Post by anthonymm13 on Feb 1, 2022 0:12:20 GMT 1
BASH AT THE BEACH (July 7, 1996)
Eddie Guerrero, Konnan and Chavo Guerrero Jr. defeated Fit Finlay, David Taylor and Lord Steven Regal when Konnan defeated Finlay when Finlay passed out in the Tequila Sunrise in 16:33.
Rating: *** ¼
The two sides, especially Konnan and Regal, have been going at it for months trying to prove who’s wrestling was better, Mexico or Europe. That issue may have been settled after a win for Konnan’s group tonight.
While Konnan got the decisive submission, Eddie Guerrero put on a show, as no one on the European side seemed to be able to handle his skill and athleticism.
There was some dissension with Regal’s group after the match as Regal and Taylor weren’t happy that Finlay gave the match up.
Backstage interview with Randy Savage and Lex Luger
Gene Okerlund was interviewing Team WCW for tonight’s Hostile Takeover match. They said Hogan was undergoing medical evaluation to get cleared to wrestle tonight after being attacked on Nitro.
Savage and Luger said they were waiting to hear word on whether or not Hogan will join them in the match, but they addressed Hogan’s claims it was Sting that attacked him.
Luger was especially upset, calling out the man whom he called his best friend for turning his back on WCW. Luger said we needed Sting to live up to being the Franchise of WCW, instead he’s been invisible and is now being pointed to as working against the company he helped build from the ground up.
He said whether it’s true or not, Sting’s got some explaining to do.
Johnny B. Badd pinned Ricky Steamboat with the Tutti Frutti in 15:27.
Rating: *** 3/4
Former partners collided. Steamboat has been unhappy with Badd’s recent change in attitude, while Badd doesn’t seem to care.
Steamboat was on the offensive early, catching Badd off guard and having him retreating. But Badd has developed a fondness for cheap shots lately, and that turned the match around.
Steamboat was able to regroup and went for a splash from the top rope. But Badd moved out of the way and Steamboat crashed to the mat. When he got up, Badd was able to put him away.
The Boss pinned Animal with the Boss Slam in 11:11.
Rating: ** 3/4
The Boss has been having his way lately with smaller wrestlers. Animal offered him a chance to prove what he can do with a man his own size.
The match was hard hitting and each exchanging power moves, but Boss was able to hit the final one, getting the win.
Four Corners Match:
Mr. J.L. defeated Dean Malenko, Rey Misterio Jr. and Ultimo Dragon when J.L. pinned D. Malenko with the Moonsault in 19:01.
Rating: ****
(Mr. J.L. retained the WCW WORLD CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE.)
JL drew quite a difficult task in his first title defense, facing former champ Malenko, top contender Ultimo Dragon and newcomer Rey Misterio Jr. who’ve been seeing vignettes announcing his arrival.
Malenko and Dragon have had issues with each other and seemed to devote most of their attention to their rival. However, that thinking allowed the others to hit big moves on them when they weren’t expecting it.
The match as a whole was fantastic. Fast paced and featuring a lot of innovative offensive moves. Dragon had Malenko in his Dragon Sleeper trying to close the match, but Mysterio came over and hit Dragon with a hurracanrana that sent him rolling to the floor. But JL quickly hit Mysterio with a dropkick that sent him outside as well. JL then jumped to the top rope and came off with a moonsault that caught Malenko and got the win.
Chris Candido pinned Diamond Dallas Page with the Blonde Bombshell in 11:03.
Rating: **
(Chris Candido retained the WCW TELEVISION TITLE.)
DDP, in his first match back after suffering a knee injury, was eager to gain revenge on his former protege that attacked him a few weeks ago. DDP was a bit rusty at first, but quickly got back in the flow of things during the match.
Candido was running scared early before turning the match around by targeting DDP’s knee. That kept him in control for a while, but Page again turned the match around, only to have Candido hit him low and toss him out of the ring.
While Candido was getting admonished by the ref, Page was recovering outside when a woman in the front row pulled some hairspray out of her purse and sprayed it in Page’s eyes.
A blinded DDP stumbled back in the ring and Candido took advantage, putting him away to retain his title. After, he walked over to the woman who sprayed Page who was about to get escorted out by security. He pulled her over the guardrail, gave her a kiss and walked to the back with her.
Ric Flair made Jeff Jarrett submit to the Figure Four Leg Lock in 11:23.
Rating: *** 1/2
Jeff Jarrett tore his right calf muscle. He will be out for approximately 6 months.
After months of going after the Horsemen, Jarrett got the chance to go right after the leader. He took at months of frustration out on Flair, but the dirtiest player in the game has plenty of tricks up his sleeve.
Flair went with cheap shots every chance he could, but somehow Jarrett shook them off and continued to go at Flair.
However, Jarrett took a rough fall, trying to dive off the apron attempting a flying clothesline on Flair who was walking on the floor. After that, Flair took over, and ended up putting him away with the Figure Four.
The Unforgiven (Barry Windham and Justin Bradshaw) defeated The Faces of Fear (Meng and The Barbarian) when Bradshaw pinned Barbarian with the Lariat in 13:59.
Rating: ** 3/4
(The Unforgiven won the WCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES.)
The match began as a brutal fight as the champions got the jump on the challengers. The Faces of Fear attacked the Unforgiven during their ring entrance and the brawl commenced.
Once the match settled down in the ring, the Unforgiven gained control, working mostly on The Barbarian. But when the hot tag was made to Meng, Meng cleaned house. From that point on, the match became more of a fight at which the champs excelled.
However, all it took was one moment where Bradshaw hit Barbarian with a lariat to crown new champions.
Triangle Match:
Big Van Vader defeated Davey Boy Smith and Stone Cold Steve Austin when Vader pinned D.B. Smith with the Vader Bomb in 19:04.
Rating: *** 1/2
(Big Van Vader retained the WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE.)
When the bell rang to officially start the match, Smith ducked out, seemingly feeding Austin to Vader. He didn’t quite expect Austin to get the better of the monstrous world champ. Austin then waived Davey Boy into the match and was getting the best of him as well until Vader came back around and joined Davey in a 2-on-1 against Austin.
The match went back and forth with each taking turns in control. There were points where various alliances formed, even at one point Austin and Davey Boy teaming up to go after Vader.
Late, Austin hit Vader with a stunner, but walked right into an clothesline from Davey that knocked him outside. Austin dragged Davey Boy to the floor and the two fought, but Davey threw Austin into the ring post taking him momentarily out. Davey went back into the ring, but Vader was recovered and waiting. He caught Davey, hit a Vader Bomb and put him away.
As Vader raised his title victoriously, Austin sat outside seething looking on.
Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger and Randy Savage and Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and ?? battled to a no contest.
Rating: ***
Luger and Savage came to the ring together without Hogan who announcers said was still trying to get doctors to clear him to compete in the match. In turn, Hall and Nash came down without their third man, although Rick Rude was with them as their manager.
They said they didn’t want any excuses, so their third guy will stay in the back unless he needs to be out here.
The match’s intensity was kicked up a bit with the mystery surrounding it and the stated intentions of the Outsiders. Savage and Luger started off hot early, but the Outsiders eventually swung the match, mostly targeting Luger. Luger powered through and eventually made the hot tag to Savage. Savage came in a house of fire, running through the Outsiders before Scott Hall caught him with a low blow, leaving for the moment all four men down.
At that time, Hulk Hogan hobbled his way out from the back to a big ovation from the crowd. Hogan jumped into WCW’s corner, got the crowed riled up as he implored Savage to come over to tag him in.
But he wasn’t the only one coming out from the back. For the first time in months, Sting had arrived!! Sting got to the ring, pulled Hogan down from the apron and started unloading on the Hulkster to the shock of everybody.
This drew Luger who jumped in between Sting and Hogan, asking him what he was doing. Sting tried to tell him that Hogan wasn’t who he thinks he is. He made up his attack last week and claimed to be no where near the building. Officials raced down to get in between what was a heated situation between Sting and Luger as they walked about halfway back up the aisle.
Meanwhile, Hogan shook off Sting’s punches and got back to the apron as Savage crawled over and tagged him in. But instead of going after the Outsiders, Hogan picked up Savage, whipped him into the ropes and hit a big boot to the face, and followed it with a big leg drop!!
Realizing what was happening in the ring, Luger raced back only to have Hall and Nash converge on him as Hogan continued to drop leg drops on Savage. By this time, Sting was at the top of the ramp, looking on with disgust before walking alone to the back.
In the ring, Hogan stood with Hall, Nash and Rude as the crowd began throwing garbage in the ring. Gene Okerlund tried to come in to get a word with Hogan. Hogan said this group is the future of wrestling, you can call it, the New World Order of professional wrestling. They are going to take over the whole wrestling world. He said he took Billionaire Ted’s money but accused WCW on turning their back on him. He accused WCW of using him without giving Hogan the respect he deserved in return. The fans are here because of him, and if that’s how he’s going to be treated, the fans can “Stick it!”
Card rating: ***
