I dig the Lethal Lottery and Battlebowl concepts in WCW. It would’ve been great if it was continued and was consistent but the last one came at WCW Slamboree 1996.
The kicker about the 1996 Battlebowl is that the Lethal Lottery part wasn’t as strong or surprising as previous years. Let’s get into this show and see what hit and what missed.
Low-Tier
Just save the drudgery of going through the Lethal Lottery tournament, the whole thing is very low-tier. It’s a mix of matches that just weren’t good and bouts that were solid but unexciting.
One of the Lethal Lottery matches that looked intriguing on paper was the opener of Animal and Booker T vs. Hawk and Luger—which was solid.
Public Enemy taking on Benoit and Sullivan could’ve been a bit of a banger with four or five more minutes. Benoit was known mostly for his mat skill but the dude could brawl.
As for the rest of the Lethal Lottery portions of the show—split up by the Cruiserweight title bout—most of it was a boring tournament.
Mid-Tier
Also interesting on paper was Flair and Savage against Arn and Eddie but that was WCW Saturday Night in 1998-brief.
That said, this was a really good step in the Flair vs. Savage feud and Eddie got to be a star in this match. Flair had an alliance with Arn and beef with Savage. Eddie was just there to win.
I would’ve loved if it got more time like most others who have seen this show but it worked on a level outside of just pushing the show towards the Battlebowl.
Dean Malenko defending the Cruiserweight Title against Armstrong was good if you love technical wrestling but mainly served as a way to chop the show up from Lethal Lottery action.
Exotic-Tier
The U.S Title match between champion Konnan and Jushin Liger had a length to it that some of the Lethal Lottery matches could’ve used.
It was a solid match that shines brighter when compared to the rest of the show.
The Battlebowl match was one of those battle royals where everyone is most brawling and things don’t pick up until there are fewer people in the ring.
So, it’s like 95-percent of battle royals booked. I mean in wrestling, you need room to groove so eliminations have to be timely or a show will have a long, dragging match.
Now, the main reason this match is at this tier is that it concluded the DDP “trashy to classy” storyline. He wins, becomes a star, and the money is rolling in again.
It also leads into DDP vs. Eddie and the strange case of Page never getting his World Title shot that winning Battlebowl grants the winner.
The main event was brief but not bad at all. It was rock solid and The Giant was actually menacing against Sting. It wasn’t a match that would wow you but it was solid.
One thing about Big Show in WWE was that he had moments where good wrestling or out-wrestling him could beat him when he should’ve always been a real challenge.
In his World Title defense against Sting, he was not only a real challenge but also came off as someone who Scorpion Deathlocks and Stinger Splashes might not takedown.
The Giant was a foe that Sting would need the release German Suplex for.
WCW Slamboree 1996 Verdict: Low-Tier (4/10)
There were a thimbleful of good matches and a few significant matches that actually tied into something else. The combo of Battlebowl and Lethal Lottery is a dangerous one.
It can give fans interesting tag team matches on paper but you’re going to end up somewhat disappointed because these guys have to save energy for Battlebowl.
As a result, you end up with a card that suffers from bad to mediocre bouts. WCW Slamboree 1996 didn’t have enough non-tournament matches to make it at least a decent show.
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