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WCW Superbrawl Revenge Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“A Path Of Destruction… A Night Of Vengeance” was the tagline attached to the next to last Pay-Per-View by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001 before the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) bought them out, which ended what was widely known as the “Monday Night Wars.”
While 2000’s WCW is synonymous with storyline absurdity and embarrassment, 2001 showed graces of promise with the faint smell of overbooking evident.
Gone now were Goldberg and Hulk Hogan, but stars like Lex Luger, Ric Flair and Kevin Nash were still prominent as ever.
Flair plays the role of “evil boss” quite well actually. What also helps this show move along is the breakthrough stars like Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) and the evolution of WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner into “Big Poppa Pump,” almost unrecognizable from his look just a few years prior.
Picture Chad Gable becoming Braun Strowman and that was Steiner in a nutshell.
This poster actually plays into Steiner’s “I rushed the legends out” heel character as he boasted victories over Sting, Booker T, Goldberg and Sid Vicious.
The last edition of Superbrawl won’t have anything you’ll find if you’re on the search for WCW’s mark on the industry, but it was a nice tease of what could’ve been had they stuck around a bit longer.
The RSN Wrestling Podcast – TNA
*An RSN Wrestling Podcast Exclusive*
Check out the latest episode of The RSN Wrestling Podcast, as PWO’s own Nick, “The Mastermind” Sal and “Big Guy” Rich take the time out to discuss all things TNA, from the early Asylum days to the many faction warfares in its heyday to that time Impact competed against WWE Raw on Mondays in 2010.
The Knockouts, Dixie Carter, The Miracle, Ethan Carter III, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, you name it, it’s spoken of!
Watch Below:
Notes In Observance – PWS Wrestling 2/8/15: Dan Maff The Firefighter
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/8/15)
Dan Maff The Firefighter
– The highlight video for last week picked up where we left off, as Habib From The Car Wash was unceremoniously deported at the hands of Matt Macintosh – an odd and borderline racist storyline quite frankly, but it is allowing Macintosh to show off his comedic heel skills – and also showed something we didn’t see last week as Kevin Nash of all people came to the ring and chokeslammed Macintosh. There was no followup of this at all. Wouldn’t Macintosh want to get revenge on that? Random.
– A big mission of this episode for PWS seemed to be getting Dan Maff over as a tough, resilient individual who happens to save lives. Showcasing his New Jersey firefighting career to the audience was a good start. Introducing the guy whose life Maff saved to the audience? Yeah, that’ll definitely do it. This also set up Maff’s historic “comeback” as it was first revealed that Maff wasn’t cleared to compete because of three broken ribs he sustained in the fire.
– The 18-man Battle Royale was a good match once it got down to the final four of Eddie Kingston, Johnny Howl, Toto Loco and Starman, but even then, the match seemed to have no reason to be happening. What were they competing for? The “glitch” spot by Starman was cool and fit his character, but seemed like something already seen in Chikara with the Super Smash Bros. Starman winning was predictable as he had to be the favorite besides Kingston, as the other two guys are barely featured on the show.
– Sure, Maff screaming that he was going to compete with three broken ribs anyway because he wanted the PWS World Heavyweight Championship made him look like a hero and tough, but his screaming of “That’s what I do!” and his rant towards the other competitors leaned a little too close to a usual Mark Henry promo.
– The Jackson Family segment put over Fallah Bahh before the Four Corners Elimination match as Jackson compared Bahh’s opponents to dinners. Usual stuff, but good. For that reason, we knew Colt Cabana can cut a great promo. Why not one here? There was nothing from Swashbuckler either, but given his drunk gimmick, a promo wasn’t needed, but a hype video would’ve sufficed.
– The four corners elimination match with Cabana, Bahh (w/”Shining” Edward Jackson), Drunken Swashbuckler and Maff already told a story with four contrasting personalities and Maff’s injury being an intriguing added angle. The constant doubt by the announce team of Maff was an early giveaway of his victory. Also, for storyline logic, why would Bahh get a chance for another Title shot when he already has one waiting? The finish though, was great and as called before – Maff won finally putting down Bahh.
– The well-awaited Kevin Matthews-Brian Myers match will happen next week. You get a feeling this won’t be “the end.”
– The PWS World Heavyweight Champion Mario Bokara-Bonesaw match hype video wasn’t new, but maybe necessary to show for new viewers of the show. The fact that it also preceded the actual match made sense to show it again.
– The PWS World Heavyweight Championship match between Bokara and Bonesaw was a well-wrestled technical bout where you didn’t know just how it would end – until Bonesaw got the pinfall using the ropes. Bahh came out and a cash-in was teased. We know this “controversy” all happened in one moment, but perhaps splitting it up between weeks is a good “hook” for the viewer.
– The “wrap up” segment that featured The Big Deal Craig Steele, Chris Payne, Phillip Simon II w/Jesse, Delroy, Habib From The Carwash, Matt Macintosh and Dan Maff was good because it told stories and advanced feuds. Payne and Steele appeared to be in a new feud over (gasp) Tessa Blanchard, Macintosh had Habib in his car with duct-tape going to “take him back home” and cut his hair on the side of the road, plus Delroy was outwitted by a vending machine and Maff promised to become new PWS Champion. Simple as that.
Quick Results
– 18-Man Battle Royale – Starman Wins By Eliminating Johnny Howl
– PWS World Heavyweight Championship Title Shot – Four Corners Elimination Match – Dan Maff (Winner) def. Fallah Bahh (Eliminated by Maff), Colt Cabana (Eliminated by Bahh), and Drunken Swashbuckler (Eliminated by Cabana)
– PWS World Heavyweight Championship – Bonesaw def. Mario Bokara (Champion) To Become New Champion