WCW House Show Results from Philadelphia, PA, 05/01/99
WCW House Show Results from Philadelphia, PA, 05/01/99
By Scott L.
Wrestling Recap for WCW at First Union Spectrum, Philadelphia, Saturday May 1, 1999.
This was my first live event. I attended with my 20-year old sister, since I watch too much wrestling to actually get a girlfriend. We almost don't make to the arena, since my sister informs me that she is psyched that her boyfriend got a single at his college dorm for next year. Now, my sister and I are pretty close for siblings, but there are things that I don't want to know about.
I was not impressed with the ring or the light setup. Granted, this was not a televised event, but the production could have been better. We were in the fourth row, and what probably made the night was a smart-ass kid 4 rows behind us who had great comments, of which I can only remember a few. We got to the arena early, so I could by Horsemen shirts, since you can't buy them online. So, $70 for seats, $175 for 7 horsemen shirts, and $10 for two Buds (of course I drank them both ;) ) later, we were ready for the show.
Matches will be rated on the 5-star system tonight.
- Card according to program insert:
- Chavo vs. Disco Inferno
- Prince Iaukea vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
- Konan vs. Chris Jericho
- Kidman vs. Juventud
- Saturn/Raven vs. Windham/Hennig
- Rick Steiner vs. Wrath
- Golberg vs. Scott Steiner
- Sting vs. DDP vs. Flair
- In addition to the wrestling, there was both a Sixers and Phillies game, so traffic was horrible. Penzer didn't make his way out until 7:45
- Match 1: Chavo vs. Blitzkrieg
- Chavo played the heel, grabbing the mike and trying to explain to Blitzkrieg that no matter how hard they work, the fans just wouldn't appreciate it.
- True enough with a Philly crowd
- In his bantering, Chavo used "shit" and "ass", among other expletives - so much for G-rated programming
- Blitzkrieg goes for a top-rope hurricarana, which Chavo blocks and turns into a Tornado DDT for the win.
- OK opening bought, didn't do a great job of getting the crowd fired up. (**)
- Match 2: Fit Finlay vs. Prince Iaukea
- Fit Finlay did a great job playing the heel - he spent more time threatening the crowd then wrestling.
- In probably the best part of the night for me, the smart-ass kid starts chanting Prin-cess-Le-ah (clap--clap--clap-clap-clap). Nobody chanted along, but I thought it was great.
- Iaukea missed Finlay in the corner, tasted the post, and then got a tombstone for his troubles. Finlay with the win.
- ** for the quality of the match, **** for getting the crowd worked up.
- Match 3: Horace Hogan vs. Konnan
- My sister, who is a WWF fan, was upset because she didn't know the words in the Konnan speak-along.
- I tried to start a chant of "Nepotism Boy", but that wasn't clever enough for the Mensa society at ringside, who decided to go with the mind-shattering chant of "You Suck".
- Horace asked for a beer from a lady in the front row on our side. She gave it to him, he brought it up to the apron to drink it, and Konnan decked him, causing the beer the spray all over the middle of our section.
- The lady actually thought she was going to get a replacement beer, or that Horace would give back her beer intact. She started arguing with a beer vendor when he wouldn't give her a free one. Obviously the Mensa chapter president. Her tirade caused me to miss most of the match, though. The only thing I remember is Konnan grabbing himself and shout Ond-a-lay, or whatever it is he says.
- Konnan wins with the Tequila Sunrise.
- Tough to rate. Hogan losing is good, Konnan winning is bad. Crowd was kind of into it, which is good. They were really into it when Konnan was grabbing himself, which was bad. So I'll give it **.
- Match 4: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Saturn
- Some guy from WMMR introduced Bam Bam. It seemed that they were genuine friends. However, I doubt there were any WMMR listeners in the stands, so he got a standard Philadelphia reception (Remember folks, this is the town that booed Santa Claus).
- Bigelow got a pretty good pop - I'm guessing from his ECW days. He actually made the Triple Threat symbol (three fingers, middle to pinky) raised) with both hands.
- For those not knowledgeable to ECW, the Triple Threat was/is one of ECW's primary factions, very similar to the Four Horsemen. The original members were Shane Douglas, Chris God, I mean Benoit, and Dean Malenko. Before coming to WCW, Bigelow was a member along with Douglas and Chris Candido.
- Bigelow teased throwing Saturn into the crowd, another ECW tradition. Saturn did his normal lift-of-the-dress stuff, which delight the crowd and scared me.
- Bigelow wins with Greetings **1/2
- Match 5: Hardcore weapons match: Hardcore Hak vs. Raven
- Hak gets on the mike: "When I was with another company, I had to keep my mouth shut. Now that I'm not, I can say this: I hate Philadelphians."
- Okay. You're the heel. Fine. Let's get to the match
- Before the match, Hak points to Chastity and implies to Raven that he is nailing his "sister". Raven responds with "That's OK. I had your mom."
- Standard match, including the usual spots, likes Hak going upside down through a table.
- My sister wanted to brawl with Chastity. I think just about everyone in the arena would have rather seen that match.
- Hak goes for an Irish whip, and Raven turns it into an Evenflow DDT for the win.
- Intermission
- Match 6: Juventud vs. Rey Misterio Jr. for the Cruiserweight belt
- My sister: "He looks kind of gay"
- Misterio is way over, which I will never understand, since he comes to the ring with that crap music.
- Juvi grabs the mike, and starts talking about how he and Rey got their starts in Philly, and he was going to kick Rey's ass.
- Juvi does a great job playing to the crowd. He was looking in our section for support, so I started doing the arm movement for the Juvi driver. I think he saw me, because he nodded in my direction. But then he blew a kiss.
- My sister: "Was that for you?"
- Juvi hits a Juvi driver, but Rey kicks out.
- Rey reverses some move, hits one other move, then the Frankensteiner for the win.
- Great match, horrible ending. ***
- Match 7: Rick Steiner vs. Meng
- Meng out first. Steiner gets a good-enough pop, and is the first wrestler to circle the ring with the fans.
- Match lasts about 3 minutes.
- Meng with some offense. Meng throws Steiner to corner. Attemps what I guess would be a Stinger Headbutt, and Steiner moves, causing Meng to hit his head on the turnbuckle. Steiner rolls him up from behind for a quick 1-2-3.
- This is my personal pet peeve with wrestling. The story is the Meng is one of those island people who have hard heads, yet here he is knocking himself out with one turnbuckle shot. Whatever.
- 1//2* for a stupid ending to a stupid match
- Match 8: Hennig vs. Goldberg
- Hennig comes out first. There is no opponent, so Hennig starts spouting: "Isn't there anyone in WCW man enough to face Curt Henning."
- A veteran like him should know that never works. Reference: Honky Tonk Man, Intercontinental Title
- Hennig goes to leave, and Golberg's music starts.
- Penzer was directing the show as well, so just about everyone saw him motion to the sound guy to start the music. Again, I am not impressed with the production of the show.
- Crowd still goes nuts
- Hennig gets a little bit of offense
- Irish whip - reversal - spear.
- Goldberg sits on Hennig's stomach and pops him in the face 8 times, and a ninth for good measure. Uhhmm, Bill, you usually go to ten when the crowd is counting along.
- For those who have Revenge - My sister and I played Nintendo for 2 hours before the event. She was Goldberg, and the only things she can do are the spear, the submission leglock, and the punching of the guy in the head when he is down on the mat. So she was ecstatic at this point - "That's my move."
- Jackhammer - win.
- I'd give it **, but it was what the crowd wanted, so ***1/2.
- Goldberg spent more time post-match with the fans than in the ring.
- Match 9: Sting vs. Flair vs. World Heavyweight Champ DDP
- Flair comes out first and starts commending the Toronto Maple Leafs, who beat the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime the night before to take 3-2 lead in the playoff series.
- This got really good heat, causing one fan to jump the rail.
- The guy could call my mother a whore, and I'm still going to cheer for him.
- The crowd that was booing at this point was the same crowd that was Whoooing for 30 minutes before the show. People are stupid.
- Sting comes in next, to a huge pop.
- DDP comes in: "If you don't like that DDP is the two time, two time, two time champ - well - that's just too damn bad."
- Sting starts a house-of-fire, Flair takes the beating
- I think Flair must have agreed to lose from now to eternity to get his 14th reign. Is he ever going to win again?
- DDP teases leaving. Sting goes and gets him.
- Flair goes up top, and comes down the hardway. Surprise, surprise.
- This woman next to me, who I think was forced to go with her boyfriend, was happy as clam every time I called a spot. I think it proved her side of some argument they were having.
- DDP tries a sunset flip, and ends up pulling the back of Flair's trunks down. He walked around like that for a while so all could see.
- Flair gets knocked out of the ring, and DDP and Sting go at it.
- DDP gets knocked out of the ring as well.
- Sting turns around, and Flair hits Sting from the top rope with a foreign object.
- I have NEVER seen Flair have a successful top-rope maneuver before.
- Flair goes for the figure four, and as he is turning to synch it in, gets a diamond cutter.
- DDP with the win.
- Good match, but not a main event match. **1/2
- After the win, DDP goes to beat up Sting, and receives a Scorpion Death Drop for his troubles.
- Sting climbs the ropes and holds up the belt to a HUGE pop.
- DDP is the last the leave, to a series of boos. He leaves with a "I never liked any of you, and that's a shoot."
The Good: Got to see Flair. The man is a great performer, even in losing.
The Bad: The post-intermission matches. It was as if they were in a hurry to get out of there, since the event started late. Plus, no Chris Benoit.
The Ugly: Not worth the price of admission. The production was adequate at best. Plus, they can transport a wrestling ring but not a laptop and portable printer to make program inserts of the actual card. Come on.
And for all you women out there - According to my sister, the major studs of the evening:
- Sting ("He has got to lose that spandex so I can see what's he's got")
- Goldberg ("He is the Bomb-diggity ") (Guys: I don't know what it means either)
- Buff: He was in the program, and his abs definitely made an impression.
- Chavo
And the guys who need help:
- Blitzkrieg ("That outfit has got to go")
- Juventud (Comments above)