We’re back with “Into the Vault 2000” and it’s time for WCW Spring Stampede 2000. While this wasn’t a good streak of shows for WCW, it did draw over 12,500 fans for the last Spring Stampede event. This one was held in Chicago and featured tournament action for the rebooted championships.
The Undercard (Thumbs Down)
Looking at my notes for this show and the undercard was something of a bad show sandwich. It’s topped with a thick, bleh match bun, some decent enough matches in the middle, and it’s seated on some bleh lead-ins in the main event.
The following matches just got a thumbs down: the opener with Ric Flair and The Total Package defeating the Harris Brothers and the Mamalukes to advance in the Tag Team title tournament, Mancow beating Jimmy Hart, Scott Steiner rolling through the Wall in the U.S title quarterfinals, Mike Awesome spanking Ernest Miller in the U.S title quarterfinals, and Shane Douglas and Buff Bagwell advancing in the Tag Team title tournament over Harlem Heat 2000.
These all just seemed like matches that had to be booked because TV time was given to the tournament. Sure, there was plenty of time on television for these matches that probably would’ve done better on TV than PPV but here they are.
Even with these five matches, a few could’ve had better results. I would’ve been for the Mamalukes advancing in the Tag Team title tournament. However, the end result would’ve them facing some awful team for the belts.
While I dig the Wall’s gimmick, Scott Steiner advancing made sense. It’s just interesting that he’s still kept around the U.S title at this point.
In the decent enough block of matches, I felt Booker T vs. Sting in the U.S title quarterfinal could’ve been better than it was but it gets a bit of a boost just by being better than the five matches before it. This seems more like this would’ve been in an interesting or brisk TV match with stakes. That would’ve been especially true if this was a semi-final of the U.S title.
I also get the same feeling from Vampiro vs. Billy Kidman’s quarterfinal bout. I liked the end result with Vampiro advancing but for the room that they were given to groove, I figured this would’ve been a little more exciting, or rather it could have done with a little more risk. The thing is that at this point in their careers both were capable of that little extra danger in the match.
Another thing is why crank it up that much when it’s a quarterfinal match? I mean being in the tournament itself comes with stakes already but the deeper into the tournament someone goes, the more drama and moments of desperation you tend to see in matches.
The last slab on this block of entertaining bouts saw Terry Funk and Norman Smiley go at it for the vacant Hardcore title. It started out as one of those fun food fight brawls you got during the Monday Night Wars then it became a regular Thunder or early hour Nitro hardcore match. It’s not going to wow you at all but at the same time, it wasn’t boring.
Getting back into the short but boring bouts, Steiner defeated Awesome to advance to the finals of the U.S title tournament. Meeting him in the finals is Sting who defeated Vampiro by submission—the same way Scott Steiner defeated Mike Awesome.
It makes both of their finishers look threatening for the finals showdown because these were actually two good matchups that just didn’t deliver. Steiner and Sting actually had two strong matchups in the tournament. Either Vampiro, Booker T, Kidman, or Awesome could’ve advanced and had a really good main event final with one of the others.
We’ve got a six-man match for the vacant Cruiserweight title which should’ve been better than it was as well. Chris Candido outlasted The Artist (formerly known as Prince Iaukea), Shannon Moore, Lash LeRoux, Juventud Guerrera, and Crowbar in a brief match that ran just over five minutes.
It was very similar to the Cruiserweight title battle from XWF which was covered. The line-up for the match even features someone who competed in the very same XWF match. The match had both athletic talents and guys who could keep the match from descending into chaos. I think it just didn’t have the room to groove. Five minutes is too short for the guys involved in this match and the stakes involved.
A match that could’ve been shaved to five minutes with three minutes tacked onto the Cruiserweight title bout was the World Tag Team title tournament finals. Shane Douglas and Buff Bagwell got the win over Ric Flair and Total Package in match that could’ve been shorter and gotten the same end result.
There was no story I wanted to hear or see unfold here. Closing out the undercard, we have Scott Steiner reigning supreme over Sting via submission. I don’t know if this match needed a little more time or if it was just going to be a bleh match regardless.
The match easily floats more into the second column but Scott Steiner had these moments when he could deliver in the match by doing what he normally does with the right opponent. I also feel as though this match could’ve been a bit better than it was. It had the stakes with the U.S title and you’ve got Scott Steiner and Sting!
The Main Event (Thumbs in the Middle)
In the main event, we’ve got Jeff Jarrett taking on Diamond Dallas Page for the vacant World Heavyweight title. At the time, I know it was a match that didn’t interest me but after seeing Jarrett’s work throughout the 90s and how solid he remained into the 2000s, I at least knew he was going to do his part in the match.
Then you have DDP who would always turn it on in a World title match or a WCW main event. We’ve got another match that should’ve been better than it was. The semi-main should’ve been better because of the star power involved. This match should’ve been better because of the ability involved.
Despite that, Jarrett vs. DDP ended Spring Stampede 2000 on a decent note. It was a bad match but it also wasn’t anything you’d rave about. If this closed out Nitro or Thunder, it would’ve been an eventful main event match. It even had the room to groove and was still just OK.
WCW Spring Stampede 2000 Verdict: Bronze Medal (Thumbs Down)
Tournaments just make undercards seem bulky. This was a 15-match card which is pretty chunky but the matches themselves were mostly brief affairs. The show feature too much that could’ve been squeezed onto television instead of eating up PPV time. The stuff that shined on the PPV shined because everything else was just so bleh. Some of those matches just weren’t interesting on paper while others fell short of being decent bouts.
Match of the Show: Jeff Jarrett vs. DDP – vacant WCW World Heavyweight title
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