Hello everyone and welcome to the final homework assignment. Well, final for this long term one. Well, except for the bonus selection we’ll be doing in a couple weeks. Other than that we’re all done. For those of you here at the end, each and every week without a major wrestling show the At Odds with Wrestling podcast hosts assign something wrestling related to watch instead and I go along for the ride. This week we watched the final episode of the weird time in WCW between Vince Russo’s booking regimes. Some people tried, but most tread water until any semblance of long term writing resumes.

There is a lot of Goldberg in the Thunder opening. A lot for a guy who is not on the show nor have we seen him.

Your commentators tonight are Mike Tenay and Bobby “the Brain” Heenan and they are live from Houston, Texas.

Chris Candido vs. Chavo Guerrero.

Candido gets right on Chavo to start the match off hot. Chavo pushes Candido into referee Charles Robinson and Charles takes a HUGE bump to the floor. The Artist formerly known as Prince Iaukea comes out and attacks Candido. Meanwhile, Mike Modest comes out to beat up Chavo. Paisley is out too but less involved than on Nitro. Mike Modest hits some sort of driver move on Chavo. Candido dives off the top rope and pins Chavo. The Artist attacks Candido. All four men fight. Chavo off the top onto Candido and Modest who are fighting on the floor. Everyone fights to the back. All of this takes place in five and a half minutes.

Tenay and Brain talk about Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff coming back.

Dustin Rhodes talks about the booking return. Dustin talks to a horse, or is it a horse’s ass. A simple and over done joke, but I still got a chuckle.

Brian Knobbs don’t do this at home commercial.

Billy Kidman on the booking return says, “Russo gives everyone an equal opportunity.” He does?! This is new to me.

WCW wrestlers participated in a charity basketball game. Hail plays too. Did Hail ever debut in WCW? I know he was part of the XWF thing Hogan tried to start after.

The Barbarian vs “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan.

Hacksaw is out with his TV title, which is barely acknowledged at this time in WCW, and he’s still in his janitor clothes despite neither Russo or Bischoff being in charge for months now. I guess the nicest thing to call this is a walk and brawl. Whole lot of air in Jim’s punches, which I would not expect from these two. We get the raise the arm three times spot. Duggan’s hands don’t connect and skip as much as this video. Barbarian hits a big boot, then stalls so Duggan has time to kick out. Duggan hits a clothesline and the “Old Glory knee drop” to get the pin. I don’t remember that name.

Torrie Wilson comments on Vince and Eric’s return and says they’ll be “back on top”. Good to have that question answered.

Norman Smiley on the return.

The Cat comes out with Mr. Jones (who many will remember as Virgil in WWF). Cat calls out Dustin Rhodes. Cat makes Dustin fight his back up dancer. Isn’t everyone involved here a heel? This makes no sense.

Dustin Rhodes vs Mr Jones.

Jones tries to hit Dustin with a briefcase but Dustin is the one who connects. This match is all Dustin. The Cat is up on the ring apron. Terry Funk sneaks in the ring. The Cat tells Dustin to turn around for an hour. Funk finally hits Dustin with a chair, then hits Jones too. Dustin and Funk fight to the back. The Cat dances and a beat up Jones drapes the cape over Cat. This is one of the most nonsense segments we’ve ever seen in this era.

Tank Abbot gives his thoughts.

Hey kids, buy a Jeff Jarrett “Slapnuts” shirt. Why is this the main shirt advertised? There must have been other ones? Did they accidentally order too many?

Curt Hennig gives his thoughts.

3 Count comes out and they’re all wearing shirts with 5 on them for some reason. The singing goes on way too long. Music stops and Ms. Hancock comes out. She brings out Los Fabulosos – Silver King and El Dandy. Ever since joining up with her, they’ve been on a roll. When? House shows? Saturday Night?

Los Fabulosos vs Shane Helms and Shannon Moore of 3 Count.

Evan Karagias hits on Ms. Hancock the whole time. Los Fabulosos are actually doing well, not that anyone is paying attention to the match. This could be a good match if given a chance. Evan is paying attention to Hancock and not helping his partners at all. Dandy rolls up Shannon for the pin.

Chavo Guerrero gives his thoughts.

The Cat’s pay phone call is interrupted so he can give his thoughts. “Are they coming back? Is it official?” The time line and continuity of these reaction videos is non existent.

Disco Inferno tells the Mamalukes that tonight’s match is a Number One contender match for the tag team titles. The Mamalukes don’t care. They say Disco did nothing for them and now they are going to manage Disco. Also, they’re the Paisans, not Mamalukes. Also, they book Disco vs. Tank. Disco “faints” and the Mamalukes ditch him. Tank scoops up and drops Disco. Tank rips off Disco’s shoe. Tank hits the right hand and Disco is out, Tank wins. This is like watching two people you don’t like in school have a fight in the hallway.

Ron Harris gives his thoughts. One, he’s wearing a “Dick Farmer” Harley Davidson shirt. I guess when someone tells another person to suck a bag or field of dicks it has to come from somewhere. Following Ron’s thoughts there was an ad for a secret society and Skulls. I wonder if Ron saw that movie.

J Biggs gives his thoughts.

Jeff Jarrett (US champion) (with the nWo Girls) vs. Booker.

Jarrett says the ladies can stay because they look better than the local Texas girls. “Originally from Harlem but makes his home in Houston.” I hope no one got hurt on that stretch. The Harris Brothers pull Booker out and beat him up. The Brain says it’s six against one, or maybe twelve. Is he implying that each breast is an opponent? From breasts to asses, because Jarrett and Booker are busting theirs. The ref gets distracted so Jarrett can hit Booker with the title. Booker kicks out. Now there’s a ref bump too. Booker gets the guitar. Hits a Book End. Harris pulls the ref out and the match ends in a disqualification. Booker fights off the Harris Brothers. Where is Kidman in all of this? I guess we’ll find out next week.

Stacy, not Ms. Hancock, gives her thoughts on the returns.

Hacksaw gives his thoughts and it’s one of the most coherent and well said collection of words I’ve ever heard from him.

Harlem Heat 2000 vs. The Mamalukes.

Johnny the Bull has all the athletic gifts. Even though the springboard doesn’t connect. Cash bear hugs Bull and runs him into the post. That’s about it for Cash’s cardio for the evening. The match ends up just falling apart. The ref calls for the DQ. WTF happened? Oh, had to rewind, Stevie Ray pulls out the slapjack and hits Vito. Terrible work by everyone.

Vampiro gives his thoughts on Vince and Eric’s return and also mentions Ed Ferrara and Terry Taylor as well. These thoughts are too much of a shoot to be in the middle of a show. Either you’re the wrestler or the person. You can’t be both in the same show. Either I’m watching a show or I’m watching something “real”.

Shannon Moore at the pay phone back for his thoughts.

Kidman (with Torrie) vs Big Ron (with Heavy D).

We’ve seen D out of his sling twice now. Commentary tries to cover and says Ron is “such a big man there’s not much you can do with him.” Yeah, that’s why this is terrible. D pulls down the rope so Kidman falls outside and then D beats him up. The Harris Brothers do twin magic. D is still in the sling?! The ref calls for the DQ, the third match in a row. The Harris Brothers hit the H Bomb. Booker does not come out for his sometimes partner.

Shane Helms gives his thoughts.

Johnny the Bull gives his thoughts.

The Dog vs Brian Knobbs (Hardcore champion).

A referee brings out the Dog on his leash. I guess Finlay has the night off. Knobbs brings out a cart of plunder. Knobbs tosses stuff into the ring. Dog hits Knobs first with garbage can lids. Knobbs responds with a fire extinguisher. Knobbs hits the Dog with a nasty chair shot. Dog gets hit twice but can’t figure out how to go over the top rope and finally rolls to the floor. We make a stop at Pitty City. One letter off from my destination. Knobbs reverses and sends Dog through a table. Knobbs barely gets to the middle rope and even Heenan points it out. Trash can to the Dog and Knobbs gets the pin.

Buff Bagwell gives his thoughts.

Brian Knobbs gives his thoughts, “if it’s going to make me more money, fantastic. Check back with me in a couple weeks.” Arguably, his best promo ever.

Buff Bagwell vs. La Parka.

Hey hot girls in the crowd. La Parka cuts a dubbed promo on Buff. The actual La Parka pulls out a sign that says, “I’m sorry. I’m not really saying this.” So in theory La Parka can read, write, and understand English – but not speak it?! Buff forgives La Parka for the words he didn’t say, and La Parka cheap shots Buff? This turns out to actually be a fun match. La Parka with a twisting jumping moonsault thing. Doesn’t hit right but looks cool. Buff hits a Blockbuster for the pin.

Ric Flair gives his thoughts.

There are five minutes left of the show and we finally get the main event.

Vampiro vs. The Wall.

Vampiro with the first shot and a dive to outside. We know how WCW and the careers of both men turn out but there’s a lot of what we thought was potential here. There’s a flip for a powerbomb spot but it keeps going over the top rope. The Wall sets up a table. Vampiro hits Wall with a chair. Wall falls back through a table and this gives us yet another DQ for the night. The Wall gets up and still fights with Vampiro. Security comes out to separate them but they keep fighting.

And now we’ve reached the end. I think I’ll give full thoughts in a couple weeks. We will be watching the next episode of Nitro which is the debut of the Russo/Bischoff era and a reset for the company. That episode will serve as a compare/contrast with what we’ve been watching. This episode really shows who is trying and who is just there. Jarrett, Booker, Kidman and even Vampiro and Wall are trying to show they deserve a chance. Others hit three trademarks moves and then clock out for the night. The writers have three trademarks moves as well and two of them are match ends by disqualification. When the boss doesn’t try, it becomes difficult for the employees to care.