83 Weeks - Bash at the Beach 1995 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

This time we’re going to take a look back at one of the worst received WCW pay-per-views in the companies history…Bash at the Beach 1995.

We covered the previous WCW PPV, the 1995 Great American Bash way back in the archives three years ago so be sure to check that out at 83weeksonyoutube.com!

We are coming off the announcement of what will soon to be named Nitro and this is directly from the Observer:

“A few more WCW notes stemming from the announcement of the new Monday night

television show which may be called "Head to Head" which starts on 8/7 against Raw

nationwide on the TNT cable network. Nancy Sullivan (ECW's Woman) was given a try- out as an announcer this past week but the only word we've gotten is to expect Eric Bischoff to host and for the show to have a totally new look. The first show will tentatively emanate from Sarasota, FL and will take place one day after a Sunday night Clash of Champions from Daytona Beach.”

Was Nitro the only name you ever considered - or was Head to Head something you kicked around?

Was Kevin Sullivan pushing to bring Nancy in as an announcer, and what did you think of her tryout?

Did you know all along you were going to be the one hosting the show?

What was most important for you to host Nitro - delivering the message you wanted?

Did you not have faith in Tony Schiavone to get it over an across?

How much work did you have with Zane Bresloff on how to book the arenas, which ones to book, etc?

Also from the Observer

“It is expected the show will be done similar to Raw in that three weeks will be taped at a time with the first week airing live.”

Was there ever any plans for it to be taped like this?

While you’re preparing for this new prime time show to be launched - your next pay-per-view is going to be in front of a free crowd in Huntington Beach, California. Eric - why did WCW run so many pay-per-views in front of a free crowd?

What was the idea behind in Huntington Beach? Who’s idea was it?

On the TV tapings for the build to Bash - there’s a lot going on…let’s see if we can keep up. Dick Slater & Bunkhouse Buck won the tag team titles from Harlem Heat - for this to air after Bash at the Beach…but Harlem Heat defeated the Nasty Boys on May 3rd, in reality a match they had before Slamboree when the Nasty Boys defeated Harlem Heat to win the titles, but Heat came out with the titles but the commentary talked about how Heat won the titles back from the Nasty Boys. The next day though Harlem Heat are in the main event on Saturday Night taking on Road Warrior Hawk & Sting and losing to them with no mention of the tag team titles. I know you get a lot of shit about this era Eric - but god damn how did you keep it all straight?

It is reported in the Observer that the unnamed Monday night prime time television show was pushed back from August 7th to September 4th so you would launch going unopposed by Raw but you’ll be going against the NFL and the US Open. Was it more of a focus to capture the wrestling audience even if more eyes were going to be on the NFL at that point?

There’s also talks between you & New Japan about having new wrestlers debut on either the first or second show, mainly talking about Eddy Guerrero and Chris Benoit, but that you were having talks with Al Snow & Sabu about coming in as well. Were you the one doing the talent conversations and going out and finding them or was that in the hands of someone else at the time?

Did you have to give the ultimate sign off on these guys to either have deals offered or commitments made?

Do you remember anyone else you were in talks with or wanted to bring in for the launch of Nitro that you were unable to do?

Kamala debuts with Kevin Sullivan as his manager. Why Kamala at this point in time?

There’s a Saturday night taping at Center Stage that has Paul Wight in the front row who does a staredown with Kamala. Were there any thoughts or talks about having the future Big Show debut as anything but the Giant?

Could you had seen a Kamala - Giant program or story to debut Wight?

Also on TV at this time is Dave Sullivan and the Diamond Doll dating. Was this a rib on DDP?

The Shark debuts as well with Kevin Sullivan as his manager. John Tenta, the former Earthquake & Avalanche…shaved his beard and painted his face and put shark-like teeth…who booked this shit Eric?

I’m all for John Tenta being used because he was great for a lot of years - but this…feels like it’s out of the old Box of Gimmicks. Is this Kevin Sullivan?

I ask that because in early July this is reported in the Observer:

“Rumors like crazy abound about the booking situation. As of press time, I don't believe there has been a change but there probably will be one before any of you are reading this.

Ric Flair and Eric Bischoff haven't seen eye-to-eye on several matters and it appears

Kevin Sullivan will end up as booker. Among the disagreements are that Bischoff wants Flair in the office five days a week. Flair has been unhappy about some of the direction the booking is going which is out of his control and quite frankly his points appear to be valid.”

So you’re about to launch a prime time show green lit by Ted Turner himself, and you & your booker, Ric Flair, are not on the same page. Why turn to Sullivan here?

Why did you think it was important Flair be in the office?

Also from the Observer

“Two points in particular we've heard is that Flair wants to book television around TV title matches and with Renegade as champion it makes that impossible because the few times they've tried to book him in matches longer than 2:00 it has exposed him and rendered him less over. Flair wanted the belt put back on Arn Anderson so he could have a lot of TV title matches fill up a lot of TV time. The other is Flair was against the idea of putting Vader into the Dungeon of Doom (which took place in a video over the weekend) for only two weeks before his face turn since the turn is on Flair & Arn, who he's been associated with the past few months anyway. I guess the idea was that they (I suppose meaning Hogan) wants the Hogan vs. Dungeon feud to be the prime focus of the promotion and it couldn't be the prime focus when the key issue is Hogan-Vader. Sullivan's ideas are that because he's more familiar with outside talent (his wife is with ECW plus he's got connections with other indie groups) he'd bring in a lot of wrestlers who haven't been exposed nationally.”

I mean it’s hard to disagree with Ric on this assessment, but was it that Hulk found Sullivan to be easier to work with compared to Ric?

Was this the beginning of the strain of your relationship with the Nature Boy?

From the Observer

“WCW officials were thrilled with the USA Today article on TV advertisers from last week. Apparently Titan spent months trying to get the article in to spruce up their image, and then when the story came out, it was half WCW and even mentioned Slim Jim joining WCW (they were one of WWF's major sponsors) and the photo accompanying it was of Hogan.”

This is quite the PR coup for WCW at the time was it not? Does this just show the strength of Hulk and what he can do - and also Randy with Slim Jim?

“Those of you waiting for the reformation of the Hollywood Blonds, don't hold your breath. Steve Austin is out for at least another five weeks with a muscle tear in his arm. By that point if there is a new booker and that idea was from the old booker (well, actually it wasn't but it was the old booker who was planning it) so you know how those things go. Not saying it isn't going to happen, just don't bet money on it.”

Talk about foreshadowing Eric…

“Eric Bischoff was on the Chet Coppock show on 6/29. Coppock was a lot tougher on Bischoff than he's been on any of the previous wrestling guests. Bischoff was pretty much prepared before the broadcast by the company not to say anything bad about WWF or Vince McMahon so as not to come off like McMahon did a few weeks earlier. He pretty much accomplished his goal. If anyone takes anything seriously that either McMahon or Bischoff say on shows like this, they are totally naive to this business. Bischoff wasn't there to truthfully answer questions, he was there to paint a picture of WCW as the No. 1 company worldwide and a flourishing company and WWF as just some domestic competition and to act like he wasn't really concerned with WWF. Of course none of that's true, just as McMahon saying he's not resentful of WCW being owned by Ted Turner isn't true. Bischoff did make a good point when Coppock brought up that it appeared WCW stole Heenan, Okerlund, Hogan, Savage and Duggan from WWF that all were stars in other organizations before McMahon got them in the first place, Hogan in particular,

which after all these years is often-forgotten, although McMahon did make all of them umpteen times bigger.”

What can you tell us of Chet Coppock and what going on these shows was really all about?

“Bischoff claimed in syndication that WCW has 198 stations in 94% of the country and did a 6.8 rating the weekend of 6/11 and that WWF was on 171 stations in 90% of the country and did a 5.8, trying to act like WCW was already more popular. Those numbers, if they are even correct, are so manipulated as to not really meaning anything since the WCW network includes USWA which does great ratings in some markets. He also said that "We've got a show on Saturday morning and so do they are our show usually beats there's" (over the last quarter, the shows' ratings were identical) and "We've got a show on Sunday and they've got a show on Sunday and the numbers are usually about the same" (a true statement). Bischoff first wouldn't confirm the Monday Night TNT show, then talked a lot about it but acted as if the Monday night was just a coincidence with Raw asking why wouldn't we want to try it if we were offered a slot in prime time?”

You’re attempting to position WCW as the growing brand and the WWF as the peaked brand - is that fair to say?

“Chris Cruise has replaced Gordon Solie on the Saturday morning WCW Pro show in TBS.”

Why Cruise and why was it time to start moving on from Gordon Solie?

“The 7/1 WCW Saturday Night show was among the worst ever. They did the Dave Sullivan-Diamond Doll date segment where Dallas Page and Max Muscle jump Dave on the street. They spliced in kung fu movie sound effects when Page and Max threw their blows making it even stupider looking than it looked on the surface. To their credit, reports from the road over the weekend were the Sullivan-Page matches were pretty good. The Vader/Dungeon of Doom video was if anything, even dumber.”

I mean come on Eric…kung fun movie sound effects? What are we doing here?

On July 5th the move is made and Sullivan officially replaces Flair as head booker of WCW. From the Observer:

“The news was hardly a surprise as for weeks Flair and Eric Bischoff had been at odds over numerous things, many stemming from disagreements on booking philosophy between Flair and the Hulk Hogan camp (Hogan, Savage and Jimmy Hart).

The Hogan camp philosophy, stemming from their 1980s WWF success surrounded putting title belts on the top babyfaces and feeding them a succession of one heel after another, usually large and freaky, and having the top face never lose and the key faces never lose except in the case of major league screw-job. The packaging is largely aimed at creating merchandising stars and having a product geared toward young children.

The Flair philosophy, because of his own upbringing in the business and where his own strengths lied during his prime, placed more emphasis on good wrestlers, having mainly heel champions and having the babyfaces try to catch the heels. It's reminiscent of many of the territories' booking during the height of Southeastern territorial wrestling in the 70s and early 80s. One can say neither approach has proven to work in the 90s, but the fact is, what really has?”

Is this is a good summation of the differences between Flair & Hogan’s philosophies? Did Flair not know Hogan coming in would alter everything?

“Flair, who will remain in the company but no longer be a part of the booking committee, was replaced by Bischoff because he was unwilling to work 40-hour weeks in the office which Flair felt would force him to move his family from Charlotte to Atlanta, something he refused to do. Flair has outside business interests, in particular a few Gold's Gyms, in North Carolina and is a major public figure in his home city. That was a lot of the reason but don't rule out other factors including Randy Savage still being upset at the finish at

the Great American Bash (not necessarily that he lost via pinfall but that the loss was done without outside interference which was the original plan), the continuing power struggle between Flair and the Hogan camp over booking decisions, the continuing of Renegade as TV champion and the decision against Flair's will to put Big Van Vader into the Dungeon of Doom for two weeks.”

This was just a pressure cooker waiting to explode wasn’t it?

Was there any point in time you were worried you would lose Flair - or hurt the locker room with all this?

What did Hulk think of this transition? Was there anyone really against it?

“Flair is under contract with WCW through late 1997. Flair's friend, Arn Anderson at this point is still a member of the booking committee.

The change to Sullivan won't be that much of a change because the power was before and still is with Hogan and Hart. Sullivan's main job will be a combination of implementing whatever ideas he has with whatever new and old talent he wants to use but more importantly, continuing to appease Hogan. Since Sullivan's wife (Woman) has been a fixture with ECW for some time and Sullivan used to work there and is familiar with the talent, there is a lot of talk that he'll try and shore up the undercard with some of the ECW wrestlers.

Paul Heyman largely discounted the idea of a large scale raid on the belief that Sullivan himself knows his position is tenuous and that WCW booker has proven to be a scapegoat position ever since the formation of the company and that eventually Sullivan, who doesn't have a long-term WCW contract and is 46-years-old, may need to return to ECW and thus won't want to burn that bridge.”

That’s coming directly from Heyman I’m sure, but was that a goal of Sullivan to go out and grab talent with the expansion of the TV product?

“Several names have been bandied about over the past week as being considered, among them are The Head Hunters, Public Enemy, Eddy Guerrero, Al Snow, Chris Benoit, Shane Douglas, Woman and Disco Inferno (Glen Gilburnetti).”

Talk about a list of talent there Eric, well besides Disco…

“Eddy Guerrero is one of the top six or seven pure workers in the world today. However,

neither WWF nor WCW have to this point even tried, let alone had success in pushing someone of his size as anything past mid-card. One look at WCW's track record with having Brian Pillman, who is a bigger man than Guerrero, for more than five years tells a story in itself. Guerrero, who is only 27, has been waiting for a chance in the U.S. and with his spot in AAA drying up due to the economic collapse in Mexico, only has a part-time job in Japan and some ECW dates on his calendar. If they want him and make a serious offer, I can't see him turning it down. And if he is used correctly, perhaps recreating the light heavyweight title and giving is some serious play and being put in a feud with Pillman, the two will be able to save all but the very worst PPV shows.”

Did you see, very early on, that Eddy could’ve been bigger in WCW if given the opportunity or was his size against him?

“Lee Marshall and Mike Tenay both received try-outs this past week as announcers. Both auditions were said to have gone well and it wouldn't be a surprise to see either get a regular gig. Reports that either would wind up on the Monday Night show seem premature as it's almost a certainty that Eric Bischoff is going to host that show.”

You’re expanding the commentators as both will be eventually brought in. Are you there for these tryouts?

Why Marshall & Tenay do you know? How do they land on your radar or come about for a tryout?

“Rumor has it that WCW's first Monday night taping on 9/4 may come from the Paramount in Madison Square Garden.”

Was this ever in consideration?

“WCW Pro tapings on 7/10 in Augusta, GA drew 4,900 fans (1,500 paid; $8,000) with Jimmy Hart and Kevin Sullivan running the show. Paul Orndorff and Terry Taylor served as editors ordering matches re-taped, which previously had been rare for WCW.”

How important was Orndorff & Taylor and how much of a difference was a TV taping with Jimmy Hart & Kevin Sullivan in charge, against say, a Flair?

“They are making new tag team and TV title belts.”

Who commissioned these and who did you go to? Was it time to refresh the products? Was this about licensing?

This is the one year anniversary of Hulk Hogan’s arrival in WCW…how did that first year go in your mind for WCW?

The main event will be Hogan vs. Vader - and was there any trepidation in Hulk with working with Vader? Did you need to sit down with Leon and go - don’t beat up Hulk?

Right before the Bash it sounds like you were sitting down with some rather interesting folks…

“The big news behind-the-scenes were that Tank Abbott, fresh from UFC, was at the hotel talking with Eric Bischoff before the show and having dinner with WCW promoter Zane Bresloff after the show although reports are that any dealings would simply be that Bischoff would send him to K-1 in Japan rather than him training to be a pro wrestler. In addition, backstage at the show was Jim Hellwig who was being discussed for a 1996 run against Hulk Hogan, but reports we get are for legal reasons in that Titan owns his likeness merchandising and he can't use the Warrior name or gimmick or likeness in WCW, the odds are less than 50% that would be put together.”

Now we know Bresloff would tell things to Meltzer - but do you remember any discussions with Tank Abbott at this time?

Did you have any conversations whatsoever with Jim Hellwig at this show?

Now Baywatch was at this show filming - was there any issues with them and was this why the location was chosen?

The show draws…160,000 buys. Up 100,000 from the previous month with no Hulk Hogan but down from 225,000 with Hogan’s PPV debut against Ric Flair. What do you think was the reason for that drop off in purchases?

We’re here at the show now Eric and it is not well received by the Wrestling Observer readers…89.4% thumbs down. Not what you’re looking for on the biggest pay-per-view of the year is it?

From Meltzer’s recap:

“It was the night the WCW announcing team made Vince McMahon look like George

Washington with their outrageous lies about crowd size, with several references to the crowd being "hundreds of thousands."

Bash at the Beach was two different shows viewing it live and on PPV. Due to having no bleachers, fans live had a difficult time seeing anything when the wrestlers were on the mat and could see nothing at ringside unless they were in the first few rows. From a fan standpoint live, the show was one of the worst cards I've ever seen aside from the most rinky-dink independent. It wasn't as bad on PPV, although still a thumbs down. The idea of doing a show on the Beach, with the crowd shots and aerial shots and the different location was a great idea and I hope they make it an annual affair (and at the same beach). It was a great afternoon but the wrestling matches were clearly the worst part of the afternoon. It was hard to tell on television, but there was very little heat for most of the show, the people there for the most part had some awareness of wrestling but I wouldn't call them wrestling fans for the most part. They knew the wrestlers from the 80s like Hogan, Flair, Sting, Savage and Hawk, but really didn't react to anyone else.”

The atmosphere live and how it came across on television are two vastly different things, but were there issues with the setup, what could’ve been done better and what was done right?

“They had no idea of the current WCW storylines, although that's probably for the best. It appeared that most their thought the show was a total bush league affair because of the poor set-up and just how bad most of the matches came across. There were tons of people throwing bottles at the ring and that wasn't from heel heat but due to boredom. It was also the night of excuses for WCW. Unlike WWF wrestlers and others that I've spoken with since King of the Ring, who made no excuses and admitted the show was awful, WCW was the opposite. The excuses were plentiful. It was too hot outside so the crowd didn't react. Actually the temperature was pleasant. It was a heel crowd. Actually the crowd simply hated Renegade and didn't care about most of the other faces. It doesn't matter because "our main audience is kids now." If that's the case, how come there were almost no kids at the show. It's not like parents won't take their kids to the beach on a Sunday afternoon. As compared to major beach volleyball tournaments, the set up was terrible as their were no bleachers except for a small section reserved for employees of Slim Jim.”

Are any of those excuses valid? I mean Meltzer was there instead of home this time…what say you?

“The largest number I got was an estimated 9,500 during the Main Event show. There were definitely more fans between 3 and 4 p.m. than any other time, and both the heat and crowd numbers declined because the live Main Event hour contained only seven minutes of wrestling. Most of my estimates were in the 9,000 range and the crowd was definitely thinner in the corners during the PPV than during the Main Event show.

A WCW official who was telling the truth said the company actually believed the figure was 12,000 but probably would say 30,000 to 40,000. In no way was it the largest crowd ever to see a WCW event in the United States despite that line being said over-and-over throughout the show.”

I don’t blame you for trying to put over how big the crowd is…or really any promoter. Is there a level of dishonesty that you have to have to help promote the brand? Or do you think it’s just the old school carny wrestling way of doing business?

“Another WCW official said it had to be more than 15,000, and there were TV news reports claiming the figure at 20,000 to 30,000. The show got tremendous news coverage on all the local TV stations and was front page of the local Orange County Register the next day, so from a visibility standpoint it was a success, although many of the TV stations call it a World Wrestling Federation show. It didn't appear to me that there were any more fans at this show than at the AAA show the night before and I've been to Beach Volleyball events that drew 10,000 that seemed to be more people than at this show, and the AAA show tickets averaged $21 per head and this show was free. Because of the lack of bleachers, whatever the number there was about as many people as were going to be able to see anything.”

The goal is coverage and for the show to be a success…where would the success come from regarding a free gate, just pay-per-view purchases or the coverage itself by the media?

“On the pre-show:

Gene Okerlund interviewed Nick Bockwinkel who announced that the cage match would have an over-the-top climbing stipulation rather than the pinfall finishes in previous WCW cage matches. A new way to do a cage match without having anyone do the job so Vader to the end managed to do an entire program with Hogan without doing a pinfall.”

Was this put in because of Vader not wanting to lay down for Hogan? Do you think that helped sour your experience with Vader and want to move on from him - or was it just the issue with Orndorff being the straw that broke the camels back?

“They followed with a Dungeon of Doom video (they had a video screen but probably 90% of the crowd couldn't see it so if it weren't for the fact the waves were great, it would have been one boring hour with all these interviews) which talked about the card "tomorrow." This was followed by an interview with Kevin Sullivan and an interview with Hogan and Dennis Rodman with Hogan announcing Rodman would be in his corner. Then an interview with Baywatch babes, a presentation of a motorcycle to Hogan with Hogan saying he wanted to raffle off a cycle to the fans (which never happened). At this point the really tall guy showed up (Paul Wight) wearing a shirt like the one Andre used to wear, took it off and threw it at Hogan who acted stunned saying it was Andre's shirt. They were saying he was 7-3 or 7-4.”

This is quite the way to debut Wight, include Dennis Rodman and also show off the Baywatch babes. There was a lot going on in WCW at this time wasn’t there?

“1. Sting retained the U.S. title pinning Meng in 15:31. Match was awful live but much better on PPV. At one point Sting got the scorpion deathlock on but let it go when Parker got on the apron allowing Meng to do a blindside kick and a brainbuster for a near fall. He did three straight backbreakers for another near fall. Meng tried a sunset flip but Sting sat on his face. Meng came back with a boston crab. Sting used a Thesz press for a near fall and a huracanrana which the ever alert Tony Schiavone called simply, "a great move." He tried the Stinger splash but Meng kicked him in the face for a near fall and did a splash off the middle rope for a near fall. Sting won with a sloppy schoolboy. After the match Meng attacked Sting, and got a lot of cheers for doing so because this was an ECW-type crowd (not in terms of being smart but in terms of wanting blood, which they weren't about to get) before Hawk came out.

**”

Was the crowd an issue with what they wanted to see - and is that a risk you take with having no charge to attend?

Do you think it was a mistake to transition Meng from the suit wearing badass to the Tongan monster…because Meng in that suit…he was an intimidating motherfucker.

This…isn’t great but it’s not terrible either. Speaking of terrible though…

“2. Renegade retained the TV title pinning Paul Orndorff in 6:12.

No heat at all, though Orndorff received most of the cheers. Orndorff worked a solid match, but like Arn Anderson before him, that isn't enough. Highlight was Renegade hitting two of the worst dropkicks on record. Renegade is said to be a student of Killer Kowalski but you can guess that Killer disavows any knowledge of ever teaching him anything. Nobody else did either. Renegade won with a sloppy back suplex with the storyline being Orndorff got his shoulder up but the ref was out of position to see it. Orndorff attacked him and piledrove him after the match, but Renegade popped back up and hit a crossbody. Tons of boos when Renegade popped up.

DUD”

This was the beginning of the end of the Renegade character being pushed as within the next 3 months he would drop the title to DDP. Why did you just keep trying?

“3. Kamala pinned Jim Duggan in 6:06.

This match belonged in another decade. So did the finish. Duggan hit a clothesline, then went after Sullivan. With the ref distracted, Zodiac (Ed "The Beefcake Butcher Barber" Leslie) hit Duggan from behind allowing Kamala to make the pin.

-1/4*”

My goodness Eric - I’m surprised the crowd didn’t rush to the ring at this point and get their money back for the free show…

“Before the next match they plugged that the next PPV would be 8/4 being the taped show from Korea before "300,000 fans" (well, if you add both shows up together that isn't a lie) and said how WCW and New Japan combined for this great event. Let's see, there was one wrestler from WCW one night and none the other. There were four wrestlers from ECW on those shows and four from All Japan women.”

I mean…Flair was the only WCW wrestler on the show…moving on…

“4. Diamond Dallas Page pinned Dave Sullivan in 5:04.

A kid came to the ring with flowers to the Diamond Doll and Page started mistreating her. Sullivan ran in and stuffed the flowers down Page's throat. The big pop during this match wasn't that the fans were into it, but when you play back and hear the pop, it's because a woman at ringside took her top off and the heat from the crowd was the police hauling her off. The match itself had no heat. Sullivan got his upside down bearhug on when, guess what? Max Muscle jumped on the apron, Sullivan went after him, Page got him from behind and used the Diamond cutter for the pin. That was the fourth time in five matches that spot had been used, three of the four being heel win finishes. Suffice to say nobody spent more than a few seconds going over the finishes.

1/2*”

That’s just an agenting issue isn’t it?

“5. Harlem Heat retained the tag titles in the triangle match over Nasty Boys and Blue Bloods in 13:41. The rules were never explained to the fans live so nobody understood the finish. They were explained on television but nobody understood the finish anyway. Bobby Heenan didn't understand them based on his commentary.

The only one who figured the rules out was Tony Schiavone and whomever came up with them. The deal was that it wasn't an elimination match, it would just end with the first pinfall and whomever got that pinfall would be world tag team champions. Heenan kept talking about both teams wanting to keep Heat in the ring so they could win the title when keeping Heat in the ring was irrelevant. It also made the match make no sense because whomever scored the winning pin would get the belts so why would a team member tag someone from a different team because it was for the time being eliminating their chances of winning? Schiavone actually picked up that point but I guess nobody who booked the match did. So the match consisted of sloppy brawling and made absolutely no sense.

Finish saw Jerry Sags backdrop Booker T who fell on Steve Regal. Brian Knobs went for the pin on Regal but T fell in between. Since T was the one on top of Regal, it meant Heat won the match and retained the title. This was never made clear live and nobody could figure out what was going on.

-1/2*”

This is one of those cute ideas that someone thought of but no one REALLY thought of…

“6. Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair with an elbow off the top rope in 13:55 in a Lumberjack (Lifeguard)

match.

Flair talked about Elizabeth during his interview but at this point she isn't coming in, it's just Flair doing interviews. Finish saw Arn Anderson try to interfere but was decked. Savage then backdropped Flair over the top rope where the face lumberjacks caught him breaking the bump. What about the DQ rule? With the ref distracted, Anderson gave Savage a DDT and Flair went for the pin but Savage kicked out. Savage made a big comeback culminating in the elbow off the top. This was nowhere near as good as their previous match, but compared with the rest of the show it was.

**¾”

Was there talks at this point of Liz coming in or was that just Ric being Ric in the promo?

All these lumberjacks…and inside the ring you got two of the best workers ever. Was it too much?

“7. Hogan kept the WCW title beating Big Van Vader in 13:13.

Vader threw some great punches. Hogan, who is normally the absolute master in controlling the audience, put on the Vader headgear and head-butted Vader which totally killed the crowd for the next several minutes (I'm not sure why, I guess it made the match comedy inside a cage, but it was obvious the match was dead for a few minutes). Vader worked hard enough to carry it to a watchable match. Vader missed a senton off the top rope which if he had hit would have been the end of Hogan's career. Hogan got the bodyslam at 9:20 but sold that his back was injured doing it. Vader did a splash off the top rope for a near fall. Hogan made the superman comeback and hit two legdrops. At this point Hogan was stalling doing posing as I guess his buddy and the booker were a little slow on their cue. Finally Sullivan and Zodiac did a run-in but were chased off by Rodman.

Hogan climbed the cage, Vader got up after him. Hogan punched Vader who crotched himself on the top and Hogan climbed out. They pretended to go off the air while Flair came out but the cameras kept rolling. Flair started yelling at Vader for losing, which made perfect sense since Flair never lost to Hogan. Vader got mad. Arn Anderson came in. Vader said "boo" and both ran away. That incident was so strong that Vader then issued a challenge to both men for a handicap match in one of the weakest babyface turns on record.

**½”

My goodness Eric…what a way to close the show and in fact Vader’s last pay-per-view match with WCW. What’s Hulk like after the show? Happy?

Were you? I mean…this is an all-time classicly bad show…and you’re literally about to set the world on fire with Nitro in just 8 weeks…is this more proof you were a TV company compared to a pay-per-view company?

What did you learn from the show, shooting it outdoors like this, and implement in the future?

Was there ever any talk of going back to the beach for this?

Did this help inspire running shows like Hog/Road Wild?

What say you Eric - a failed experiment?