It’s July 1998 and it’s time for a showdown between WCW Bash at the Beach 1998 and WWE Fully Loaded: In Your House. Let’s dive into Bash at the Beach 1998 featuring a main event between the team of Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman against Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone.
The Best
We’ve got a nice five-piece of matches that are worth their time and more. Raven vs. Saturn? I’m interested. Oh, it’s a Raven’s Rules match? Give it, right now! This match was right up my alley and a great start to the show. It could’ve used a little more time but like our next bout, they made full use of those ten minutes.
In more action from The Flock, Kidman took on Juventud Guerrera in a fast-paced barn-burner that ran just under ten minutes. I won’t say it was an incredible bout but it was definitely a thrill ride of a match throughout.
Eddie Guerrero taking on nephew Chavito is the closest match to Kidman vs. Juvi. Actually, it’s better paced, has an actual story going into it, and has some stakes. This one had the sizzle and the steak to it.
The elder Guerrero was incredible even at this stage of his career but I was pulling for Chavo Guerrero Jr to defeat the future Latino Heat. You could easily say that Eddie did his job as a heel. The match had something that the above lacked in a clearly defined heel and face as opposed to just being two talented athletes going at it
Rey Mysterio challenged Chris Jericho for the Cruiserweight title in a no disqualification match. We have stakes, a stipulation, and two talented cruisers going at it. The only thing missing was the extra time this match should’ve been given.
It’s a title match on pay-per-view but was given a title match opening a one-hour Nitro time.
The last worthwhile match on Bash at the Beach 1998 saw Booker T hold on to the United States title against Bret Hart. While only eight and a half minutes, these two delivered an enjoyable, competitive match. Its two issues are the skimpy time given and the finish.
If these two had faced some years earlier, it had between ten and fifteen minutes, and Booker T was in his 1997-2001 form, this would’ve been an undisputed banger even with a DQ finish.
The Rest
You’ll see déjà vu in August’s pay-per-view from WCW with Stevie Ray beating Chavo Guerrero Jr. It was a minute-and-a-half meaning there’s not much to discuss here. If you sneeze, you’ll miss it.
In another brief bout, Konnan defeats Disco Inferno. I would’ve liked this one to go a bit longer because I reckon, they could’ve delivered a decent, middle-of-the-road bout. What we ultimately have here is similar to the above match: something that could’ve been on Saturday Night or in the dark matches.
One of the surprisingly solid matches on this card saw The Giant crush Kevin Greene—whom I always felt had the energy and enthusiasm to improve if he’d transitioned to wrestling full time.
This match didn’t have razzle-dazzle or anything impressive but the pace was pretty good, it didn’t run too long, and The Giant worked well with Greene. More experience on both guys’ part and Greene not being a special attraction would’ve made this even better.
Goldberg is World Champion and defends his belt against Curt Hennig. As expected, Hennig is defeated but this had a little more going on than your usual Goldberg TV bout. Note that I said “a little more” and not “a lot more” as this one ended just shy of four minutes.
The other surprisingly decent match was the celeb spectacle with DDP teaming up with Karl Malone against the nWo’s Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman. What made it decent was that Malone actually wasn’t total ass here. It was as if he put in an effort to make sure the fans got their money’s worth out of him.
He wasn’t exactly DDP-ing it up and trying to deliver a banger against all odds but he was definitely trying when in the ring. Main event heel Hogan was main heel Hogan and Rodman just…he was a natural at his heel antics but everything else was a less than meh.
To cap things off, there’s no reason this match should’ve been anywhere close to 24 minutes in length. This wasn’t the match to end all matches or something. If it was ten or fifteen minutes max this probably could’ve been good.
Ten minutes. Let’s just cap it at ten.
WCW Bash at the Beach 1998 Verdict: Bronze Medal (2.27/5)
Half of the show was better than mid while the rest was mid or worse. While many of the matches weren’t these guys’ best work, compared to the other half of the PPV and how it keeps the PPV from being bad at parts, the matches in “The Best” at least kept this show in Bronze Medal territory.
Mind you, most shows outside of the Heroes of Wrestling hover above the dreaded Aluminum Foil Medal. The match of the show goes to Kidman vs. Juvi while the Guerreros Hair vs. Hair match gets runner-up.
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