Wrapping up May 1997 for Into the Vault, it’s WCW Slamboree 1997 from one of the company’s strongholds of Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s a beefy show with nine bouts but we’re going point out the best from the show—and the rest.
This one has a superstar main event with the nWo team of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Syxx taking on Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, and at the—but not for long—Carolina Panthers linebacker Kevin Greene.
The Best of WCW Slamboree 1997
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again but WCW was on top of starting off a PPV with a hot match. While this could’ve easily been a match on Nitro or Saturday Night, the effort by Steven Regal and Ultimate Dragon—as well as the time given—made for a great opening bout and a strong defense for Regal.
This isn’t a situation where a match is good in relation to a mostly bad-to-mediocre card, Regal vs. Ultimate Dragon was just a good match on its own. Next up is Rey Misterio Jr taking one of Japan’s junior heavyweight diamonds in the rough in Yuji Yasuraoka. If this Yuji doesn’t ring any bells, don’t worry about it too much.
He was a staple of Wrestle Association R/Wrestling and Romance’s junior division. There was a period of time when WAR was actually making waves and was one of the last Japanese stops for guys who would make a name in U.S promotions such as Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Rey Misterio Jr, and Ultimo Dragon.
Anyway, this is one of those entertaining cruiserweight bouts that deliver the goods on PPV. It’s not go-go-gone from start to finish but it has its “Oh wow!” spots.
That said, it lacks from being a lengthy toss-up match. If anything, it should’ve gone 10 or 12 minutes since the crowd was really only rocking with Rey in this one. Instead, it goes almost 15 minutes which seems unwarranted since there were no build or stakes.
I don’t feel that it dragged on it was just longer than it should’ve been on a broadcast. Unlike Dean Malenko vs. Jeff Jarrett which saw the future actual Horseman and AEW road agent defend his United States title against the Horsemen associate.
It was a match I really enjoyed. I would say there was chemistry there but they worked very well against each other and put on a match that didn’t stink.
Chris Benoit taking on Meng in a death match—meaning street fight—was a really good, physical brawl. Benoit’s technical game always gets all the love but some respect needs to be sprinkled on his brawling game.
I was actually wary about watching this one as it’s an almost 15-minute match involving Meng whom I always felt was much better in shorter bouts. However, it was an entertaining match albeit on the lengthy side.
Our main event for WCW Slamboree 1997 was star-studded and pretty exciting. It wasn’t the best match on the show but it was good nonetheless. The nWo were great heels and Syxx was putting in that work, Flair was in his hometown main event mode, and Piper was solid.
I was more impressed by Kevin Greene’s performance. You know what you’re getting with everyone else but having a super green non-wrestler actually put in the effort of a hungry up-and-comer was exciting to see.
Greene was enthusiastic and energetic in his performance and made for a great, babyface guest teammate for Flair and Piper. It’s a match worth watching but it’s not a must-see match.
The Rest
Madusa taking on Luna wasn’t bad at all but it was just about mid. If anything, a couple of minutes could’ve been taken from some other bouts and given to this one. I want to say it needed a little more time and maybe some more build. Actually, this could’ve been the centerpiece feud of the still-new, under-invested women’s division.
Mortis loses to Glacier by DQ. It was just short of two minutes on PPV so nothing to really discuss here. The Steiners faced off against the Dungeon of Doom tandem of Konnan and Hugh Morrus.
It’s no surprise that Konnan has always been a bad fit for the dying faction but that didn’t impact his work in-ring. He actually worked pretty decently with Morrus against the Steiners but overall, this was a solidly mid match.
I’d say it wasn’t a trash match but it wasn’t something that is essential viewing. It was something for The Steiner Brothers to do on PPV—a detour in their clashes with The Outsiders.
The build for Steve McMichael vs. Reggie White was decent enough. I mean, WCW had a recent Super Bowl champion taking on the 1985-1986 Super Bowl champion and a Horseman on PPV—you’ve got to put TV time into hyping that match and getting the most out of your investment, right?
This match wasn’t good on paper but it had star appeal. In execution, not only was it not good at all it went long for some reason. It definitely wasn’t to use up PPV time heading into the main event because several matches went la bit long.
McMichael vs. White went much longer than it should’ve given Mongo only delivered outside of tag matches sometimes and this was White’s first match. I’d say 7-minutes max—and not as an invitation to use the whole seven minutes—would’ve done the job here.
WCW Slamboree 1997 Verdict: Bronze Medal (2.3/5)
Honestly, if some matches were cut down a bit or moved to the dark match card, this would’ve been a solid Silver Medal show. While there were some bangers worth watching, the show kind of meandered at times.
There was a mix of hot matches to get folks excited, lengthier matches that could bring the crowd down both to prime them and bore them, and matches that just wouldn’t be missed if they weren’t on the main PPV.
I will say that the most important match of the card held up its anticipation and build—which is the minimum you should ask, really. The match of the show goes to the TV Title bout between champion Lord Steven Regal and Ultimate Dragon.
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