PWTorch.com - WCW TITLE FLASHBACK - Hogan, Flair & Sting in same PPV title match 16 yrs. ago, but none wins the belt

Torch Flashbacks
WCW TITLE FLASHBACK - Hogan, Flair & Sting in same PPV title match 16 yrs. ago, but none wins the belt

Apr 11, 2015 - 12:52:07 AM

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This Day In Wrestling History - April 11

Date: April 11, 1999 (16 years ago)

Feature: WCW held their Spring Stampede PPV with a main event of Diamond Dallas Page vs. Ric Flair vs. Sting vs. Hulk Hogan in a four-way match for the WCW World Title. Plus, Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner vs. Booker T.

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WCW Spring Stampede PPV Results
April 11, 1999
Tacoma, Wash.
Report by Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay introduced the program.

(1) Juventud Guerrera pinned Blitzkrieg at 11:11 to earn a WCW Cruiserweight Title shot on Nitro the next night. About as good as a cruiserweight match under 12 minutes can get. (****)

(2) Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Hak at 11:35. You've seen one garbage match, you've seen them all - until you've seen this match. This wasn't a lot different than other "bin full of weapons" matches, but it was a noticeable notch better. A big mitigating factor in praising any match of this type is that the goal of a good pro wrestling match should always be to make things look real and painful without really getting hurt. Hak will feel more pain in the morning than anyone else on the card. (***)

(3) Scotty Riggs pinned Mikey Whipwreck at 7:05 after a flying forearm. The total lack of storyline and crowd heat and the fact that Riggs did nothing special upon his return to the PPV spotlight made this the lowpoint of the undercard. (3/4*)

(4) Konnan pinned Disco Inferno at 9:15. Late in the match Konnan hit a cradle DDT for a nearfall. Disco went for a quick chartbuster, but Konnan blocked it and then gave Disco the Chartbuster and scored the pin. (**1/2)

(5) Rey Mysterio Jr. pinned Kidman at 15:53 to retain the Cruiserweight Title. The match had the feel of a major title match thanks, again, in great part to the crowd showing passion for each wrestler and for the nearfalls and changes in momentum. Rey gave Kidman a top rope huracanrana for the pin. (***1/4)

(6) Dean Malenko & Chris Benoit (w/Arn Anderson) beat Raven & Saturn when Malenko pinned Raven at 14:02. Finish: Arn entered the ring and set a chair on top of Raven's head. Benoit then dove off the top rope headbutting the chair. Malenko draped his arm over the KO'd Raven for the pin. Benoit cut his forehead hardway on the chair at the end and came up bleeding heavily. The match was excellently executed and well formulated. The crowd popped at all the desired times. (****)

(7) Scott Steiner pinned Booker T at 15:50 after using a foreign object to win the U.S. Hvt. Title tournament. Before entering the ring Scott spent a couple of minutes yelling at ring announcer Dave Penzer and "interacting with fans" (i.e. yelling at them, threatening them, and swinging at them). He is thoroughly entertaining to watch in that he seems on the verge of snapping because fans are giving him the reaction that, as a heel, he seeks out. I don't know if there's a more believable act in wrestling than Scott's right now. Finish: When Booker went for a suplex, Scott knocked him out with a foreign object (it looked like it could be a syringe). Scott covered Booker and the ref then counted to three. Thoroughly compelling match from start to finish. (***1/4)

(8) Goldberg pinned Kevin Nash (w/Lex Luger, Elizabeth) at 7:44 after a Jackhammer. When the bell rang, Nash took the mic and said, "In case you didn't know it, Goldberg, Tacoma knows it - Wolfpac is in the house." The crowd chanted along, which sort of took the edge off of Nash being the heel and Goldberg being the babyface. Finish: As Nash set up the Jackknife, Goldberg blocked it by grabbing Nash's private parts and holding on. He stood up and gave Nash a nasty look. Luger entered the ring, but Goldberg gave him an atomic drop. Goldberg then speared Nash, played to the crowd, and then hit the Jackhammer for the clean pin. The opening three minutes were ponderous. Not so much a match but instead a few carefully scripted spots. The crowd popped at the right times. (*)

(9) Dallas Page pinned Ric Flair to capture the WCW Hvt. Title in a four-way match with Sting and Hollywood Hogan at 17:33. No Michael Buffer for the main event. Dave Penzer did the ring intros. Randy Savage and Gorgeous George came out first. Page came to the ring looking determined. He did his usual "self high five" spots for the crowd, but didn't slap hands or egg on cheers otherwise. Hogan's and Sting's ring introductions were no more electrifying. The first few minutes were just a schmoz of random action.

At 3:30 Hogan began no-selling for Flair and gave him a boot and a legdrop. Sting was about to apply the Scorpion on Page, but had to stop that to break up the pin attempt by Hogan. Flair applied the figure-four on Hogan at 4:30 as Sting and Page brawled at ringside. Page broke that up and at 5:45 applied the ringpost figure-four on Hogan. Hogan sold the knee injury. He was helped to the locker room by a trainer and Doug Dillinger. Eric Bischoff stepped out of the entryway, looking concerned for Hogan, but otherwise not giving any clues as to his motivations. Hogan never returned. Sting and Flair did the same spots they've been doing since 1988 as Page watched. For several minutes two wrestlers took turns resting as the other two fought. At 12:30 they did the terrible triple sleeper spot (I believe first done in ECW by Terry Funk, Sabu, and Shane Douglas).

As Flair had Sting in a sleeper, Page came up behind Flair and put the sleeper on him. Flair "nearly passed out" from Page's sleeper, yet never let up his grip on Sting, which is completely contradictory. Before it looked totally ridiculous, Sting dropped down to the mat which jawjacked both Flair and Page in succession. The biggest pop of the match came when Sting fended off both Flair and Page and gave them a flying clothesline. Sting put Flair in the Scorpion, but Page hit Sting from behind to break up the hold. Sting gave Page the Scorpion Death Drop. Flair broke up Sting's pin attempt and gave him a low-blow. He then put Sting in the figure-four. Sting reached the ropes. Savage yanked Flair back to the middle of the ring rather than break up the pin. It appeared Savage was helping Flair, but then Savage went to the top rope and nailed Flair with an elbow. The crowd popped for Savage.

Page stomped away at Sting. Flair poked Page in the eye, but Page responded by ducking a Flair punch and giving him the Diamond Cutter for the three count. The crowd stood during Page's pin attempt, but their reaction at the three count was of shock. They didn't expect that to be the finish and didn't have any idea how to react. When Page held the belt in the air, he didn't get a pop; he would have gotten a huge pop two years ago. The announcers didn't play up Page's win as either an injustice or a celebratory moment, they just pointed out that Page was the only one of the four who had never held the world title before. There was so much ambiguity regarding the different personalities and who was on whose side going into the match that whatever plot twists were supposed to come across in the match had little meaning. The pacing of the match was okay, but never seemed to hit overdrive and had the usual awkwardness of most three-way and four-way matches. (**)