PWTORCH NEWSLETTER #336: COVER STORY
HEADLINE: Hogan pins Flair in Slamboree main event
SUBHEADLINE: Rhodes, Terry Funk, Poffo, Solie, McDaniel, Minton, Inoki inducted into WCW Hall of Fame
Available: 1995 Torch Newsletter Back-Issues
By Wade Keller, Torch editor

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Sunday night in St. Petersburg, Fla., WCW accomplished what they set out to accomplish. Unlike in the past when the level of organization and production values of their pay-per-views lagged far behind the WWF, WCW has caught up to a respectable level in that area.

The wrestling in the ring was also what WCW officials were looking for. It was conservative, held at a steady pace, and saved the real excitement for the main event starring four of the biggest wrestling names of the last five or ten years.

The WCW Hall of Fame Inductions may be the most memorable portion of the evening. Gordon Solie did a classy job of introducing each of the inductees, especially for Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk. (Others inducted were Angelo Poffo, Wahoo McDaniel, John Studd, Antonio Inoki, and Gordon Solie.) When Dusty Rhodes announced that Solie was a "surprise" seventh inductee, Solie feigned shock well - and he was clearly moved by the induction.

The "Legends" match didn't live up to last year's Dory Funk Jr. vs. Nick Bockwinkel bout. Wahoo McDaniel and Dick Murdoch were never the wrestlers that Funk and Bockwinkel were, and that gap didn't close in older age. The match was acceptable, and broadcasting it in black and white on pay-per-view was a nice touch that helped add to the nostalgic feeling. Gordon Solie called the match with Bobby Heenan and reminded longtime fans why his style was so revered.

The one area where WCW has surpassed the WWF is in last-second hype, although much of the advantage comes from the handy timeslot of the Main Event. For years WCW broadcast the Main Event in the hour preceding their pay-per-views and did little extra to encourage pay-per-view buys. WCW now creates an atmosphere of sheer anticipation. They broadcast matches live from the building and just as viewers' adrenaline gets pumping, the wrestling card goes off TBS and transfers to pay-per-view.

As a last second incentive a match was added to the line-up. After Meng beat Brian Pillman to advance in the U.S. Hvt. Title tournament, Meng continued to beat on him. Road Warrior Hawk made the save and an impromptu match was scheduled for the pay-per-view. During the event, Bischoff stressed that the match was not advertised or promoted, as if to try to make up for any criticism of the advertising and promoting that was done promising Flair's match against Hogan in October would be his last.

Along with a few surprises - including Arn Anderson cleanly pinning Alex Wright to retain the TV Title - there were some predictable occurrences. The most notable predictable occurrence was Hogan pinning Flair in the main event. Arn Anderson interfered by jumping off the top rope, but when Hogan ducked, Arn hit Flair. A legdrop and three seconds later, the match was over.

The main event was standard fare for Hogan. Again, it was well-executed for what it was with something happening every second. With Anderson and Renegade at ringside, and four wrestlers in the ring, there was never a dull moment. But the moments weren't all that spectacular either. The match was booked to satisfy those who hoped to see Hogan and Savage beat up Flair and Vader. Those fans were probably satisfied. The non-stop action was entertaining and told a story.

The post-match angle probably fell a tad short of what bookers had envisioned. After Hogan scored the pinfall, the heels needed to regain some heat in order to further the feud (see pg. 72, section B, paragraph 11 of "The Official Guide to Booking Pro Wrestling Feuds," copyright 1938). The source for babyface sympathy was the (almost likable) father-figure of Angelo Poffo (he's no Stu Hart), who ran in to save his son from a post-match attack by the three heels. Flair turned his attention to Poffo, punching his jaw (showing much light in the process) and locking on the figure four. When the babyfaces finally cleared the ring of the heels, Poffo was still on the mat as Savage frantically called for an ambulance (as if potential ligament damage to the knee is a life or death situation). The whole post-match angle came off as contrived and the attack on Poffo, no matter how much Eric Bischoff cried foul, just didn't seem all that dastardly.

Throughout the show, the angles were better explained than usual since the much improved Bischoff took Tony Schiavone's place in the play-by-play chair, showing once again that those who have a stake in whether angles get over tend to work harder to explain them. Bischoff did and it helped the show.

***

Slamboree 1995 PPV Report
May 21, 1995
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Est. Live Attendance: 8,500 full house

Eric Bischoff, Gene Okerlund, and Bobby Heenan introduced the program. The introductions for the first match then began.

(1) The Nasty Boys defeated Harlem Heat (mgd. by Sister Sherri) to capture the WCW Tag Team Titles when Brian Nobbs pinned Booker T at 10:45. The match was all-action and told a solid story. Booker T took good bumps and executed some strong karate kicks. (**1/4)

Bischoff interviewed Steven Regal & Robert Eaton. Regal asked for a title shot against The Nastys. Okerlund interviewed Sullivan. Sullivan acted even more demented than usual.

(2) Kevin Sullivan pinned The Man With No (fill in the blank) formerly known as "The Butcher" at 5:12. (3/4*)

Okerlund interviewed Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Jimmy Hart.

(3) Wahoo McDaniel pinned Dick Murdoch at 6:27. It was slow-paced methodical action. Both tried to put on a decent match and they succeeded. The fans were polite. In the end, Murdoch gave McDaniel the top rope head drive to the mat for a near fall, but McDaniel came back with a chop and a sudden pinfall. (NR)

Okerlund interviewed Big Bubba, who is back to doing very good interviews. Okerlund said that the lights will flash on and off in the building before the "lights out match."

(4) Great Muta pinned Paul Orndorff to retain the IWGP Hvt. Title at 14:06. Muta won clean with a moonsault. (3/4*)

Okerlund interviewed Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Vader.

(5) Arn Anderson pinned Alex Wright at 11:35 to retain the WCW TV Title. The final minutes were exciting and a heel scoring a clean finish (especially Arn Anderson, who rarely gets a clean win over a pushed babyface) saved the match from DUDville. (*1/2)

(6) Hawk fought Meng to a double countout at 4:43. (*)

Gordon Solie introduced the six inductees into the "WCW Hall of Fame" in the following order: Wahoo McDaniel (Solie talked of his NFL background and title history in the NWA); Terry Funk (Solie talked about his NWA title history, his acting career, and his current activity in Japan); Angelo Poffo (Sources say Solie was upset that Poffo was being inducted for purely political reasons and thought his induction cheapened the Hall of Fame; his speech for Poffo was short); Antonio Inoki (Solie talked about him as an honorable, reputable senator from Japan); Big John Studd/Minton (Minton's son read a short statement complementing his father; Solie's speech made Studd seem like a great babyface, breaking kayfabe—and appropriately so); and Dusty Rhodes (Solie was most at home in talking up Rhodes's accolades). Both Dusty and Funk gave great acceptance speeches, thanking their respective wives and children. Dusty got a big pop from the fans who helped make him a star. Solie was then "surprised" by also being inducted. Solie teared up and said it was a dream come true and he never thought it would happen.

(7) Sting defeated Big Bubba via submission in a "lights out match" at 9:26. Sting carried a long table over his head on his way to the ring and used it throughout the match. This was a strong brawl from start to finish. Bubba scored a near fall at 7:32 after Sting missed a splash into the table and Bubba one–arm slammed him. Sting scored a near fall after a pretty elevated top rope splash. He then locked on the scorpion for the clean win. Sting didn't milk the crowd nearly enough after what should have been an exhilarating victory for him and the fans. (**3/4)

(8) Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage (w/Renegade) defeated Ric Flair & Vader (w/Anderson) when Hogan pinned Flair at 18:52. Hogan began against Vader. Hogan and Savage took early offense to Vader, but at 2:38, Vader took both Savage and Hogan to the mat. Flair rammed Savage into the railing. They exchanged chops and punches in the ring. At 4:30 Flair flipped over the turnbuckle, then ran face-first into Hogan's extended boot, and then took his vintage staggering face-first bump to the floor. Hogan tagged in and didn't sell Flair's chops. Hogan put the figure-four on Flair at 7:48. Anderson tried to interfere, but Hogan managed to cradle Arn as he still had Flair figure-four'ed. Jimmy Hart shouted to Hogan & Savage as Paul White (The Giant/Big Show) showed up in the rampway opening decked out like Diesel. Heenan implied he thought it was actually Diesel. Later, Vader hit a perfect moonsault on Savage, but Savage kicked out. At 16:42 Savage hot-tagged Hogan, who slammed Vader. Arn tripped Hogan. Vader splashed him and scored a two count. A minute later, Flair was holding Arn as Arn came off the top rope, but Hogan moved and Arn hit Flair. A legdrop later Hogan scored the pinfall. (***3/4)

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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