Post by anthonymm13 on Jul 2, 2022 21:48:45 GMT 1
BATTLEBOWL '96 (Nov. 24, 1996)
Tonight 40 WCW and nWo superstars will compete in the Lethal Lottery and Battlebowl. The 40 men will be split into 20 tag teams by random draw, who will then compete in 10 tag team matches. The members of the winning teams will compete in a 20-man battle royal with the winner getting a shot at Hollywood Hogan’s world title.
Greg Valentine and Rick Steiner defeated Scott Steiner and Scotty Riggs when R. Steiner pinned S. Steiner after a power bomb in 10:30.
Rating: ** 1/2
The night’s first match split up the Steiner Brothers. They avoided being in the ring against each other as long as they could but they couldn’t escape each other forever. Not only did they fight each other, Rick pinned Scott to advance his team on. Scott did hug his apologetic brother after the match.
Arn Anderson and Lex Luger defeated The Barbarian and Johnny B. Badd when Luger made Badd submit to the Torture Rack in 8:02.
Rating: **
There was a lot of friction between Luger and Anderson but that didn’t stop them from actually working well. They simply demanded more out of each other. Luger put Badd in the Torture Rack while Arn DDTed the Barbarian on the floor to keep him from breaking it up.
The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) defeated Juventud Guerrera and Bobby Eaton when Nash pinned J. Guerrera with the Jackknife Power Bomb in 5:42.
Rating: ** 3/4
Before the next match was announced, the World Tag Champions The Outsiders marched themselves to the broadcast area. Nash announced that no lottery is breaking up The Outsiders. nWo rules say they’re going to the ring as a team and WCW can send whoever they want to face them.
That turned out to be Juventud and Bobby Eaton who were no match for the champs.
Disco Inferno and Booker T defeated Chris Candido and Eddie Guerrero when Booker pinned E. Guerrero after a small package in 8:57.
Rating: *** ½
While some teams like Anderson and Luger got past their differences, the same couldn’t be said for Candido and Guerrero. The two argued non-stop until Candido finally smacked Guerrero in the back with a steel chair. Booker looked a little unsure of what to do but then just rolled him up for an easy pin.
Ultimo Dragon and Mr. J.L. defeated Dean Malenko and Rey Misterio Jr. when U. Dragon pinned D. Malenko after a jawbreaker in 9:01.
Rating: *** ¾
Out of all the tag matches, this was probably the best, as would be expected from the top four Cruiserweights in the world all in the ring together.
Unlike some other rivals teaming together, Malenko and Misterio put their differences aside for the greater good. At least until they lost the match, then Malenko turned on Rey with a blindside attack.
Dragon and JL kept Malenko from getting too much of an attack.
Konnan and Carl Ouellet defeated Big Van Vader and Ric Flair when Konnan pinned R. Flair after a Victory Roll in 10:14.
Rating: ** ¾
Speaking of teams not being able to get along, that was Flair and Vader. Flair tried telling Vader to just let him handle things. And there was no way Vader was gonna do that. The two actually came to blows at one point leading to Flair lowblowing Vader and knocking him out of the ring. But as Flair admired his handiwork, Konnan rolled him up for a pin.
Marcus Bagwell and Psicosis defeated David Taylor and Glacier when Bagwell pinned D. Taylor with the Blockbuster in 7:43.
Rating: ** 1/4
A second Horsemen did advance to Battlebowl. Bagwell led his team to win in what was a relatively calm match compared to some of the others. It was clean and Bagwell and Psicosis came out on top.
Stone Cold Steve Austin and nWo Sting defeated The Boss and M. Wallstreet when S. Austin pinned Wallstreet with the Stone Cold Stunner in 7:02.
Rating: **
(Stevie Ray no-showed)
Stevie Ray was supposed to be Stone Cold Steve Austin’s partner, but Stevie was laid out in the back. nWo Sting of all people emerged to be Austin’s new partner, but Austin ran down and attacked him on the ramp.
He went back and tried to do the match 2-on-1 and it worked for a bit, but soon the tide turned. “Sting” even came back down and made it a 3 on 1, and he was actually tagging in and out with Boss and Wallstreet which confused everybody.
But Austin wouldn’t be held back, he mounted a rally, knocked Sting and Boss out of the ring then stunned Wallstreet for the pin.
Honky Tonk Man and Meng defeated Billy Kidman and Davey Boy Smith when Meng pinned Kidman after a thrust kick to the head in 8:12.
Rating: ** ¼
Davey Boy was not a fan of getting Billy Kidman as his partner. He tried telling the rookie to sit back and let him do all the work. But when Davey Boy started to struggle, Kidman blind tagged himself in, and nearly immediately got kicked in the head by Meng and pinned.
Davey was not happy. He brutally attacked Kidman after the match, first just knocking him around but then going to bring in a steel chair and repeatedly smacking him with it. He took Kidman out to the floor, pulled back the protective mat and hit multiple running powerslams on the part.
Security finally got Davey to leave, but the damage was done and Kidman needed to be taken out on a stretcher.
Diamond Dallas Page and Syxx defeated Randy Savage and Barry Windham when Page pinned B. Windham with the Diamond Cutter in 11:00.
Rating: ** 3/4
The final tag match was an nWo vs. WCW brawl. Savage and Windham, never really friends, were united in their hatred of the nWo. But the nWo team had Rick Rude with them who snuck a clean shot on Windham with a steel briefcase that led to a Diamond Cutter.
Battlebowl
Strictly by the numbers, it was 15 WCW vs. 5 nWo, and at the start, the WCW members rushed the nWo to try to get them out first. The nWo tried to fight them off but perhaps knowing they were outnumbered, all five slid out under the ropes, keeping them in the match.
As a standoff ensued, the two Horsemen in Battlebowl, Anderson and Bagwell broke the ice by coming up behind Booker T and dumping him to the floor. It seemed at that moment everyone forgot the nWo vs. WCW dynamic and the all-out fight commenced.
The two Horsemen tried to work together, but their old rival and former stablemate Steve Austin managed to get each one out.
Two tough guys Meng and Carl Ouellet dueled for a good portion of the match before they eliminated each other, Meng clothesline Ouellet against the ropes but the momentum took them both out. They continued their fight on the floor and all the way to the back.
Kevin Nash and Scott Hall worked together as expected as they combined to eliminate Konnan. Disco Inferno tried to go at them but he got tosses as well.
All five nWo members were in the final eight with Austin, Lex Luger and Rick Steiner. Luger got some revenge on “Sting” getting him in the rack and then dumping him over the top rope. Steiner caught Syxx trying for a flying kick and dumped him out. But DDP came from behind almost immediately after to eliminate Steiner.
Down to a 3 on 2, Austin and DDP faced off while the Outsiders worked on Luger. Austin blocked a Diamond Cutter, caught DDP with a stunner and clotheslined him over the top rope. Upset at his ouster, DDP reached back over the ropes, grabbed Austin and pulled him out and eliminated him from the outside.
Luger was still left on the wrong side of a 2 on 1 against the Outsiders and it looked like the end was near. Nash set Luger up to apparently powerbomb him to the floor, but Luger slipped out down his back and clotheslined Nash to the floor. Hall charged, but Luger ducked and backdropped Hall over the top rope. Nash actually held his partner on the apron, but Luger ran with a running forearm that sent Hall flying into Nash and to the floor, giving Lex Luger the win.
20-Person Battle Royal:
Lex Luger won a 20-person Battle Royal:
x M. Bagwell and A. Anderson threw out Booker T
X S. Austin threw out Honky
X Meng threw out Psicosis
X S. Austin threw out M. Bagwell
X K. Nash threw out JL
X Ouellet threw out Dragon
x R. Steiner threw out G. Valentine
X S. Austin threw out A. Anderson
X Meng threw out Ouellet
X Ouellet threw out Meng
x K. Nash and S. Hall threw out Konnan
X K. Nash and S. Hall threw out Disco
x Luger threw out nWo Sting
x R. Steiner threw out Syxx
X DDP threw out R. Steiner
X S. Austin threw out DDP
X DDP threw out S. Austin
x Luger threw out K. Nash
x Luger threw out S. Hall
Rating: ** 1/2
Card rating: ** 1/2
