WCW Superbrawl VII is one of those PPVs that lives up to its bombastic name with a ten-match card. On paper, this event looks like it could be a palette cleanser for nWo Souled Out. Then again, that wouldn’t be hard considering the event’s pacing and presentation.
WCW SuperBrawl VII: The Best
You know what I loved about WCW? The company often put its best foot forward in the first two bouts on the card. Both the WCW Cruiserweight bout between champion Dean Malenko and Syxx as well as the luchadores going at it in a six-man tag were great stuff!
Boom! Over 20-minutes into the event and we get some quality stuff. The opener was particularly good but it’s known that these two guys—Sean Waltman and Dean Malenko—could go whether it was something slower with a build-up or tearing ass in the ring.
It doesn’t end with those two bouts. One of the top-tier best of best from WCW SuperBrawl VII is a young Eddie Guerrero defending his U.S Championship against a young Chris Jericho. It was rock solid at the core and had a very good pace to it. The bout wasn’t cement-slow but it wasn’t rapid fast.
These two did a lot with the time they had for this title defense to warrant rematches down the line. Kevin Sullivan had a tendency to book matches with younger wrestlers that either had a problem with him or would have a problem with him.
His bout “Death Match” (street fight) with Chris Benoit was no different. These two had some chemistry when it came to down and dirty brawls that needed less than ten minutes.
I mean, the story had already been told on TV for weeks and it had reached a violent peak where the only thing left was to let to throw fists and feet. This was a fun, furious, brief bout.
The Tag Team title bout with the defending champs The Outsiders taking on The Giant and Lex Luger was much better than you’d expect. Again, the proper amount of time was given and The Outsiders really heeled it up.
The Rest
Prince Iaukea defending his WCW Television title against Rey Mysterio Jr was an eventful match. This wasn’t a great one but it was pretty damn good. These two got a lot done in less than ten minutes but that’s expected when a company has a Television Championship.
I enjoyed DDP vs. Buff Bagwell. Watching both guys’ development in WCW from 1995 to 1997 has been fun as they grew rapidly in-ring and as personalities in wrestling.
The match just fell a little short to be one of “The Best” parts of the event. Harlem Heat vs. Public Enemy vs. Faces of Fear was a wild, sloppy brawl that is right up my alley 100-percent.
However, I wouldn’t say it was one of the better matches on the show from a technical standpoint. It was definitely one of the most exciting. Brawls can get old very fast and it’s best to not go back-to-back with them but they tend to be hot out of the gate.
If the match is short enough, you walk away with a solid bout at the minimum. Jeff Jarrett vs. Steve McMichael went a little long and while Double J could work with roughly anyone but this was a little much.
It was a decent enough match in their feud give McMichael’s experience. The main event match was your usual WCW big hype main event.
There was some good lead-in for a showdown between the defending World Champion Hollywood Hogan and Roddy Piper but it just didn’t live up to the hype. It did live up to expectations that it would’ve been mid at most.
Into the Vault Verdict: Silver Medal Show (2.8/5)
WCW SuperBrawl VII is a good show with a few mediocre bouts that drag it down a bit. Honestly, this could be a Silver Medal Show as the matches were “The Best” of the show were good or better and some of “The Rest” was pretty solid for what they were.
We’ll have to see if WWE In Your House 13 can top this one.
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