smothers into the guardrail. Smothers tries to cheap shot Garvin after a handshake, and gives Smothers an atomic drop, which Smother sells by flying out over the top rope.
Smothers finally gets control of Bagwell and tags Hayes, who struts after striking Bagwell with a back elbow. Bagwell turns the tide on Smothers and works him over some more. Bagwell tags Garvin, and Smothers dives to his corner to tag Hayes. Crowd comes alive at the thought of a Freebirds explosion. They do more dancing than wrestling before tagging their partners. The crowd loves that, then goes silent once Bagwell and Smothers lock up. Garvin gets in and nails Smothers with a running forearm, then tags in Bagwell, who gets two off a cross-body off the top.
Bagwell cheap shots Hayes, who lays Bagwell out with a left hand, then accidentally punches Hayes. The Freebirds argue as Bagwell counters a Smothers' splash with knees, then pins Smothers with a fisherman's suplex. Not good, but not terrible either thanks to the crowd caring about the Freebirds.
-Match 2: TV Champion Steve Austin & U.S. Champion Rick Rude VS Van Hammer & Big Josh
-Only the finish is shown with Tony narrating. Rude makes a blind tag, and pins Hammer after a Rude Awakening.
-Match 3: Larry Zybysko & El Gigante VS WCW World Tag Team Champion Dustin Rhodes & Richard Morton
-Again only the finish, as Gigante gets tired of Larry yelling at him, and tosses Larry into the ring right into a double dropkick and the pin by Rhodes.
-Match 4: Bill Kazmaier & Light-Heayweight Champion Jushin Thunder Liger VS Mike Graham & Diamond Dallas Page
-Graham & Liger start, and don't seem to be on the same page. Kazmaier gets in and tosses Graham around. DDP gets in, and doesn't do much better. Kazmaier skins the cat in an impressive spot. DDP actually does get the advantage on Kazmaier. Liger gets in and takes DDP down with a spinning heel kick. Graham gets in, and immediately takes an enziguiri and slingshot splash for two. Kazmaier gets back in and over powers both opponents. Liger gets back in, and Graham gets him in a Boston crab. No reaction for any of this, BTW.
Graham & Liger do some more mat wrestling to silence. Liger hits some rapid fire kicks to momentarily wake up the crowd, which dies again when Kazmaier tags in. After a couple more exchanges and tags, Liger hits a big dive on Graham to a pop. Finish finally comes when Kazmaier presses Liger onto DDP for the pin. Match was technically fine, but went way too long, and they didn't adjust when the crowd wasn't respondig to anything.
-Eric draws the next two teams (with the faces and heels now in their respective locker rooms).
-Match 5: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger & Arn Anderson (w/Harley Race) VS Terrence Taylor & The Z Man
-Zenk & Taylor actually win the first exchange. They completely dominate the first few minutes. Zenk almost overshoots AA on a cross-body off the top. Harley trips Zenk (on the second try), and AA hits a big DDT. Luger works Zenk over, but when AA gets in, he lowers his head too early, and takes a modified face buster. Luger gets back in, and Zenk is officially the face-in-peril. Luger gets two off a powerslam. AA dives into Zenk's boots, allowing the hot tag. Taylor gets a couple near-falls on Luger. Taylor hits a gutwrench powerbomb for two, as AA makes the save. AA catches Taylor with a knee to the back, and Luger quickly finishes with the Attitude Adjustment piledriver. Best match so far. They really put Taylor over right before, I'm assuming, a face turn.
-Match 6: WCW World Tag Team Champion Ricky Steamboat & Todd Champion VS Cactus Jack & Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker
-Abdullah the Butcher gets pissed at not being Cactus' partner, and beats the shit out of Parker as the other heels sit and watch. Cactus gets excited when Abby walks down to the rings, but Abby is escorted away from ringside. Parker makes the mistake of passing Abby on the entrance ramp, and Abby adds some shots with his walking stick. Steamboat starts with Cactus (did they ever have a 1-on-1 match?). Cactus' shrieks as he rakes Steamboat's face are horrifying. Steamboat skins the cat, backdrops Cactust to the outside, then follows up with a suicide dive.
Champion gets in and works on Cactus as Parker gets a small "Buddy" chant for continuing to crawl towards the rings. Cactus throws Champion outside, and hits the flying elbow. Cactus avoids a legdrop, but gets caught with a punch as he flies off the top. Cactus tags Parker and throws him in the ring, and Steamboat quickly finishes him with a powerslam and cross-body off the top. Cute booking elevated a pretty mediocre match.
-Match 7: Sting & Abdullah the Butcher VS Brian Pillman & Bobby Eaton
-Johnny B. Badd mugs for the camera as Abby is drawn as Sting's partner. Eaton has apparently turned heel, coming out of that locker room. Abby is all smiles as he walks down the ramp, before suddenly attacking Sting with Abby's walking stick. Tremendous. Pillman goes after Abby, hitting Abby with the stick. Eaton works on Sting as Pillman brawls with Abby. Sting turns the tide and hits a splash onto the ramp. Abby keeps attacking Sting when it looks like Sting might gain control. Pillman slams Abby to big pop, then refuses to tag Eaton.
Sting almost break Eaton's neck with a botched tombstone. Cactus Jack interferes, but accidentally hits Abby with the stick. That allows Sting to finish Eaton with a cross-body off the top. Pretty wild match.
-Abby gets pissed and goes after Cactus, triggering a huge brawl. They have to be pulled apart by security.
-Match 8: Rick Steiner & The Nightstalker VS Big Van Vader & Mr. Hughes
-Vader is sans helmet and mask here. Nightstalker (Bryan Clarke) is filling in for an injured Diamond Studd. Vader & Hughes are a regular team at this time. Vader pounds on Rick, who answers with a big clothesline, belly-to-belly suplex, and another clothesline to send Vader outside. Rick dives off the apron onto Vader, who takes control on the outside, ramming Rick's back into the ring post. Rick suplexes Vader inside, then gets two on Hughes off a backdrop when Hughes gets in.
Rick refuses to tag Nightstalker, who finally tags himself in. Rick hits a bulldog off the top while Vader drops Nightstalker and hits a big splash (on Nightstalker's head and neck, since he forgot to lay down) for the pin. Not much here.
-Match 9: Scott Steiner & Firebreaker Chip VS Johnny B. Badd & Arachnaman
-Another match clipped down to the finish. Scott pins Arachnaman after an overhead belly-to-belly suplex.
-Match 10: U.S. Tag Team Champion Scott Armstrong & PN News VS Ron Simmons & Thomas Rich
-Another clipped match. Simmons pins Armstrong after a really crappy spinebuster.
-Match 11: BattleBowl Finals: Big Van Vader VS Marcus Alexander Bagwell VS Jimmy Garvin VS Dustin Rhodes VS Bill Kazmaier VS Jushin Thunder Liger VS Steve Austin VS Richard Morton VS Todd Champion VS Abdullah the Butcher VS Firebreaker Chip VS Thomas Rich VS Ron Simmons VS Ricky Steamboat VS Mr. Hughes VS Scott Steiner VS Lex Luger VS Rick Rude VS Arn Anderson VS Sting
-Wrestlers have to be thrown from ring 1 into ring 2 to be eliminated from ring 1. Last man in ring 1 will meet the last man in ring 2. AA & Steamboat fight on the ramp. Vader & Hughes dump Kazmaier onto the ramp, but it doesn't matter, since he didn't go into ring 2. Steamboat gets caught on the ramp with Vader, but avoids a big splash. Just a big clusterfuck (I know you're shocked). Vader tries to march Steamboat across ring 1 into ring 2, but fails. Vader does manages to gorilla press Steamboat onto the ramp.
Rich is the first to be sent into ring 2. Crowd gets into it as Sting goes after Luger. Bagwell soon joins Rich in ring 2. Ring 2 starts to fill up. Liger starts hitting Morton with some high-flying moves, to the crowd's approval. Liger eliminates Morton, but the momentum takes Liger out too. Rich is eliminated as Vader works Dustin over on the outside of ring 1. Steamboat and AA brawl with each other, eventually ending up in ring 2.
Garvin is eliminated from ring 2 by Chip. Simmons charges Rudes, who moves out of the way, and Simmons goes flying into ring 2. Sting and Rude go at it, and go tumbling into ring 2, leaving Luger & Vader in ring 1. Chip is eliminated, then Luger clotheslines Vader into ring 2, winning ring 1. The herd starts to finally thin, as Dustin eliminates AA, then gets dumped himself. Simmons eliminates Hughes and himself. Steiner, Bagwell, and Vader all go out in short order. That leaves Sting, Steamboat, Rude, and Austin in ring 2. Rude accidentally eliminates Austin with a clothesline. Steamboat pulls Rude out with a headscissors, then Rude pulls Steamboat out in revenge, so Sting wins ring 2. Rude gets back into ring 2 and hits Sting with a Rude Awakening.
Luger takes his time in working Sting over. Luger throws Sting through the ropes onto the ramp, then holds Nick Patrick so Harley ca gets a cheap shot in, but Sting slams Harley. Luger knocks Sting off the ramp onto the guardrail. Sting fights back, ramming Luger into the guardrail before dragging him back into the ring. Sting drapes Luger over the corner and hits a bunch of kicks, stopping to suplex Harley when he tries to interfere.
Sting misses a Stinger splash, but does not go over. Luger throws Sting, who holds on. Luger thinks he's won, but Sting Hulks up, and eliminates Luger to win. Match was pretty boring until the final segment between Sting & Luger.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: Well this was...interesting. The show only really picked up when the booking was able to carry it, as the wrestling itself wasn't that great, at least what was shown here.
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