We’re still going through WCW and WWE in 1995. This time we’re looking at WCW Slamboree 1995. ”Hey didn’t you skip Collision in Korea from April?” Yes, we’re in May with WCW even though the company did hold an April PPV. I mean, it wasn’t really going against WWE WrestleMania XI or anything.
How were the matches from WCW Slamboree 1995? We’re about to find out!
Low-Tier
Let’s go ahead and boot the forgettable stuff first. Kevin Sullivan vs. The Man With No Name. Who could it be? He can’t be Brutus Beefcake, Zodiac, The Butcher, The Booty Man, or Brother Booty. Yeah, I know Hogan said Brother Bruti but he was The Booty Man either before or after this, so Brother Booty it is. The Man With No Name couldn’t be that guy!
It was and this match wasn’t…enjoyable. I love a Kevin Sullivan promo and I can rock with his matches. Beefcake’s bouts have never really done it for me. While we’re at it, even though WCW Slamboree was always billed as “A Legends’ Reunion”, we never needed legends to wrestle on the show. Also, if it’s a legends’ reunion, hold the show in cities where these guys were over.
Also, they didn’t have legends matches in 1994. Why bother in 1995? Whatever. Murdoch vs. Wahoo wasn’t worth the watch but at least it was on early in the show.
Meng did double duty this night facing Pillman in a dark match and Road Warrior Hawk on the show. Oddly, both matches were in the 4-minutes and 40 seconds area. I’m certain someone gave Meng five minutes and said: “Make it work.” This match wasn’t worth watching either.
If it had a little more time tacked on these two could’ve put on a brawl. It was placed in a solid spot as the cooldown between back-to-back title matches and the main events.
Mid-Tier
The Great Muta defending the IWGP Heavyweight title against Paul Orndorff wasn’t bad at all. It wasn’t something you’d put up as a marquee match in 1995 though. Seriously, I forgot this match was even on the card until I was looking it up while watching Wahoo-Murdoch.
Muta was in his prime at this time while Mr. Wonderful was still good in the ring. Orndorff would probably be in-ring until the end of the decade if he wasn’t dealing with injuries. He was consistent throughout the 90s and worked well with the younger talent. Would he have been in the upper part of the card? Unlikely.
Sting faced Big Bubba again in a solid bout. It wasn’t the main event match in feeling but it ended the Sting-Bubba feud. Now the Stinger has even more dangerous opponents on the horizon such as Meng.
Exotic-Tier
So, the idea to pit the Nasty Boys against Harlem Heat was a great one because their match on Slamboree 1995 was another good brawl. Some knuckle sandwiches were served in this bout. Honestly, the World Tag Team titles didn’t even need to be on the line!
The WCW Television title usually brought the heat on PPV. That time limit is extended meaning the champion couldn’t hold out for ten minutes. Some of Arn’s best work came from defending the TV or any tag team title. Weird that he wasn’t U.S champion at some point. Old Arn put on defense against the youngster Alex Wright.
For the record, Alex Wright always had an odd time in WCW. He was obviously talented and WCW saw something in him but just didn’t do anything to really push that. Berlyn wasn’t going to work and he was going to stay where he was with Disco and Magnum Tokyo. Oh well.
I could never tire of Harlem Heat against the Nasty Boys. I can’t say the same for Hogan taking on Vader but this one came in tag team flavor. Hogan teamed up with Savage to take on Vader and Flair. It was a good match with more star power behind it that the two matches that were somewhat better.
Jimmy Hart is going to be at ringside with Hogan but I don’t think anyone asked Renegade to be out there. Well, someone did and that person should’ve been dismissed. He didn’t add or take away from the match, so that’s a plus.
WCW Slamboree 1995 Verdict: 5.5/10
At best, WCW Slamboree 1995 was a mid show. The exotic-tier stuff was good-to-great, the mid-tier bouts were fine, but the low-tier stuff? Talk about knocking all the end out of the sails. There were some unnecessary matches that could’ve just aired on TV.
I’m talking about the C-shows like WCW Pro, Main Event, or World Wide. Most of the low-tier stuff wouldn’t even make Saturday Night. Meng and Hawk’s match would be hard to place. It’s a match that could’ve been on Nitro but it was just an hour in 1995 and I don’t know about running it. It’s under five minutes but it wasn’t a good five minutes.
WCW Uncensored 1995 Score: 6/10
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