Deathstroke and Rocco list their top 20 Hilariously Awful WCW moments

[RoccoTanno123]

Ya'll ready for the top 5? You've got to put a wind on the fire for it to spread.

[butteredtoast]

Did someone say top 5???

[tnel00]

Ya'll ready for the top 5? You've got to put a wind on the fire for it to spread.

Are you guys skipping #6?

[RoccoTanno123]

Are you guys skipping #6?

No. Just got to get there first.

[M.extra.Bleezy]

Thanks for the awesome thread guise. Keep it going

In for Robocop

This. So much this

[RoccoTanno123]

Alright, this may be a one time only deal. Deathstroke's pick and write-up will be incoming, but here's my #6.


6. Hogan, the Giant, the Dungeon, and running water that AH!...isn't hot?




Alright, it's time to recap Hogan vs. the Dungeon going into the late summer of 1995. When Hogan came into WCW in June, 1994 he had a huge fan/hulkamaniac in Dave Sullivan, the kayfabe brother of Kevin Sullivan. Kevin Sullivan, the heel, naturally hated that. After a masked man attacked Hogan's leg, the man was eventually revealed to be “the butcher” aka Brutus the Barber Beefcake, Ed Leslie. Leslie would improbably headline Starrcade 1994 vs. Hogan in the main event. To the surprise of probably only WCW decision-makers, the event was a PPV buyrate disaster. Anyway, moving on, why did Leslie turn against his former best bud who he had hooked up with and been hanging and banging since 1989? Well, Leslie had been influenced by Kevin Sullivan to go against the Hulkster. Along the way, Sullivan and Leslie brought in Avalanche, aka WWF's Earthquake, John Tenta, and the trio formed the three faces of fear faction. Their mission: to destroy Hulkamania. Of course, all they did was job, job, job until Sullivan turned on Leslie and the group disbanded. (Leslie would eventually return to the Dungeon as the Zodiac). And Tenta would join the Dungeon not long after it was formed, repackaged as the Shark.)



But I'm jumping a bit ahead. OK, after Slamboree 1995, Sullivan was contacted by the “master” (curtis iakea) who told him to create the dungeon of doom, destroy hogan, and take the wcw title.



It's worth mentioning that the Master contacted Sullivan while ol' Kev' was out jogging, just out in his his wrestling gear and boots through the leafy jungle or maybe florida swamp/forest whatever the hell, anway the Master appeared in the sky and teleported Sullivan, presumably, to the dungeon. Once there, he told Sullivan to run through a cave door. Sullivan did, and in a flash re-appeared with black facepaint on his forehead and clad in a red track suit with yellow lightning on the jacket and pants---his taskmaster attire for those of you who remember it. ...yeah...look this whole saga up if you haven't seen it; the feud had now escalated into a gang war over who got to wear the red and yellow colors! Sullivan and the Master declared that they would defeat Hogan because it “was etched it stone.” Too bad for them because Hogan had control over both the pencil and the eraser.

The Dungeon would quickly add Meng to their ranks, as well as Kamala, the Shark, the Big Show/Giant, the Zodiac, and...Vader (but after this segment? I think??? whatever, Vader would end up helping Hogan escape, but his contract ended/the Orndorff fight happened and he'd get replaced by Lex Luger for Fall Brawl 1996 in September.)



OK, back to this show again, on July 2nd, on WCW Saturday Night, Hogan was summoned/teleported into the dungeon's lair. For whatever reason, he's referred to as “the rare white bengal tiger.” Hogan has just been teleported, falling down onto the Dungeon's floor, and I'm just going to transcribe his dialogue from here on out with some added commentary.




“where am I?” (A natural first question for somebody beamed in, presumably from the set of baywatch or reading the first draft of the santa with muscles script.)
“There's no hulkamaniacs here!” (Hogan senses this? What? He's captain planet or something? Random second thought from the Hulkster, here) *Hogan begins walking*
“...i've never been here before! “(isten to the delivery on this one. #thunder-in-paradise-skills-brotherjackdude)
*Hogan extends his hands to a running fountain of water, touching it*
AH! IT'S NOT HOT! (Lmfao! Very random comment. Did he mean to say it was scalding hot? Or did he expect it to be very hot and therefore inexplicably extended his hand to a lukewarm fountain?)
WHAT IS THIS PLACE? (A place with water that's not hot, it would seem.)

Alright, moving right along: Sullivan hypnotizes Hogan with his white tiger striped staff, backing up Hogan to the Giant's ambush spot. Hogan's stiff but overly committed theatrical acting is on point, as is superham effort of trying to focus his eyes and stop any stray glances while the shouty Sullivan cuts a promo. You know the Hulkster had flashbacks to his snow filled days and the cartoonish 80s to make it through, dudes! Lotta Vitamin C and training to go along with the prayers on this disney lot moment man!!! Alright, moving along, Sullivan finally wraps and moves his staff. Then, the Giant explodes out from a wall. As he emerges, the Giant looks all powdery and coked up, he attacks Hogan, battering the red and white hero down. Then he cuts a shouty, maniacal promo about being a true immortal and the one to defeat Hogan as the camera slowly closes in on his face/fizzy hair.

here's a vid of the segment: http://www.wwe.com/videos/hulk-hogan...uly-2-26159617

5 stars, brotherjackdudes...hope you're pumped up and ready for the sumo monster trucks, man!!!

[203mh]

Haha this thread is just great

[Land Shark]

Pretty sure I remember the master calling Hogan the rare white Bengal tiger when he was managing Kamala as the Wizard during his feud with Hogan almost a decade before this

[Deathstroke]

6. That Time With Hogan, The Giant, The Dungeon and running water that isn't, hot?



WCW spent millions to pry the biggest household name in the history of professional wrestling away from the WWF. Ha! Jokes on them, Vince no longer wanted him, and in fact, used him to put Yokozuna over after decided that the days of "Train, say your prayers and take your vitamins" were winding down fast, and that Hogan has, "outlasted his usefulness as the top megaface of sports entertainment". But nonetheless, WCW dumped a ton of coin on obtaining him. OK. Now that he's arrived, what to do with the big lug after a dream match with Flair. WCW took a page from his WWF run, attempting to book him as the mega hero vs. the monster villains, you had him with Vader. Good.



Then as I recall, things got a little too cartoonish for 1995. Hogan's new nemesis would be a stable, the evil and diabolical Dungeon of Doom...ahhh that sounds so refreshing, so brilliant, so not an insult to fans intelligence. Hulk Hogan, the icon of the WWF, now facing a bunch of dumbasses in weak attire and facepaint, including Brutus the Beefcake and Earthquake agreeing to look extremely goofy just to remain in the limelight a little longer even though it was a huge step back from their glory days in WWF.

My good friend (Rocco), nailed it best. Truly shed light on just how outlandish this stuff was. It didn't quite hold up a year later, let alone today.

[RoccoTanno123]

Deathstroke's pick
5. As if David Arquette Wasn't Bad Enough...Vince Russo Wins The WCW World Heaveyweight Championship!



No matter how he got it, no matter what fashion he won it in, or how contrvosersial the finish was, Russo holding the belt for any storyline purposes or to further his own onscreen heel authority persona, no matter how you paint it the title was being disgraced.

Russo defeated Booker T for the WCW title when Goldberg speared him to the outside of the steel cage I guess ala Vince McMahon beating Stone Cold at "St. Valentine's Day Massacre".

End of the day Russo booked himself to win the title which he openly referred to as a "prop" and nothing more. Russo also said he'd been a happy man if pro wrestling ceased to have an actual ring some day.

In short, just another nail in the coffin of WCW which would be dead i.e. purchased by Vince McMahon in 6 months from this point.



Didn't mean to launch into a triad here, and this list is for fun, but as a fan this move bugged me. Russo said he planned to not even be on TV, to remain a creative writer backstage as he was in WWF with the only public exposure having been in WWF's official magazine as Vic Venom at that point, but not only does he become an onscreen persona, he chooses to indulge his vanity, while having no respect and some say, contempt, for wrestling tradition and the titles prestige (which again, he called a prop only).

My Reaction

so stupid. even though russo winning, I think, was presented as a fluke--Goldberg speared him out of the cage match or something--make no mistake this was a complete disaster. Almost as dumb as the David Arquette thing maybe dumber since Russo should've known fans would reject this crap; Russo was all about controversy and shock, and rudderless on the nuts and bolts of wrestling psychology.

[RoccoTanno123]

My pick
5. Sting goes to Vader's Snowy Mountain Lair aka the White Castle of Fear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7XhwNT7U5s

I'll try to go through most of this in order. Jim Ross is in full on shill/hype mode to lead into this segment. Meanwhile Larry Zybasko looks stone-faced like he's just thinking about those guaranteed paychecks he will be cashing, so he won't do or saying anything about this kayfabe shattering promotional movie he knows is about to be aired.

The segment kicks off with a classic bad cheesy soundtrack music and some movie announcer guy narration. “"Sting accepted an invitation to a party ... at the WHITE CASTLE OF FEAR in the Rocky Mountains." Yup, Sting needed to travel via helictopter to Vader's secret lair in order to accept Vader's challenge for the upcoming Superbrawl PPV. While this is going on, Sting rolls up to the chopper in a mercedes-benz. Sting's wearing a baby blue suit over a graphic T-shirt. He's also sporting his short, bleached-blonde surfer hair, some blue shoes, and sunglasses. It's classic over the top 80s style, but still babyface—he is a multi-time world champion after all.

Sting hops into the chopper, and there's a bunch of quick cuts of extreme closeups, some strong sounds from the chopper, and a few zooms, to I guess signify that this is a big moment and to put you right there into Sting's sensory overload, foreshadowing that Sting doesn't quite know what he's getting into, and maybe is a bit out of depth.

Now you may ask: exactly how was Sting notified of Vader's challenge, surely the movie announcer guy didn't phone him up, right? Glad you asked. Via scroll. Yup, there's medival/reinaissance fair whatever the **** scroll that Sting unrolls.



On the helicopter ride, Sting is wondering where the hell the white castle of fear is and if he's going to a trap, while we're shown some stock footage swooping shots of the snowy mountain tops and valleys, and get some splicey splice editing visuals of vader and sideways snowflakes. He shouts out things like “Stin-gur-ur! We have a date with destiny. I know you like a good time. I know you like CHallenges. AND I KNOW THAT YOU LIKE LIVING ON THE EDDDDGGE!” Vader fears no man, and doesn't fear frostbite either.



The shots of Vader get tighter each time to heighten the intensity of vader's mind games on Sting. We never see the white castle of fear from the outside (too little budget for a model?), but the pilot spots it and lands and Sting heads to the party. Some bad foreceful drum music kicks up as we're shown the inside of castle. The inside is all snow and ice, so maybe Vader rented this place out from Kholdstare. Vader's Big Van Vader helmet is sitting in the middle of a feast banquet table but the mastodon is nowhere in sight, as many scantily clad (for a children's oriented wrestling program at this time anyway) women dressed in black lounge around. The women all stare and begin to coo when Sting enters the room and walks up to them. In case their mannerisms weren't enough of a clue, the soundtrack briefly changes, to re-enforce that they want Sting to stinger splash all over them. These hoes weren't loyal tho. As soon as Vader appears, they switch their allegiance to Vader, and the music moves back to more drum oriented "battle" music. I guess Vader's white castle of fear must've been a rocky mountain brothel. Picking the notoriously smelly Vader over Sting?

Oops, I've left out a pivotal character to this skit's plot. Cheat-em. Yes, our friend from earlier, the eye-patched midget, was still getting dem checks because he's got a cameo here too. He interrupts Sting's moment with the ladies by stating the obvious, “Hey, Sting is here!” and encourages Sting to play Vader's game. Sting quickly recognizes Cheat--em. After noticing him, Sting appears about as exasperated as the fans who suffered through Hornswaggle being revealed as the anonymous GM. Between the midget and wenches, I think we all know what kinda party Vader and Race were planning on throwing. After Cheat-em's said his few lines, Vader knows Sting has arrived. He flexes alongside Harley Race into a mirror which shatters. Strangely, he's less pumped up when he randomly appears--he shows up in a white fur coat doing his best Joe Namath impression, I guess. But seeing Sting riles him up, and he gets rid of the robe and is ready to get down to business.



Okay, so what's Vader's challenge for Sting beyond the superbrawl match? A tug of war with a leather strap. Yeah, I know, but it does make some sense, as the two were about to have a strap match.

The strap is pulled tight with Sting on one end, Vader on the other, and between them in the middle is a log fire. Nope, not a typo. The goal is to pull your opponent into a log fire. The Big Van Vader helmet looms the background and it's eyes glow. The amazing editing of this tug of war kicking into gear has to be seen to be believed, with all the insert shots, close ups, and a snap and explosion sound as the strap is pulled taut over the fire, earning a “whoa!” from Sting. Sometime before the tug kicked off, Sting must've changed from his blue suit jacket into a leather blue jacket because the fabric looks different.

At the start, Vader overpowers Sting, yanking into knocking over a few fiery logs. Sting fights back, but struggles to keep Vader from completely overpowering him. There are some hilarious cuts of Cheat-em and the girls pulling for Vader intercut with this tug of war. It must've been a long day shooting this skit because their enthusiasm is quite low. In one of close-up cuts to them chanting, we see Sting horizontally gliding on a dolly or something, moving through the frame toward the flames. Pure lolzy wrestlecrap right there. There's some more shots of the strap in the fire, Sting's straining face, and Vader's face looking like I imagine it did everytime he was in a Ryan's buffet. Before the tug of war can end, the strap explodes and a “to be continued....” pops up, as a movie announcer guy reads that and plugs superbrawl III on PPV.



Whew, I know this entry is running long, but I want to point out 3 more things.
-Sting's acting and line delivery. Him in this skit is sorta trademark for how he could sometimes be with promos--delivering his lines with a kind of put on passion that seems calculated to get a certain reaction but doesn't quite hit the mark of doing what he was going for. However, he's got enough natural charisma and presence to usually carry him through stuff.
-Bill Watts was still technically still over at WCW, but it was in his final days. I don't think he had anything to do with this.
-the strap match at superbrawl 3 was ****ing amazing. check it out if you haven't seen it. WWE Network link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31660403 BTW, moments of the above skit are scattered throughout the ppv.

Here's a link to a video with more of the pre-show from wcw main event, which aired immediately before the PPV. Check out a not yet WCW boss, Eric Bischoff hosting the thing:

http://www.popscreen.com/v/76a6c/WCW...der-Sting-Feud

Deathstroke's response

Ah, this one shall see the light of day ITT again lol. One of the most ridiculously stupid things WCW ever did, I will save the rest of my commentary about it for later.

[Deathstroke]

Thanks a bunch partnah, you totally rock!

[I3igAl]

I remember watching the Sting segment as a kid on TV and raging when the "to be continued came up".

[RoccoTanno123]

Thanks a bunch partnah, you totally rock!

Thanks. Thread wouldn't be as good without you partner. Hard to believe, but we're almost done with this one.

I remember watching the Sting segment as a kid on TV and raging when the "to be continued came up".

I don't remember when exactly I first saw this, but it must've been late 1993ish or early 1994 because this skit and the resulting superbrawl match are a vivid wrestling memory from my childhood too. I was also drawn in, lol. The whole thing had an awesome cheesy 80s/early 90s action movie influence written all over, I suspect they thinking abut Stallone's cliffhanger which came out later that year.

[icetrauma]

I could be wrong on the accomplice but I was shaking my head when Raven was taking Chris Kanyon around and introducing him to the "finer things in life" such as Versace pronounced Ver-Sace.




Enjoying the flashbacks! Keep'em coming!

[RoccoTanno123]

Pretty sure I remember the master calling Hogan the rare white Bengal tiger when he was managing Kamala as the Wizard during his feud with Hogan almost a decade before this

Ah, interesting. Thanks for that. Any memory of if that fed into the storyline at all?

I could be wrong on the accomplice but I was shaking my head when Raven was taking Chris Kanyon around and introducing him to the "finer things in life" such as Versace pronounced Ver-Sace

I don't really remember this. Was this part of the flock storyline and in 1997 or 1998?

[devin45k]

I like this thread and damn I miss the WCW

[tnel00]

I'm expecting the rest of the top 5 to be filled with 1999-2001 moments.

[Deathstroke]

I'm expecting the rest of the top 5 to be filled with 1999-2001 moments.

Oh boy, Rocco's #4 is gonna, well, you'll laugh and cry it is so good.

[RoccoTanno123]

I'm expecting the rest of the top 5 to be filled with 1999-2001 moments.

You'll have to see.

I'll spoiler mine slightly, however, and say to expect mine to lean more early 90s.

Oh boy, Rocco's #4 is gonna, well, you'll laugh and cry it is so good.

Haha, thank you. I don't want to take too much credit, however. The moment speaks for itself. There's been some others where I really had to write from a particular pov, I felt, for it to be funny, informative, or entertaining. This next one....I mean I think anybody could take numerous angles and it work . The moment itself is just so bizarre.

BTW shout out to Sting on the latest WCW Table for 3 episode with DDP and Vader, giving a nod to the white castle of fear as his most touching/memorable moment.

[icetrauma]

I don't really remember this. Was this part of the flock storyline and in 1997 or 1998?

I believe it was after the flock but not for sure....edit.............found the video 8/2/99 at 3:07

[Land Shark]

Ah, interesting. Thanks for that. Any memory of if that fed into the storyline at all?



I don't really remember this. Was this part of the flock storyline and in 1997 or 1998?

I'm not really sure, to me as a kid I felt like it was his way of calling Hogan the ultimate babyface

another random Dungeon of Doom fact that I remember: in one of the darkside Hogan promos before Halloween Havoc, Hogan called the Yeti the "Ye-Tay" so it wasn't Shiavone coming up with it first like everyone remembers hearing on that legendary spooky night

[tnel00]

You'll have to see.

I'll spoiler mine slightly, however, and say to expect mine to lean more early 90s.



Haha, thank you. I don't want to take too much credit, however. The moment speaks for itself. There's been some others where I really had to write from a particular pov, I felt, for it to be funny, informative, or entertaining. This next one....I mean I think anybody could take numerous angles and it work . The moment itself is just so bizarre.

BTW shout out to Sting on the latest WCW Table for 3 episode with DDP and Vader, giving a nod to the white castle of fear as his most touching/memorable moment.

I can't control my excitement

[RoccoTanno123]

I believe it was after the flock but not for sure....edit.............found the video 8/2/99 at 3:07

Man, Russo style pre-Russo with the random insider references. I believe this was after Nash was demoted from head booker, and he was then part of some booking committee with Bischoff, Hogan (who else), and Dusty. Gotta love that bad basic turner techno. I can't believe I missed this, though I do remember seeing the Raven "you're a mark" aside oddly enough. I wonder if this was meant as punishment in any way since scanning through some archives I see that Raven was in hot water with Bischoff around this time because he'd made some disparaging remarks about WCW, then he left shortly after in a blow off meeting. If I ever try to retroactively make a top 30 or 40, maybe this one would slide in there.

[Deathstroke]

Deathstroke's pick
4. Vader's White Castle of Fear



Sting had accepted an invitation to a party, at THE WHITE CASTLE OF FEAR, in the Rocky Maintains. Naieve and unawared Sting suspects that something is up, that Vader is up to something bad, but doesn't know what it is.

The party is hosted in a snow cave with women who are apparently Vader's sex slaves who feed him with food and drink, and whom he Vader bomb's up the ass really hard!
A little midget is there taunting Sting, challenging him to play Vader's game, like, PLay The Game, PLAY THE GAME. Sting proceeds to own Vader verbally by compliment his palace, "Nice place you got here. Much like your personality, COLD." OUCH!!!! Damn Stinger could be an evil f*ck back in his heyday.



The game is essentially a tug of war match where the rope is over an open fire, and Vader nearly pulls Sting into it...annnnd, to be continued in their Strap match coming up at the PPV!
And this folks, is how you set up an epic Strap match. Mark Henry/Sheamus executed it wrong, so did Eddy and JBL.

Seriously, maybe I am being a Lemon, but that party sucked!

BONUS/Honorable Mention: Jake Roberts Spin-The-Wheel, Let's Make A Deal mini-movie to promote Sting vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts at Halloween Havoc 92.


Rocco's thoughts:

Truly a worst of the worst classic. I wonder how drunk they got the old-timer Harley Race while doing this. He must've been on something, judging by his all black bond villian/modern dance outfit. Race probably played thumb war with Vader afterwards and crushed him, just to remind him who was boss.

Rocco's pick
4. Robocop rescues the Stinger from the Horsemen


From the Armory in Washington, DC, WCW/NWA Capital Combat 1990 – The night Robocop saved Sting on a PPV. Lets' get to it.


Higher quality link: http://www.wwe.com/videos/robocop-co...-1990-26009310
WWE Networklink: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31573987

The legendary Gordon Solie informs us from the back that the doors have opened. Robocop is loose! They're still working some dumb angle where the FBI or whoever are working to keep the cameras off Robocop, but we still see static-y footage of him moving out.



Then, he gets a lengthy intro from ring announcer Gary Capetta,
“And ladies and gentlemen, the nation's #1 law enforcer. He serves the public trust, protects the innocent, upholds the law. The ultimate peace officer...ROOOBOOO-COP!”

...I'll just let that sit there for a moment.

Robocop meanders out through the smoke and down to the ring. You can't hear it, but I imagine his gears must've been grinding in those bucket legs just from looking at his gait. If you've ever been to Vegas and had the pleasure/misfortune of seeing drunken Elvis impersonators that look either like they are holding in a fart or just had a hip replacement, stumbling around the strip, yup, he moves like that. Then, there's a jump cut to Sting being shoved into a steel cage by the horsemen and them locking him inside. But not for long.

In his rinky dink suit, Robocop clanks down to the ring for the rescue. MY GOD. The horsemen back off. Despite how Robocop is unarmed, and all the wrestlers dwarf this guy and Robocop moves like a drunk novice on stilts. Robocop bends the “"iron” bars of the cage. (They're actually rubber as is most of the cage.) Then, he rips the door off the cage to free Sting.



The horsemen casually back off more, while Sting and Robocop just stroll off. Sting's arms not only make Robocop's look like spaghetti arms, but he clearly towers over him too. Peter Weller is supposedly 6 feet tall. Hollywood , though, inflates heights just as much, if not more than than wrestling business. So much for the larger than life, indestructible robot supercop.



Robocop 2 was the last Robocop movie that Weller would appear in and don the suit. Weller getting rail-roaded into chit like this, I'd have to guess played a role in that career decision.

Good ol' JR is back into shill mode, having to call this debacle with a straight face, selling us on Robocop's strength and the horsemen's fear. The horsemen for this skit were a pale imitation of the original crew with Ole well past his prime and Sid Vicious polluting the ranks.

Alright, so what was the deal with this segment and why did it happened? Once again, we're back into the Jim Herd era of WCW. Herd was running the show and was involved in the booking committee, along with a bunch of other names like Ole Anderson and Jim Cornette. But, this whole idea came from the corporate bosses over at Turner. Turner had picked up the rights to Robocop 2 and thought a crossover appearance and promotion would be a strong product placement move before the movie's theatrical release. That's right. They didn't want the actor working an angle. Nope, they wanted the movie character Robocop working an angle. I guess since Vince basically did the same crap with Zeus the year before and No Holds Barred. Movies and wrestling in the same universe...Vince's wet dream right there. According to Jim Cornette, on top of being forced into using this guy, they were also hamstrung by logistical restrictions not long before the PPV. Stuff like nothing physical because the suit sucked, and needing a really gimmicked cage for the angle.



Ok, one other thing, ppv show was even subtitled “the return of robocop.” Return? I must've missed when he won the world title back in 1987 on the Chicago leg of a house show tour. Anybody who has seen the Robocop movies would immediately think this was a very strange crossover. It's presented as very kid friendly and somewhat ernest (wtf at that speech), but the movies were very violent and anything but kid friendly. Robocop 1 is also a really good movie, and you should check it out if you haven't had the opportunity yet. Oh, as for Sting's involvement, Sting was recovering from a knee injury and was still the planned face of the company and the guy to eventually take the belt off Ric Flair.

Bonus clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5KKjPme31U

Deathstroke's reaction

I have called this the worst segment in WCW history, before, and who knows, maybe I will again. Stay tuned folks. Don't get me wrong, big fan of the original Robocop movie. Will always remember Red Foreman from "That 70's Show" most for his role as the bad guy in that one. When I think of aweful things WCW did though, this I'll always remember as the best example, as Exhibit f*cking A FFS.

[M.extra.Bleezy]

i'd buy that for a dollar

[Deathstroke]

My friend's (Rocco) pick
3. KING OF THE ROAD - aka a wrestling miscarriage in the back of a hay-filled flatbed along country roads

Bischoff had taken firm control of WCW by the time of this match. He was taking WCW away from it's southern regional promotion label, and distancing it from the 'rasslin label. Nevertheless, I'll be damned if this segment isn't somehow one of the most WCW segments of all time—particularly, in the sense that WWE loves for people to think about WCW. Take a gander.



Just look at this:
-helicopter shots
-continuity errors galore. The time of day seems to regularly change throughout this “match”
-having a match in the back of moving flat bed truck
-not just any truck, but an 18 wheeler caged in, with the flat bed covered in hay
-police escort for the truck
-stunned commentary from WWF castoffs (I know Tony earned his bones in WCW but come on...I grew up on WCW and would still say this. De facto Bischoff replaced Jim Ross with Tony, and while Tony is underrated, Jim Ross is the play by play GOAT)
-a camera crew riding alongside in cars
-a camera man in the truck
-terrible action called with high stakes over-sold commentary (anybody who watched WCW knows this feel when it came to most main events from about 1995-2001, exceptthis was undercard.)
-the continued destruction of kayfabe in the 90s. Selling a piledriver onto a hay bale!?!?!
-as bobbie says, “what great camera work!”
-editing that conceals the blade jobs of both blackjack and rhodes.
-all the production values and commentary for an under-card bull**** match.
-for what?! ....ummm...yeah...moving right along

What's a King of the Road match? A match you win by getting to the air horn on top of the caged flatback and honking it. Yeah... Though advertised as taking place outside of Uncensored's Tupelo, MS, the match actually was filmed outside in rural Atlanta. The two combatants were the Blacktop Bully and dustin rhodes. Rhodes aka Dustin Runnels, most famous for his later Goldust persona, which actually was the gimmick he took on after being fired over this disaster. Blacktop Bully, aka Barry Darsaw, was a long-term vet, most famous previously as Demolition's Smash, Krusher Krushev, and, the one most dear to my nostalgic heart...the Repo-Man!



Let me point some of the surreal commentary. Heenan, for once (prior to the nwo era) is nearly speechless, and can only remark at one point “this is a first, Schivone, this is a first.” At another juncture, Heenantries to sell us on the 55mph even though even me, this big city dweller, can tell for most of the time this truck is moving at less than 30 mph. He gets in some other stuff, like “If I was driving, I'd crank her up to about 130.” Or that the bale of hay they bash each other with must be 50-70 lbs! The truck is moving between a network of roads somewhere outside atlanta, although Tony sells like it's actually in Tupelo where the PPV is. Heenan is in prime form with sneaking in some zingers though, particularly against the poor southern folk. After showing some mobile homes on camera, he says “You just saw where Elvis lived and his 14 brothers in law.” And in another trailer park area, he comments to Tony that, “there were only 13 cars on blocks”. And Heenan rips the babyface Rhodes, saying things like how the back of the truck must smell like Dusty's living room. He hits this topic a few times, with the best lines probably being: “Dustin Rhodes probably feels at home. There's nothing but hay and manure in the back of the truck, so he should be really happy.” LOL



WCW must've sensed the low potential for these two wrestlers at the time because they both got color (though the editing and camera work makes it hard to tell) and got fired for this. I've dug into this above subject and done a bit more research for you brahs. Apparently Dustin and Bully did the match this was under the direction of road agent Mike Graham. However, all three, the two wrestlers and the road agent were fired for the blood infraction. It's debatable whether everyone was fired just because Bischoff was angry or if he did because now he had cause to fire some people with big contracts. Hogan had caught color, and not the hardway kind, brother, vs. Vader a few weeks before. And Hogan wasn't punished. Plus, Bischoff had established his credentials with WCW brass by cost cutting to help WCW be less in the red year to year.) The firings infuriated Dusty, but ultimately he stayed on with WCW, perhaps since the WCW HOF inducted him a month or so later.

WWE Network link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31673719 (it's the first “match” on the show)

DS Reaction

Ah what a beautiful write up. Dusty was indeed irrate, good point. I recall him mentioning Dustin during his HOF Induction and thinking, "Will he get canned, too?"

[Deathstroke]

Deathstroke's pick
3. Sid Vicious In Flip Flops and Big Van Vader In B-Ball High Tops Crash Sting & Davey Boy's Phat Beach Party



It's 1993, the company is struggling financially, but they manage to shell out some $75K + to promote the Super Powers (Sting & Bulldog) vs. The Masters of The Powerbombs (Sid & Vader) at their upcoming Beach Blast PPV.

The match and event are promoted by an infamous mini-movie where, as describe in this entry title, both teams have an intense altercation at a beach.



A devious and demented little midget no doubt paved the way for all time greats such as the lenedary Dink The Clown and of course the household name of midget wrestlers - Hornswoggle. In fact, he looks more like he could've been the father of Hornswoggle, a lot more than Finley or Vince.

http://www.wwe.com/videos/the-master...beach-26118334

The mini-movie is money wasted. Some volleyball with kids was played, some boat was blown up, but the PPV didn't draw well IIRC and was very forgettable.

Rocco's reaction

Great pick. And while Vince won't admit it, Cheatem clearly paved the way for Hornswoggle. I honestly might've ranked this moment too low on my list. I still go back and forth about what is cheesier between this and the white castle of fear.

[kneeonbelly]

i need one of you guys to confirm that i seen this.

the giant was the new guy in wcw and dungeon of doom

giant is wrestling on monday nitro

The Bigshow / Giant hits a moon sault one time in a match stunning everyone ever.

dirt sheets state he got in trouble because he's supposed to be an unmovable giant not a lucha, so they banned him from doing top rope moves or even drop kicks (he did that alot)

i went back to find the video and there is nothing online and no one knows what im talking about

please say you know what im talking about

[RoccoTanno123]

i need one of you guys to confirm that i seen this.

the giant was the new guy in wcw and dungeon of doom

giant is wrestling on monday night raw

The Bigshow / Giant hits a moon sault one time in a match stunning everyone ever.

dirt sheets state he got in trouble because he's supposed to be an unmovable giant not a lucha, so they banned him from doing top rope moves or even drop kicks (he did that alot)

i went back to find the video and there is nothing online and no one knows what im talking about

please say you know what im talking about

I remember arn and some other vets and agents told him to avoid the high spots. Arn mentioned it in his hof speech. In those early nitros he did stuff like drop kicks and a missed top rope splash vs savage...I think the savage match was in December of 1995? Somewhere around there. Supposedly in training and development he could do a moonsault from the top rope but I don't recall him ever doing one in a match.

He'd still do stuff like drop kicks even later in wcw, especially when he was a face. So around 1997.