Bikers Thought They'd Get an Advance Screening of Wild Hogs: Hog Wild 96

Been working on a WCW Top 100 matches for a poll on a forum. Decided I'd watch some 96 stuff and talk about what stood out to me.

Rey Mysterio, Jr. vs. The Ultimate Dragon

Really dug the opening to this: they do some lightning quick mat work. 96 Rey is so quick and smooth and looks perfect, and Dragon is good enough to keep up with him and get over for his arm drags and such. It looks fantastic, and then they start to one-up each other. I don't generally dig the goofy spots where both guys go for springboard moonsaults and then pose-- stuff like that bugs me-- but here, it was brief enough, and I was in a good enough mood from the start, that I could dig it. Then Dragon threw a handful of crappy kicks and took control of and killed the match. It's not that he's bad on offense-- though his strikes stink-- it's that he doesn't do a whole lot of meaningful stuff. He aimlessly beats on Rey, gloats but not interestingly, and then refuses to pin Rey. The announcers talk about but can't explain it, and I really can't think of a rationale: there's a belt on the line, and there's no hate between them. There's no reason why Dragon isn't going all-out trying to win, but instead, he's content to do moves and pose for the crowd. Rey comes back and hits a sweet finish, and I guess it's still a good match, but nothing I'd call great.

Dean Malenko vs. Chris Benoit

I used to buy into the "technical classic" hype, but this time around, it felt like a pretty flat 30-minute match. Didn't hate it: it's surprisingly watchable for a flat 30-minute match. Still, it's not a lot of fun. They work parity throughout the match, exchanging holds, keeping even with big spots and near-falls. And there are a ton of near-falls through different pinning combinations. The announcers are great and totally put over the fatigue, and I can totally buy that both guys are spent by the end of the 20-minute time limit. Big time workrate, I guess, plus all the energy expenditure to get out of the different roll-ups. The parity stuff led to some cool equal exchanges: Malenko hits a big plancha, so Benoit hits a big superplex; and later, Benoit gets the plancha back, and then Malenko gets the superplex back.

But there's not enough characterization, not enough emotion, to put this over the top. I don't want to sound like a typical "Malenko lacked charisma" dude, because I think he can be a great babyface. They just choose not to work with any heel/face dynamic until the first overtime. They don't work limbs or look for submissions; they don't lose tempers or cheat: they trade roll-ups for 20 minutes and occasionally do high-impact moves. Things pick up in overtime: Benoit starts to act like a dick and tears at Malenko's knee and even uses Malenko's Texas cloverleaf, which was cool except it would've been better if Malenko had tried to build toward that hold in the first chunk of the match. Malenko's selling is fine but he won't give up. In the second overtime, Malenko starts to get the knee work back to maintain the parity theme, but then Woman interferes and Benoit gets a successful roll-up. I liked the arc: they work even until Benoit finally cheats to win, which cheapens the whole thing, and that's fine, but I don't get why it took a Horseman 30 minutes and 2 overtimes to cheat to win.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair

Thought this was totally great. Unlike the Malenko/Benoit match, the heel/face dynamic is clear and strong early. Flair acts like a dick and tries to taunt Eddie; he tries to shove him around but Eddie shoves back, tries to slap him around but Eddie slaps back. It's awesome: Eddie looks fiery and pissed and Flair makes him look like a million bucks. They work the match as an extended Eddie revenge segment. He turns Flair's cheap tactics against him, rakes the eyes, uses the figure-four, but he never goes as far as Flair would have. Flair gets the ropes and he relinquishes the hold well before five, stuff like that. Both guys bring big-time chops here. They really do hit hard. And the finish works. Eddie hits a Frog Splash but hurts himself, so Flair can pick up a cheap win by going after the knee. Made Eddie look good and established that he only lost because of one awkward landing; it made Flair look like a smart, survivalist veteran, which was how he should've been booked at this point anyway. Good structure, good characters, and fiery Eddie: great match.

Scott Hall/Kevin Nash vs. Sting/Lex Luger

Not as hot or awesome as the BATB 96 main, but this was still a blast. The Outsiders are so fun to watch act like dicks in the start of the match. Hall beats on Luger a bit and then taunts while Nash smirks. Luger fires back and flexes and looks like a badass, and Nash makes this great face, like, "Why you takin' this shit seriously?" Nash comes in and spits on Sting to kill the babyfaces momentum and force a match-up with the smaller guy. They work a sweet set of exchanges: Sting spits back but doesn't have the strength to slam Nash until he gets rolling and hits some strikes, and then the slam feels like a big moment. But Nash catches him shortly after and hits snake eyes and gets help from Hall on the apron. Outsiders aren't great in control, but they have charisma, engage the crowd, and Hall throws big rights, and Sting is a great FIP. Best hot tag tease comes from Sting collapsing and headbutting Nash in the nads. Luger off the actual hot tag is very good. Intense and ripped and forearming. Then they bust out a pretty goofy cheap finish, and Luger gets pinned after a punch to the back of the knee by a referee. Looked for a bit like this might've become the best match of the show, but the lame finish hurt it. Still tons of good stuff and totally enjoyable.