ECW Cyberslam 1996 Results and Review

ECW Cyberslam 1996 VHS Cover Art

I’m going to be reviewing more and more older wrestling since I am paying for the WWE Network. Today, we go back to 1996. In that year, I was only 13 years old, and I was starting to garner a giant VHS wrestling collection. I had nearly every WWF event either live from the original PPV recording, or from purchases I made at video stores. I didn’t have a lot of ECW events, so I didn’t get to see this one until recently. I can tell you that the original DVD and VHS tapes are way better than the WWE Network stuff because they have to edit out the music, and some of the obscene things that are in the event. However, you’re going to still see a lot of it, and well, here we go, a review of the event that occurred on February 17, 1996, known as Cyberslam 96!

ECW Cyberslam 1996 Results and Review

The Bad Crew and Judge Dredd defeated Dino Sendoff, Don E. Allen, and The Dirt Bike Kid

This was a 2 minute match of just bad attempts at wrestling. Not every ECW performer was great. This was just filler, and it was ok, I guess.

Spiro Greco defeated El Puerto Riqueno

This was a four minute lucha type match, and while it was a bit faster paced than the previous one, it’s not that good either. I liked it for what it was, but it was definitely not worth going back to watch.

Taz defeated Joel Hartgood

A squash match that was less than two minutes, and not much to say about this one. Sorry.

Buh Buh Ray Dudley defeated Mr. Hughes

This match was under a minute, I kid you not! This was a terrible squash, but hey that’s what wrestling was back then, I guess.

The Bruise Brothers defeated The Headhunters

Another fast paced match, but not much wrestling action, It was ok at best, and it was a normal tag match with only about 4 minutes of time given to it. This was definitely more like a Raw tag match, and just filler for the other matches.

J.T. Smith defeated Axl Rotten

This was a slightly longer match than the other ones, and it wasn’t half bad. It was ok for what it was, but it definitely left a lot to be desired as it was only about 7 minutes long.

Francine and The Pitbulls defeated Stevie Richards and The Eliminators in a Dog Collar Match

Now this is more like it. A stellar outing with a lot of brawling, and a lot of back and forth. Some great table spots, and some hard hitting elements, alongside Francine looking sexy as always. This was one hell of a brawl for the two teams, and at one point the dog collar snapped on Saturn, and he was free. But other than that, the teams were nearly killing each other for this match, and the crowd was going nuts.

2 Cold Scorpio versus Sabu ended in a Time Limit Draw

This match was for the ECW World Television Championship and it was one hell of a battle. The two guys went back and forth, and at one point I thought Sabu was dead. Scorpio was so good, I wish he didn’t have drug problems because he would have made it huge in wrestling. I loved his work, and he still goes strong in this match. Sabu is looking beat up even in 1996, but he throws down some great moments, and Scorpio looks legit knocked out a few times with chair shots and Sabu’s onslaught of action. This is a 30 minute match of pain, and it was great to see.

Shane Douglas defeated Cactus Jack

In one of the last appearances of Cactus Jack before he became Mankind about a month later, here’s Shane Douglas putting the fists and the boots to Cactus. This match was a lot like the Royal Rumble match that Foley had with the Rock, and it was a hard hitting affair. Douglas eventually handcuffs Cactus and he gets pummeled with unprotected chair shots. Out runs Mikey Whipwreck, Cactus Jacks’s partner in ECW and he brings a chair and knocks out Cactus, letting Shane Douglas get the win. A great hard hitting match, and one of the better ones on the card.

Raven defeated The Sandman

This was only about 10 minutes, but the crowd ate it up. Sandman brought out Missy Hyatt and she fought with Kimona Wanalaya and it was an extreme cat fight where they didn’t pull any punches. They were literally beating the hell out of each other. Meanwhile, Raven had help from the Blue Meanie and Stevie Richards. The Sandman got some great shots in, and he’s so sloppy that it just looked painful to watch Raven take abuse. Raven eventually got the win, but he had to take a great deal of abuse before the win.

That concludes ECW Cyberslam 1996. Not a terrible PPV, not a great one, but definitely worth checking out for the last 4 matches. That really had me going for this one. OH, and at one point Brian Pillman shows up and launches into his crazy Mark’s promo!

You can purchase ECW Cyberslam UNEDITED by CLICKING HERE, otherwise watch it on the WWE Network, but it’s going to be heavily edited.

WCW Slamboree 1999 Results and Review A Better VHS Experience

WCW Slamboree 1999 hit the TWA Dome in St. Louis Missouri on May 9, 1999. It was a show that many people saw, especially the 20,516 that were in attendance for the show. You hear about the fall of WCW, but with over 20,000 fans in the building, how can this be such a bad era for wrestling? There were some highs and there were some lows, no doubt, but it’s imperative to realize that WCW had a lot of great wrestling that goes unspoken in these modern times.

With that in mind, here’s my review of Slamboree 1999.

WCW Slamboree 1999 Results

Raven and Saturn defeated Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman, and Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko (Triple Threat Tag Team Championship Match)
Konnan defeated Stevie Ray
Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Brian Knobbs (Hardcore Match)
Rick Steiner defeated Booker T (WCW Television Title Match)
Gorgeous George defeated Charles Robinson
Scott Steiner defeated Buff Bagwell (US Title Match)
Roddy Piper defeated Ric Flair (For control of WCW)
Sting vs. Goldberg went to a No Contest When Bret Hart Interfered
Kevin Nash defeated DDP (WCW Title Match)

WCW Slamboree 1999 Review

The dark match wasn’t on the tape, and it was not on the WWE Network. This whole show was heavily edited, and it surprised me a bit when I heard the sounds muted here and there. Oh well, it happens, I guess.

Raven and Saturn defeated Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman, and Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko (Triple Threat Tag Team Championship Match)

The best match of the night was the opener. With about 20 minutes of action, these 3 teams put on a showcase of different types of wrestling. From fast paced to mat based, to cruiserweight style, these guys put on a show of pro wrestling in a smaller ring than WWE. I loved it. Nearly 20 minutes of good wrestling here.

Konnan defeated Stevie Ray

I’m a big fan of Konnan, and he was way over during this match. Stevie Ray and Vincent with Horace Hogan were terrible, and the NWO black and white weren’t so good by this point.

Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Brian Knobbs (Hardcore Match)

These guys work well together, and there’s not much to say about the match. In under 12 minutes the two brawled and made a mess, which was a good showcase. Bam Bam Bigelow is one of my favorites to watch, RIP.

Rick Steiner defeated Booker T (WCW Television Title Match)

This match was kind of boring, as I was never a Rick Steiner fan. Booker T tried, but this was kind of boring, sorry.

Gorgeous George defeated Charles Robinson

No need to watch this, unless you want a hard on for the girls.

Scott Steiner defeated Buff Bagwell (US Title Match)

Scott Steiner again made to look strong in this match, beating the crap out of Buff Bagwell for about 8 minutes. Rick Steiner came out to hit Buff with a chair, and the Steiner Recliner got this match in the books fast. Buff sucks, let’s face it.

Roddy Piper defeated Ric Flair (For control of WCW)

Roddy Piper and Ric Flair went through a 12 minute brawl. They went on the outside, Flair had interference on his side, and would eventually get a win. That is until Bischoff came back from hiatus and awarded Piper the winner and control of WCW, so that’s that.

Sting vs. Goldberg went to a No Contest When Bret Hart Interfered

Now this was epic. Sting and Goldberg putting on a very good match, going back and forth, and trying to tell a story. At the 8 minute mark, I thought for sure this was going to turn into a classic, but nope. Bret Hart came in and hit Goldberg with a steel chair. This was a week after he had beaten Goldberg in under 5 minutes thanks to a steal plate and quit the company. This was also before Owen Hart would die later in the month, causing him to leave WCW for a time. This match could’ve been a 5 star match up, but alas, it was cut short.

Kevin Nash defeated DDP (WCW Title Match)

This nearly 20 minute match wasn’t terrible. I t wasn’t good, but it wasn’t terrible. Over the course of the match, however, the crowd woke up and went nuts for the ending. Nash would hit the power bomb, and pin DDP, and everyone was left confused. Not a terrible match, mind you, but nothing that you have to go out of your way to see either. 20,000 people witnessed this, and well, they didn’t leave home happy, the show felt bloated.

Overall, Slamboree 1999 was not half bad. This would lead to a terrible Great American Bash 1999, mind you. If you look at the results for the Bash, you’ll see that this was a better show, and well, that’s that. I don’t know what else to tell you, other than you don’t have to go out of your way to see this one. Although, I did love the opening match. That was great.

You can pick up Slamboree 1999 cheap on VHS by clicking here.

WWF Royal Rumble 2001 Results and Review: A Better VHS Experience

For this review we are going back to 2001 for the Royal Rumble! The Royal Rumble in 2001 was stacked. It was absolutely stacked with some of the best wrestlers from all eras of wrestling. Remember, this was just a few months before WCW would get bought out, and it was the same year that one of the most epic battles went down at Wrestlemania.

This event was held at the MCI Center In New Orleans and had 17,137 people in attendance. It was one of the hottest crowds in 2001, and definitely one of the better options that you will want to consider. The VHS version has all unedited footage, with all original music, and a lot more to offer compared to the network version, but the network does have this event up. With that in mind, let’s get to the big event with the following results and review.

WWF Royal Rumble 2001 Results

The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) defeated Edge and Christian
Chris Jericho defeated Chris Benoit
Ivory (c) (with Steven Richards) defeated Chyna
Kurt Angle defeated Triple H
Stone Cold Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble

WWF Royal Rumble 2001 Review

First and foremost, the crowd for this event was absolutely going insane from the start of the show. The opening match alone had people going crazy, but it was the Rumble match itself that really took things to another level.

The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) defeated Edge and Christian

This was a fast paced match that saw the Dudley Boyz capture the Tag Team titles from the duo of Edge and Christian. The crowd was great for this, and the match was very back and forth. Edge and Christian did the “Wazzup” spot at one point, or at least tried, and the crowd lost themselves completely. Even through the network’s terrible editing, you could hear the pandemonium going on.

Match Rating: 4 out of 5

Chris Jericho defeated Chris Benoit (IC Title Ladder Match)

As far as ladder matches are concerned, this is one of the better ones. However, there were moments that didn’t make sense from a story telling stand point. The Walls of Jericho on a ladder just doesn’t fit, if you ask me. However, the overall push of this match was good, and Jericho was doing grand things in WWE compared to his last WCW run from 1998 – 1999.

Match Rating: 3 out of 5

Ivory (c) (with Steven Richards) defeated Chyna

This was a weird match. I forgot how good Chyna really was. She did a spot and landed awkwardly, which sold an injury. The injury angle was treated as real, and I had to look online to see if it was in fact real. It wasn’t. This ended too early.



Match Rating: 2 out of 5

Kurt Angle defeated Triple H

One hell of a match. Triple H and Angle put on a great show here. It was powerful, fast paced, and Angle’s slams were just second to none. It’s funny, 1 year earlier, Angle was getting tapped out to Tazz, and this year he’s in the championship title match with Trips. The match was great, ref bumps and all, and of course Stone Cold running in to beat up Triple H. The crowd went ballistic when Stone Cold showed up and beat up Triple H. great stuff here. Angle won.

Match Rating: 4 out of 5

Stone Cold Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble

The main event, and one of the better Royal Rumble matches. There were a few surprise entrants, but nothing too great. The best part about this was the amount of big hitters from this year. Undertaker, Kane, Stone Cold, Rikishi, The Rock, and so much more were involved in this one. The Rock got a serious beat down, Triple H nearly cost Stone Cold’s win, and he was busted wide open, great stuff. This is the second best Royal Rumble right behind Royal Rumble 1992.

Match Rating: 5 out of 5

Overall, you should look for the original DVD or VHS tape as it was heavily edited from the original if you see it on the network. I noticed a lot of errors, and at one point there’s a complete change and omission in the Royal Rumble match. The production crew either blatantly messed something up, or they edited, cut, and deleted 11 seconds of the Royal Rumble match. I am thinking it’s a full censorship of someone flashing the camera, a crotch grab, a boob, or something. It’s so noticeable, you will know when it happens.

You can pick up the original VHS or DVD of Royal Rumble 2001 by clicking here.

WWF In Your House Degeneration X Results and Review A Better VHS Experience

WWF In Your House Degeneration X 1997 Results and Review 

Continuing my series of reviews of all things VHS versus the WWE network, I would like to present you with the December 1997 pay per view that the WWE put up against WCW Starrcade 1997. Now, you’ll have to remember that Starrcade 1997 was huge, it had 17,500 people at the MCI Center in Washington D.C. and it featured Hulk Hogan versus Sting for the World Title. This build up took 1 full year, that’s right, 1 year of Sting not wrestling at all, versus Hogan that was supposed to be absolutely scared of the guy. Now, that happened on December 28, 1997, meanwhile WWF put out In Your House on December 7, 1997. That card for comparison’s sake only drew 6,358! That’s right, compared to WCW drawing 17,500 people, that’s a big jump. So here we go, a review of WWF’s In Your House Degeneration X pay per view from 1997!

WWF In Your House Degeneration X Results and Review

So, in 1997 the WWF introduced a light heavyweight championship title, and they held a tournament. The names in this one were very diverse from Devon Storm to Flash Flanagan, to Eric Shelley (YES THAT ERIC SHELLEY). At the end of the day, the finals were held here in the first major match and they featured Taka Michinoku versus Brian Christopher. This had a lot of great jokes as Jerry Lawler wouldn’t admit that Christopher was his son. Great one liners and commentary from both Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler here.

Taka Michinoku defeated Brian Christopher for the light heavyweight championship

Great match here, 12 minutes of non stop action, with great back and forth. Taka won with the Michinoku driver, and it was the end for Brian until Too Cool made it big. I miss the lightweight heavyweight days.

Los Boricuas defeated The Disciples of Apocalypse

The DOA was a biker gang way before Aces and Eights or even Samcro was mentioned. The teams worked well, but in the end, it was Los Boricuas that got the win. Not a great match, but fun enough.

Butterbean defeated Mar Mero in a “Toughman Match”

A glorified, fixed boxing match, with Mero losing via disqualification. Mero is a legit golden gloves boxer, but this was a joke.

The New Age Outlaws defeated The Legion of Doom via disqualification

This was a ten minute match that had a lot of jokes involved with the younger guys getting the most of the LOD. Eventually, LOD got disqualified and buried on Raw the next night, moving forward. They would come back in 1998, but it didn’t matter, they were already tarnished.

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Triple H defeated Sgt. Slaughter in a Boot Camp Match

This was great. Triple H and Slaughter threw some haymakers, and Slaughter did not work soft at all. This was a heavy handed match and the two really put the boots to each other. Chyna got involved, but there was a great moment when Slaughter threw salt in her eyes and the crowd went into a frenzy. Triple H won, but by no means was this an easy match for him, Slaughter put on a show in his old age.

Jeff Jarrett defeated The Undertaker via Disqualification

Double J has a victory over the dead man? Yep! He won here when Kane showed up. Not much of a match.

Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock in an Intercontinental Championship Match

The nation of domination got involved, but Stone Cold drove into the arena in a F150 and beat the hell out of them, giving everyone stunners. Then The Rock and Stone Cold put on the most entertaining 5 minutes of your life. These two are amazing, and this was for the IC title. You have to remember that the next night Stone Cold threw the title over a bridge, which was great. This match was fast paced, only 5 minutes, but loads of entertainment in a short span.

Ken Shamrock defeated Shawn Michaels via disqualification

You’d be surprised how well Ken Shamrock worked here. Michaels can make anyone look good,but it takes two most often. This was great, I loved it. The DQ finish wasn’t bad, and it made Shamrock look like he could very well win the big one. He did get the intercontinental championship in 1998 and worked a program with The Rock, so that’s something. 18 minutes, but no clear winner.

Overall Rating: 6 out of 10

There were two major highlights in this show, and they only amount for around 22 minutes of wrestling and entertainment. The rest is forgettable. The original release is in fact unedited has better sound, better cuts, and lots of cussing from Stone Cold, including some back stage segments.

You can pick up the VHS edition of this if you’d like or you could watch it on the wwe network. Overall, though, this was a good show, but compared to Starrcade 1997, it was way worse.