By "Net.cop" Scott Keith

The Updated Netcop Guide to Every PPV, Ever!

Okay, as most of my faithful readers know, I did a column last year listing my capsule reviews for every WCW and WWF PPV up to that point. I left off at Unforgiven and Slamboree 98, so we'll pick up from there, and do ECW's while we're at it.

For the curious, the original columns are on my website at http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/4693/misc.htm

I love easy columns.

On with the shows!

WWF, 1998-present.

- In Your House: Over the Edge was the show that presented the (in my opinion) Match of the Year for 1998 in Dude Love v. Steve Austin. I gave it ****3/4 at the time and it still holds up today, with an electric crowd that blew the roof off the place after a mediocre undercard. Nothing really sucked on this show, which is a big compliment considering the WWF's current trend towards moving away from wrestling. Recommended.

- King of the Ring 98 was a mixed bag. I know everyone creams about Mick Foley falling off the top of the cage, but the match, viewed as a match, really sucked. There were some decent moments on the show, however: Rock v. Shamrock for the King title was a good match for both guys, The New Age Outlaws v. The New Midnights in the only match pitting the NWA champions against the WWF champions that I've ever seen is interesting for historical reasons, and Austin v. Kane is a pretty decent brawl. The rest is pretty much fast forward material. Mildly recommended if you like wrestling, highly recommended if you've never actually seen Hell in the Cell II.

- In Your House: Fully Loaded was pretty much a filler show. Austin and Undertaker win a meaningless WWF tag title, Rock and HHH battle to a draw, and that's really all I can remember off the top of my head. Shows how memorable that show was, huh? Recommendation to avoid.

- Ah, but things were looking up with Summerslam 98, the MSG show that rocked the house. Rock has a ladder rematch with HHH that hits ****1/2, Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock put on a fabulous little spotfest that hits **** by my count, and Austin polishes off the Undertaker cleanly. We should be so lucky this time around. This was also the show that began "Rock-A-Mania" and his sort-of face turn. Highly recommended.

- In Your House: Breakdown is a Canadian show, so how can I not love it? Seriously, Rock v. Shamrock v. Foley in a #1 contender's match is awesome with a super-hot crowd cheering on the Rock every step of the way, and Austin loses the World title?!? Worth a look, so mildly recommended.

- In Your House: Judgment Day is not-so-good. Kane and Undertaker put on a suckfest that is the toilet paper on the heel of wrestling (thanks, Dean) and we still don't have a World champion. Some pretty good wrestling marked the show (Christian v. Taka, D-Lo v. X-Pac, NAO v. Headbangers), but overall who cares about this show? Recommendation to avoid.

- Survivor Series 98 continues the mediocrity trend, as the Rock fulfills his destiny and captures his first WWF title, but screws over the fans and turns heel with a goofy ending in the process. Austin v. Mankind is pretty good, the rest is so-so at best. Recommendation to avoid.

- In Your House: Rock Bottom is the Rock Show. And it's another Canadian one. Mankind gets a big pop for his (overturned) WWF title victory, although the real thing was soon after this. Shamrock and Bossman blow their shot at the tag titles here, but win them soon after. pretty much a meaningless show in the grand scheme of things. Recommendation to avoid.

- Royal Rumble 99 kicks off the new year, and it scored the biggest buyrate ever to that point. This, however, is the "Vince wins the Rumble" show, which seriously pissed off a huge number of people at the time. The Rock v. Mankind "I Quit" match is pretty good, however, albeit with a dumb ending that gives Rock WWF title #2. I was left underwhelmed by this show, but not enough to dislike it. Neutral feelings.

- In Your House: St. Valentine's Day Massacre was a big step up, with everyone turning in an effort. Austin v. Vince was great for a cripple fighting a 50-year old man, Rock v. Mankind part 8 million is the usual **** affair with Rock debuting "Smackdown Hotel" and (what I maintain is) a killer match with Kane & Chyna v. HHH & X-Pac. I've been taken to task for liking that match, but I've survived worse. Recommended.

- Wrestlemania XV was disappointing for many people, but I liked it, SO THERE. But then I spent weeks hyping the show on the newsgroup and my webpage, so maybe I'm not partial. Rock v. Austin is very good, and X-Pac v. Shane is surprisingly good, as is Kane v. HHH. Mildly recommended.

- In Your House: Backlash was just last week, so shame on you if you need me to recap it here. But needless to say, Rock v. Austin is another MOTY candidate, but the rest is mediocre. Excepting HHH v. X-Pac, which I really, really liked, and which has again started the "Scott works for the WWF" rumors. Silly people. Neutral feelings on the show.

WCW, 1998-present.

- We start with Great American Bash 98, a boring and pretty big waste of everyone's time. This is the show with the Geriatric Park match with Bret Hart & Hulk Hogan v. Roddy Piper & Randy Savage. Just awful. Goldberg makes a token appearance to wake up the crowd, and Fit Finlay goes from TV champ back to jobber in one fell swoop. Booker T v. Chris Benoit is worth checking out if you didn't see any of the 14000 matches that led up to this show, however. Recommendation to avoid.

- Bash at the Beach 98 was a mild step up on the undercard, as Goldberg has moved from squashing JTTS as US champion into the bigger and better realm of squashing JTTS as World champion. And it's the dreaded Wrestling Basketball Player match, with Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman settling their feud in the ring. Exciting stuff, no? A couple of good cruiserweight matches can't save it. Recommendation to avoid.

- Road Wild 98. Man, what do you say here? It's the infamous Jay Leno show, with Leno & DDP v. Hogan & Bischoff. The less said the better. I declared it the worst PPV of all time after seeing it, but WCW would soon outdo itself. Still, strong recommendation to avoid.

- Fall Brawl 98. See, Warrior is chasing Hogan, because Hogan is afraid of the killer steam that rises from the ring, but it's not really Warrior, it's Renegade, and...oh, never mind, it's a horrible show. Peak match is Saturn v. Raven at **1/2. This took the "Worst PPV of all time" crown from Road Wild and held onto it for, oh, a good two months. Strong recommendation to avoid for too many reasons to list in one paragraph. Trust me, you'll watch this show and go "What the HELL were they thinking?" about 10 times.

- WCW made a mini-comeback with Halloween Havoc 98, featuring a (gasp!) GOOD Goldberg title defense against DDP of all people. Still, it's marred by the black eye of Hogan v. Warrior II, called the worst wrestling match in history by Dave Meltzer. Still, the opener is good and the main event is good, so it's worth a look. Mildly recommended.

- And then we go diving right back into the giant cesspool that is WCW's booking committee with World War III 98. Kevin Nash eliminates all 59 other guys single-handedly...well, maybe not, but it felt that way. I've heard rumors that Bret Hart v. DDP for the US title was good, but then these are the same people who are convinced he's going back to the WWF in two weeks, so take that for what it's worth. This show is also a strong contender for "Worst PPV of all time". Three in four months! Strong recommendation to avoid.

- As is WCW's yearly tradition, they screwed up Starrcade 98 as well. Nash ends the Goldberg streak at 172 and six months later they're regretting it every single day that goes by. Flair fights Bischoff...and loses. We see the PPV debut of Norman Smiley and Jerry Flynn. Two good matches to start with Kidman v. The LWO almost, but not quite, make this a watchable show. And since the entire LWO angle was dropped two weeks after this, that pretty much cancels out the goodness. Recommendation to avoid.

- Souled Out 99 kicks off the year and, not surprisingly, sucks. Well, okay not entirely, as the show starts out with some good stuff and goes downhill thanks to the gigantic nWo beatdown of David Flair. Still, the good stuff is pointless and dreary as always because god forbid WCW should promote something without nWo connections. Mild recommendation to avoid.

- Superbrawl IX featured the return to PPV of the epic Flair v. Hogan feud, which no one wanted to see. Flair gets screwed over by his own kid here. There's some good stuff buried here (Booker T v. Disco Inferno, Horsemen v. Hennig/Windham with a result no one wanted to see) but the card overall is intensely frustrating to watch as a fan. This would be the card that marked the online resurgance of Scott Steiner, even though I hated the match against DDP here. We'll say mildly recommended for this one.

- Uncensored was a definite step in the right direction, with the Horsemen finally winning the tag titles, Flair finally beating Hogan (albeit in majorly screwy fashion) and Booker T beating Scott Steiner for the TV title. The wrestling was actually worse than Superbrawl, but it felt like a better show. Recommended.

- Spring Stampede was a very good card, with DDP winning his undeserved World title in the main event four-way, and Blitzkrieg rocking the house against Juventud Guerrera. Plus the Horsemen put on a wrestling show against Saturn and Raven. Plus Booker T manages to drag yet another good match out of Scott Steiner. Will miracles never cease? Strong recommendation.

In the home stretch now...

ECW, 1997-present.

- Barely Legal was the first ECW show, and it got glowing reviews at the time. Guess what -- it ain't so great. Take away the mind-blowing Michinoku Pro match and there's not much there. Oooo, Terry Funk wins the World title, big deal. Shane and Pitbull 2 put on a match that's not afraid to suck, Rob Van Dam does a spotfest, Taz and Sabu have a disappointing match that took two years to build to...all in all, I say "bleh" after seeing this show dozens of times. It just don't hold up. Get some MPro tapes instead. Mild recommendation to avoid.

- Hardcore Heaven 97 was the infamous "bad lighting" show and it definitely charges headlong into suck territory. Tommy Dreamer has an epic brawl with Jerry Lawler of all people. Funk, Sabu and Douglas try to recreate the original three-way dance and fail miserably. The Dudley Boyz fight PG-13. When I'm listing THAT as a highlight, you know you're in trouble. Strong recommendation to avoid.

- November to Remember 97 is yet another putrid little show as Paul Heyman attempts to play with the big boys. Douglas and Bam Bam Bigelow put on a snoozefest for the ECW title, Tommy Dreamer fights Rob Van Dam in a match where even *I* was booked to run in at one point (just kidding), and, uh, that's about it. Oh, yeah, almost forgot about the WORST MATCH IN THE HISTORY OF WRESTLING, Sabu v. Sandman. Strong recommendation to avoid.

- Living Dangerously 98 was the show where everyone figured that Paul might get his shit together, and again they were wrong. Taz puts Bam Bam through a hole in the ring and the Triple Threat fight Lance Storm and Al Snow (oops, spoiled the surprise partner) in a joke of a match. Say it with me, kids...strong recommendation to avoid.

- Wrestlepalooza 98. Woof. This was bad. I'm talking Bash 91 bad. Al Snow allegedly wrestles Shane Douglas in the main event, but it only resembled wrestling in a general sense. Sabu fights partner Rob Van Dam in a 30 minute clunker, and the rest is FAST FORWARD, BABEE! Strongest recommendation to avoid!

- Heatwave 98 was much better. Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka do all sorts of nasty things to each other and nearly steal the show. Candido fights ex-partner Storm and they deliver a good performance, Justin Credible and Jerry Lynn pull off a good one, and a pretty entertaining brawl ends the night. Probably the best PPV ECW had done and ever will. Recommended.

- November to Remember 98 is back to the crap formula again, as Shane "Haven't wrestled for 8 months but I'm still the champ" Douglas and the Triple Threat take on Sabu, Van Dam and Taz in a god-awful match. The rest is the usual overbooked nonsense from Paul E. Strong recommendation to avoid.

- Guilty As Charged 99 was yet another fast foward special for me, although Van Dam and Lance Storm pull out a good one and Douglas finally loses the damn title to Taz. And that Sid guy debuts. Not much else of note besides a kickass Tajiri v. Super Crazy match. Mildly recommended.

- Living Dangerously 99 was a very up and down show. I liked Van Dam v. Lynn, didn't like much else though besides Tajiri v. Super Crazy Part II. Recommendation to avoid, especially the incredibly painful to watch NuJack v. Mustafa "match".

And that's that! Look for another update next year. Maybe. And a reminder that full reviews for almost all of these shows, and many others, can be found on my web page, URL below.