House Show Results from Oakland, CA, 10/22/99
House Show Results from Oakland, CA, 10/22/99
By James V. of Hayward, CA
WCW came back to Oakland, California Friday night, for the first time since SuperBrawl. The main match advertised was a tag team event between Ric Flair and Bret Hart vs. Sting and the Total Package (to be referred to as Lex, Luger, or any number of derogatory pet names from here on out).
Actually, the card read like this:
- Match 1: Disco Inferno vs. Lash LeRoux
- Match 2: Hugh Morrus vs. Meng
- Match 3: Kidman & Mysterio vs. Psychosis & Chavo Guerrero Jr.
- Match 4: Eddy Guerrero vs. Saturn
- Match 5: Konnan vs. Rick Steiner
- Match 6: Buff Bagwell vs. Berlyn
- Match 7: Booker T vs. Sid Vicious
- Match 8: Ric Flair & Bret Hart vs. Sting and Lex
Well, of all those, five of them went as announced. Some of them also went a
bit out of order, so it was a little confusing on occasion when you compare
it to the set-in-stone cards the pay-per-views have.
- Penzer comes out and talks up the night's matches, yadda yadda, and
mentions the Nitro Girls being in attendance (Chae, Fyre, Storm, and Spice).
The card also listed DJ Ren, er, Ran, but thankfully he was nowhere to be
seen. He wasn't up in anyone's area tonight. Penzer also had a "special
announcement" -- that the Outsiders were on their way to the arena.
Naturally, the half-filled arena gave a big pop at that news.
- Nitro Girls do an abbreviated performance in the ring, though I found
myself rather bored by their act. Maybe it's me, but I don't see what
dancing women and wrestling have to do with each other.
- Oh. I went with five other people, and we had seats down on the floor,
17 rows from the ring, on the side the wrestlers come out of. I went into it
expecting my view to be a little blocked at times since I'd had floor seats
for a WWF event a number of years ago (I wound up actually moving up into one
of the angled sections), but it turned out to be all right except when the
wrestlers left the ring and my sight was blocked from other fans standing up
-- and I'm about 6' 6". I'll be attending the WWF show in San Jose on
November 26, and we're going to be up a little higher than floor level.
Anyway, onto the matches.
- Match 1: Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Kidman (w/ Frosted Mini-G)
- Chavo gets the first entrance (and the first one out will be the first guy listed, FYI), followed by Kidman accompanied by Mysterio in thug-wear. Apparently there's no Psychosis tonight, and this one's going to be a solo matchup. Kidman's playing the face to a good pop, and apparently the beatdown the Filthy Animals dished out on Nitro went unnoticed here.
- There's some stalling to start with, but Chavo finally gets a hotshot on Kidman to take the advantage.
- It's a slow start, but the pace picks up a bit about halfway though the match. Didn't seem like a typical cruiserweight match for a while, though.
- Chavo gets in a NICE reverse-type submission hold on Kidman. Hard to explain, but while standing up and slightly crouched forward, he had Kidman back-to-back with him, arms pulled forward and his legs tied up a bit as well.
- Chavo, Chavo, Chavo...didn't mama Guerrero tell you never to try a powerbomb on Kidman?
- The finish comes when Chavo goes off the ropes and Rey's up on the apron. Rey spits a mouthful of water into Chavo's face, allowing Kidman to score the pin.
- Not bad for a first match, but I'd have liked to at least see the Tornado DDT or the Shooting-Star Press.
- As Rey and Kidman go to the back, I got a hand slapped by Rey.
- WINNER: Kidman via pinfall, after interference by Mysterio.
- Match 2: Hugh Morrus vs. Meng (w/ Big Pants)
- Morrus draws a lot of heel heat, and surprisingly enough, Meng is over with the crowd.
- Morrus stalls to start.
- Stalling a lot seemed to be the norm for most of the matches, sadly.
- Meng gets hit a couple of times, sending a huge spray of water from his hair.
- Hugh, Hugh, Hugh...didn't mama Morrus tell you never to headbutt Meng?
- In one of the more amusing moments of the night, Meng headbutts his own head on the turnbuckle about half a dozen times. Morrus repeats it in his own corner, only to come up after just one looking quite dazed. Great stuff.
- One of the highlights of the night (and most surprising moments, I thought) follows. There's a slightly elderly lady at ringside heckling Morrus -- she looked to be around 50 or so. Morrus stalls again (and playing a damned good heel throughout the match) and goes over to threaten her a bit. Meng slides out of the ring as Morrus comes back in, goes over to the lady, and raises her arm in victory to a huge pop before giving her a hug. About the last thing I'd expect from MENG, but hey -- it was cool.
- Once they both get back in the ring, the pace picks up considerably and there's some good brawling and wrestling. Yes, you heard right. These two actually put on a pretty good match. Morrus lands an elbow drop from the top rope, then gets tripped up by Meng when he goes up for the No Laughing Matter. Meng later eats a powerslam but no-sells it, hitting Morrus with the goozle.
- WINNER: Meng via pinfall, with the Tongan Death Grip.
- Match 3: Cruiserweight Champion Disco Inferno vs. Konnan
- Disco comes out in an absolutely awful 70's getup and grabs the stick. He talks up the New York Jets to get some cheap heat (the Jets play the Oakland Raiders on Sunday), then says a bit of stuff I couldn't make out very clearly (mostly due to crowd noise) and calls out some "local jabronie" to beat on.
- K-Dogg comes out, much to my chagrin.
- Insert Catchphrases of Death, but Oaktown is definitely "Bout It Bout It and Rowdy Rowdy."
- Disco pearl harbors Konnan in the corner before the bell.
- The first couple minutes are pretty sloppy.
- Konnan gets ten punches in the corner and grabs himself in front of Disco's face. Yummy. What's for dessert? Tossed salad?
- BIG "Disco Sucks" chant.
- Lash LeRoux comes out towards the end of the match and goes to ringside, grabbing Disco's cruiserweight belt.
- As Disco comes off the ropes, Lash whacks Disco in the back of the head with the belt, allowing Konnan to hit the carpetmuncher for the pin.
- Well, I'd have rather seen Disco beat Gonnad, but I can see them using Lash like this to set up the Disco/Lash bout at Halloween Havoc. Hey, at least they're keeping a storyline constant, even at a house show (coughcoughSidhackcoughwheeze).
- Lash grabs the mic and says some stuff that, again, I can't make out due to noise, but the crowd didn't seem to cheer him very much.
- Disco's still champ, by the way. Konnan's not a cruiserweight.
- WINNER: Konnan via pinfall after interference by Lash.
- Match 4: Saturn vs. Eddy Guerrero (w/ Mini-Me)
- Saturn gets on the mic and question's Eddy's ability to wrestle with
Rey at ringside, wants Rey to go to the back and let them fight mano-a-mano.
Eddy seems to get a kick out of that but sends Rey off, who grabs a seat
across from us for a minute before moving to a darker area close to the
curtain the wrestlers come out of (which is maybe 20 feet further from where
he first sits down).
- Saturn stalks a bit, gets up on the ropes to offer the two fists
above the head, and Eddy lounges on the ropes in the corner like he usually
does.
- Another slow start, and by now it earns a "Boring" chant. Rightfully
so.
- Finally a bit of action shortly after that.
- Eddy hits a swank head-scissors move off the top rope.
- Eddy works on a leg.
- Eddy catapults himself over the rope on the apron, landing on Saturn
in the ring.
- Saturn finally takes charge but eventually jumps off the ropes into a
dropkick by Eddy. Both go down and the ref nearly counts to 10 before a pin
attempt is made.
- Eddy with a nice superplex off the top rope.
- Eddy tries to get Saturn again but misses, splashing the ref in the
corner.
- Saturn pulls a chain out of his tights and winds it up for all to
see, clocks Eddy with it, and gets the pin.
- Afterwards, Rey-Rey runs in with a chair and brains Saturn when he
turns around, getting a big pop. Then he helps Eddy out.
- Saturn's still down for a good five minutes after that, even to the
point where Penzer comes in to make sure he's all right. He is, of course.
- So far, that's three out of four matches that end without a clean
finish.
- WINNER: Saturn via pinfall after using an international object.
- INTERMISSION. Still no sign of the Outsiders, either.
- Match 5: Berlyn (w/ Bodyguard) vs. Buff Bagwell
- Penzer shows his knowledge of continuity, referring to this one as a
"return bout" of sorts from one of the recent PPVs.
- The card lists the name of Berlyn's bodyguard as "Jerry Tuite."
Anyone heard of him?
- Buff seems to be back to his old, lively self tonight. Let's see if
he continues the "Take that, Russo" schtick on the PPV or Nitro.
- Buff leads a hearty "USA" chant right away.
- Berlyn really, really, really hates this, and Penzer relays the
message that if he doesn't get the silence he needs to concentrate on the
match, he'll leave.
- Like, go for it, dude! Nice knowin' ya!
- Buff grabs the mic again and says a bit of stuff in German to taunt
Alex, including something like "Zigfried" and "Wienerschnitzel." Hah!!
- They finally start things off, but I don't mind delays like this one.
- Buff offers Alex his hand only to have it spat upon. Buff then
offers Alex his middle finger, much to the crowd's delight.
- Berlyn gets some offense in, and it's generally a pretty good match
between the two. Like him or hate him, Alex Wright's really not that bad in
the ring, and he and Buff put on a pretty good show.
- Buff hits the Blockbuster and is ready to score the pin, but the
bodyguard enters the ring and pummels him.
- Mucho debris hits the ring, though most of it's just small pieces of
rolled-up hot dog wrappers.
- Post-match, Penzer implores the crowd not to throw stuff because of
the kids at ringside (who, of course, got to see Buff's middle digit a short
time earlier. But you know, you gotta prioritize, right?). Penzer actually
gets a good pop when he lets it be known that anyone caught throwing stuff
("And you WILL be caught") would be hauled off to jail and prosecuted under
California State Law.
- WINNER: Buff Bagwell via DQ thanks to outside interference.
- Match 6: Booker T vs. United States Heavyweight Champion Sid Vicious
- It's time to raise da roof!
- Booker: "Uhhhh!"
- Once Sid comes out, he's treated to a big "Goldberg" chant, winding
up with him covering his ears for a few moments.
- Booker gets on the mic and says he's going to do two things tonight
-- basically kick Sid's ass, then walk out of Oakland with the US Title. Can
you dig it??
- Booker tries to slam Sid twice to no avail, getting a mini-beating
for his troubles.
- Finally, he does slam Sid, two times, two times, two times!
- Booker then picks up the ref (the bald-headed one) and makes as if
he's going to slam him, totally freaking out the ref. Booker sets him back
down and seemed to get a kick out of the reaction. The crowd sure did.
- Booker's really carrying the match most of the way, and the two go
outside to brawl. Sid gets a tour of three of the four railing corners,
falling over one of them to be followed by Booker.
- Sid and Booker get back on the right side again, and Sid whacks
Booker with a chair before rolling him back in the ring.
- Rest hold in the middle, but the crowd encourages Booker to get up.
- He does, and begins to regain the advantage before Sid ducks one of
Booker's kicks. The ref isn't as lucky, and he goes down.
- Rick Steiner comes out and pushes Booker into the waiting hand of
Sid, earning him a chokeslam.
- Steiner then enters the ring and helps Sid powerbomb Booker, which
the ref SEES going on (he probably shouldn't have, naturally), but he counts
the pin anyway.
- Steiner rants on the mic, followed by Sid.
- I go home, eat dinner, sleep for a few hours, then come back to the
arena.
- Sid's still on the mic. ARRRRGH!!!!
- WINNER: Sid Vicious via powerbomb and pinfall, after interference by Rick
Steiner.
- The Nitro Girls come out to pose for some pictures and sign autographs for
the fans while the cage is set up around the ring for the main event. Some
pervert behind us shouts some lewd stuff to the Nitro Girls, then tries to
look innocent by going "Who said that?" Please, grow the f**k up.
- Match 7: WCW Heavyweight Champion Sting & The Total Package (w/ Elizabeth)
vs. Ric Flair & Bret "Hitman" Hart, in a steel cage.
- Before the introductions, Penzer announces that the Outsiders are
finally in the house, and they come down to the ring with beers to a huge
pop.
- Is it me, or is it kinda cool that WCW even brought them to a house
show like this? I've seen some other arena reports and the cards look pretty
crappy, but it seems the San Francisco Bay Area usually gets some good cards
-- just a couple months earlier, Bret Hart came back and wrestled Hulk Hogan
at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.
- Hall grabs the stick.
- "Hey yo."
- Hall and Nash came to town because they wanted to be guest ring
announcers for the night, and they shoo Penzer off.
- They offer the ref a nearly empty cup of beer, which is politely
declined until they advance a couple steps. Then the ref freely participates
in their party. Good stuff.
- By the way, I believe it was mentioned that it was a no-DQ, no tag
match. Pinfalls and submissions counted, but I don't know if leaving the
cage would've won this one.
- Nash calls out Sting and Luger first, and they both come out to
Sting's music.
- Nash then calls out Bret and Ric, but Flair comes out first to his
own music. When he's by the steps leading up, Hall does that pointy thing he
does with both hands.
- Bret comes out last, also to his own music and a big pop.
- The Outsiders leave the ring and head to the back.
- It's an all-out brawl in the cage, involving mostly lots of stomping
and beatings in the corners, the faces getting the early advantage and
switching off a few times.
- With Luger down, Hart and Flair doubleteam Sting, whipping him into
the cage.
- Luger and Sting are both lucky winners of the Hitman's patented
atomic headbutts.
- Sting finally goes to Hart's eyes, and the heels turn the tide.
- Still good action, though not a whole lot of actual wrestling. Good
work by the four of them, for the most part.
- Sting lands a Stinger Splash on Flair in the corner resulting in a
Flair Flop before the heels doubleteam him.
- Luger hangs Bret upside-down in the corner, but it looks really
awkward, like Luger didn't get him up right. First he whacks Hart in the
mush with the bat a few weeks ago, now this. I've also seen him kick Hogan's
bad knee and it didn't look like he was really doing it in a way that
wouldn't hurt very much. Luger really needs to take some lessons in how to
wrestle without putting his opponent in serious danger. Talk to the Hitman.
- Flair lands some loud chops -- must've had about a dozen in this one.
- WHOOOOOO!!!
- Sting gets a boot in Hart's throat in the corner, but Flair comes up
from behind and lands a low blow, causing Sting to crumple.
- Flair motions for Hart to go after Luger while he puts Sting in the
figure four, and the Hitman locks the Sharpshooter in place on Luger.
- The ref calls for the bell, making Hart and Flair victorious! Not
sure if it was a double submission or what, but they played Hart's music
afterwards.
- Not a bad match, but that ending really came out of nowhere. I
didn't expect it to end so quickly.
- Flair heads straight to the back while the Hitman slaps hands at
ringside before he goes back as well.
- Sting and Luger are slow to get up in the ring afterwards, and it
seems there's a bit of dissension between the two. Sting starts towards the
back but grabs a chair across from us, goes back to the ring, and chases
Luger around the outside before Luger runs to the back, with a strolling
Sting following. Nice tease -- I wonder if they'll follow up with anything
on TV.
- WINNERS: Bret "Hitman" Hart and Ric Flair via submission.
The Good: Aside from a match or two, I think we got a PPV-quality card. That's definitely a plus for a house show in my book. I think all of the matches had some good spots, and they did a pretty good job in them.
Everyone put on a good show. The appearance by the Outsiders was an added bonus, and it was great finally seeing the Hitman live and in person for the first time. That he's back to being a face and popular with the fans made it that much sweeter. Might be one of the few remaining chances to do that.
Also, the no-show by DJ Ran was a plus, though I have to admit he probably would've helped during the intermission.
The Bad: The screw-job endings. Out of the seven matches held, only two of them ended cleanly, with no interference whatsoever. Even still, the main event ended a little too quickly for my tastes, though it was a pretty good one. At least it didn't have any stalling. Sorry, but the Nitro Girls were just a waste of time. I was also reminded why I don't like floor-level seating. If I wasn't as tall as I am, it would've sucked. No Goldberg was a little disappointing, too. Would've been nice to see he and Sid at least stare each other down or see him help Booker out. What would've been really nice would've been a run-in by Stevie Ray and an impromptu tag match between Harlem Heat and Sid & Steiner. I feel...unfulfilled that I didn't get to hear "Fruit Booty."
The Ugly: Nothing really comes to mind, though me when I got home wasn't a good sight considering the sore throat and flu I've got.