To be brief, Netcop said he couldn't recap the show right away, and since both WrestleLine and Rantsylvania needed some sort of rant on the show, I figured that since I'm the only other person who works on both sites, I should be the one to do it.

In the process I'm going to be ordering my first pay-per-view since Summerslam 1998, as well as going back on my word after the debacle that was Starrcade 1997 never to watch another WCW pay-per-view ever again. Not to mention a promise I made to myself to stay away from WCW for a few weeks after that pinata-on-a-pole/Oklahoma trainwreck from last Monday night. What I won't do for you people. But at least I can now claim the cost of the pay-per-view as a business expense.

Just a brief note for those of you who follow me religiously: I know I've been hard on WCW in the past, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't still have a bad taste in my mouth over the legal threats they made at me last year. But I have a lot more respect for Bill Busch, whose modus operandi is to make WCW better, than I do for Eric Bischoff, who seemed more interested in destroying the competition than making his own product better. And for all the big things the Powers That Be have done wrong in WCW, I think they're doing a lot of little things right, which is more than WCW's been doing for me since 1997.

Still, expectations going into this pay-per-view are not what I would call high, not on my end anyway. I will try to refrain from going to the Hot Poker Up the Ass rating system for as long as I can, but if the suckitude factor gets too high, I may have to use it in order to convey exactly how bad things are.

Okay, enough of that: The Shannon Substitute Rant for WCW Mayhem 1999.

- Tony Jabroni voiceovers a video package highlighting the World title tournament to date. Tonight, Bret Hart vs. Sting, Chris Benoit vs. Jeff Jarrett, winners against each other to fill the vacant World title.

- We are live from hell. (No offense to Toronto, but anywhere WCW goes automatically becomes hell for a night.)

- The entranceway for the show looks suspiciously like the Raw set. Much more like the WWFE-tron than the Souled Out set.

- Our hosts are Tony and the Brain. Big-ass "We Want Bret!" chant as the announcers go over the show at the start. News: despite his injury, Rick Steiner must defend his TV title against Scott Hall's US title. Oh boy, that should be a great technical match.

- Jeff Jarrett vs. Chris Benoit, semi-final match in the WCW World Title Tournament. Well, as important as this match is in the card, it's probably their best choice for an opener, as it has the least potential to suck. Benoit has new theme music, and I don't know if I like it more or less than the old. Benoit also has a maple leaf on the back of his trunks, just to suck up even more to his countrymen (as if he needed help getting over up here). Benoit hits a tornado DDT early for two. Hangman's neckbreaker gets two. Top-rope vertical superplex gets two. This is not good pacing by Benoit if this match is to go on for any longer than ten minutes. To the outside Benoit continues his dominance until Jarrett hits the atomic-drop-into-the-ringpost. Big-ass "Benoit!" chant as Benoit is finally on the defensive, which probably goes unnoticed by Russo and Ferrera. Back to the inside, Jarrett hits a powerslam for two. Hanging vertical suplex gets two. Trading pin sequence (only three steps), then Jarrett clotheslines Benoit down for two. Jarrett gets a sleeper (we can't be more than five minutes in), but Benoit doesn't go down for the third time. Benoit fights out, but a shoulder tackle takes him back down. Benoit gets a sleeper, but Jarrett turns it into a Stone Cold Stunner (no shortage of irony there). Benoit with the Iblockyourpunchyoudon'tblockmine, and back to the offensive. Triple Rolling German Suplex, bridge with the third for two. And here comes Creative Control, who I won't refer to by their singles names. Jarrett hot-shots Benoit on the top rope which sends him to the outside. Jarrett throws him back in and hits a top-rope cross body, but Benoit rolls through for two. Jarrett tries a sunset flip, but Benoit drops down and hooks the legs for two. Benoit hits a belly-to-back suplex and goes for the diving headbutt, and hits it. Cover, two, Creative Control pulls Benoit off. One of Creative Control distracts the ref while the other one beats up Benoit. Jarrett hits the Stroke and covers, but Dustin Rhodes is out from the crowd to pull Jarrett off at two. After the ref gets distracted with one of the members of Creative Control introduces a guitar, but Benoit eventually uses it on Jarrett to get the pin at about ten minutes. Ending was WAY overbooked. **1/4 Jarrett blades from the guitar shot, but he and Creative Control put the beat-down on Benoit after the match, prompting the Usual Gang of Idiots to come in and pull them off.

- Backstage Ixnay Tenay tries to interview Disco Inferno about his match later tonight, but Jarrett and Creative Control beat him up. Konnan, El Vampiro Canadiense and the Misfits all assist in the pull-apart.

- Evan Karagias (w/Madusa's breasts and Madusa) vs. Disco Inferno (w/Tony Marinara), Cruiserweight title match. I can understand being infatuated with someone old enough to be your mother, but only if the object of your affection is Isabella Rosellini. Disco is still reeling from the earlier attack and Marinara has to "encourage" Disco to make it to the match. Just to further piss me off, Marinara joins the broadcasters at ringside. Marinara calls Disco "Glen Gilbretti" because pseudo-shoot angles are the hot rage among all the KIDZ~! It's all Karagias for the first few minutes, which given his opponent is a Good Thing. Inferno comes back with a lame atomic drop. Clothesline gets two. Karagias gets a backslide but Disco is in the ropes at two. Back to the Disco offense until Evan gets a sunset flip for two. Spinning heel kick by Evan gets two, but Disco nails a Russian leg sweep soon after. Second-rope driving elbow gets two. Karagias gets thrown to the outside but nails Disco with a dropkick in the gut as he comes off the apron with a double axehandle. Back in the ring Karagias covers for two. Powerslam gets two. Disco gets the knees up on a splash as a "boring" chant starts. Disco rolls to the outside to sweet-talk Madusa, but Madusa slaps him in the face and Karagias rolls to the outside to retake the advantage. Marinara leaves the broadcast booth to offer Madusa an, um, business proposition, prompting Evan to exit the ring to defend her honour. Disco rolls outside the ring and gets a chair, but Marinara is the one who eats it. Karagias with a slingshot splash gets the pin, the money, the title and a big kiss from Madusa. Eight minutes about. *1/2 and that one bordered on overbooked as well.

- Backstage Bret Hart is walking, with a cup of Starbucks. With the Canadian exchange rate, that must have cost, what, $400.00?

- Elsehwere backstage Vince Russo is mad as hell at Jarrett for his screw-up, and tells Jarrett he has until the end of the night to prove himself.

- Yet elsewhere backstage Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Norman Smiley (in Toronto Maple Leafs goalie gear) about his Hardcore title match later tonight, to wit:

- "Nasty" Brian Knobs (w/"The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart and weapons dumpster) vs. "Screamin'" Norman Smiley, Hardcore title match. Ty Domi is supposedly in the crowd, which, given this is a WCW match, figures. There is now a Hardcore championship belt, and it's not busted up like the WWF's, just spiky like an ECW title. Cue the garbage wrestling, and unlike ECW, this action is uninspired, and in this kind of match, inspiration is what separates the **** matches from the -** matches. It's all Knobs to start, and Norman lives up to his new nickname for sure. Knobs misses a second-rope trashcan shot, and Smiley takes the advantage. Of course we get goalie-stick shots because this is Canada. Knobs nails a mule kick during the Smack My Bitch Up, and he decides to loosen Smiley's shin guards. This enables Smiley to retake the advantage, but only for a short time as he rolls to the outside. Hart gets in his obligatory offense to help turn the tide. Knobs to the outside and both men brawl into the back, where WCW does an even worse job of hiding the plunder than the WWF. Smiley takes a weak tableshot, and the fight goes on further through the back. HALF-GALLON OF MILK SHOT OF DOOM on Smiley, then they fight into the food area and a bunch of empty cardboard boxes. Smiley keeps screamin' away. Smiley and Knobs fight into a freight elevator which closes, then opens, and Hart accidentally nails Knobs as the door opens to enable Smiley to get the pin at about the eight minute mark, It got inspired, if a bit hokey, near the end. * After the match Knobs beats up Smiley AND Hart.

- Video package promotes the Filthy Animals/Revolution feud. Afterwords Mike Tenay interviews the Revolution about their upcoming match. You know, Shane Douglas and WCW are a perfect fit, really they are. Saturn goes off on dinosaurs and who cares. Okerlund gets the counterpoint from the Filthy Animals, and Torrie looks hot in red latex, I'll give her that.

- Elsewhere backstage Disco tries to convince Tony Marinara his chairshot was an accident, but Tony says tomorrow night he's "bringing the boys."

- Yet elsewhere backstage Jeff Jarrett, with Jim Duggan's 2-by-4, and Creative Control are looking for someone.

- Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn and Asya (w/Shane Douglas) vs. Eddy Guerrero, Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson (w/Konnan) in an elimination tag match. Douglas joins the broadcasters in the booth, damn it to hell. All four men in the ring to start, the Filthy Animals clean house. Finally we have Eddy and Malenko in the ring, and it doesn't take one minute for a "boring" chant to start up. Both men to the outside, where Saturn hits both men with an Asai moonsault. Kidman knocks Asya down off the apron, then hits the male Revolution members with a springboard plancha. Someone in the crowd pokes Malenko with a Canadian flag, and security escorts him away (looks like it wasn't a work.) In the ring Torrie and Asya face off, but Kidman sacrifices himself to Asya so Torrie can get a brief advantage. The male Revolution members get back in the ring, but as Torrie gets pulled off Asya he twists her ankle. Eddy goes to check on her, drawing Kidman's ire. Eddy pushes Kidman away, and Saturn rolls him up to eliminate Kidman away at the three minute mark. Eddy and Kidman jaw with each other after the fall, and Konnan eventually leaves ringside as all three Revolution members take turns destroying Eddy, with Saturn and Malenko doing a modified Demolition Decapitation. Asya does a nice hanging vertical suplex, I'll give her that. Eddy gets a rana on Malenko to eliminate him at the five minute mark, but Eddy's still facing two-on-one here. Asya holds Eddy back, but Eddy ducks and Asya tastes Saturn's superkick. Eddy nails the frogsplash on Asya to eliminate her at the seven-minute mark. Saturn is back in the ring, though, and takes the offensive solidly. Northern Lights suplex gets two. Eddy nails a jawbreaker to get out of a sleeper, then reverses a second one. Crowd I believe chants "Rocky!" at this point. Eddy back to the offense nails a tornado DDT for two. Saturn nails a Spicolli Driver but the referee is out of position and only counts two. Eddy dodges a top-rope elbow, but can't tag Torrie in because she's still on the floor on the outside clutching her ankle. Eddy nails a rana for two and climbs to the top to nail a top-rope plancha, but Saturn reverses it into the Rings of Saturn and Eddy submits at the ten-minute mark. So it's Saturn versus Torrie to close, and as soon as Torrie enters into the ring she cowers in the corner. Saturn pulls her out but she nails a low blow for two. Douglas leaves the broadcast booth to distract the referee while Saturn nails a low blow on HER, and Saturn pins her at the eleven-minute mark to be the sole survivor of the match. Say WHAT? It didn't totally suck at least. *1/4 Minutia: the idiot sound engineer tried to play theme music after every elimination depending on who got the fall.

- Backstage Creative Control and Jeff Jarrett are beating up Buff Bagwell.

- Curt Hennig vs. Buff Bagwell, career match. Oops, Bagwell doesn't come out to his music, and as the music starts again, Jeff Jarrett and Creative Control come into the ring and beat up Hennig. Bagwell comes out with Jarrett's two-by-four and cleans house, and finally the match starts. To the outside where Hennig tries to do the Rock's take-the-announcers-mic routine but doesn't do it anywhere near as well. This enables Bagwell to retake the advantage until Hennig nails a blatant groin kick. Back into the ring both men trade the offense, using no moves of note. Not much psychology here, either. You know, this match just sucks. Hennig grabs a sleeper at the five-minute mark (called a "rear chinlock" by Tony) but Bagwell's arm only drops twice. After a breakout spot Hennig grabs the sleeper again, but breaks it when he realizes the crowd is DEAD. Elbow drop by Hennig gets two. Bagwell finally fires back, nails a bodyslam, does his stupid-ass pose dance then misses an elbow drop (let's just call it another lame People's Elbow variation.) Inside cradle by Hennig gets two. Buff nails the Blockbuster out of nowhere to get the pin in eight minutes. 1/4* So is Curt Hennig going to be Russo's newest Amway agent or what? Hennig gets a standing ovation after the match from the rubes.

- Backstage Mike Tenay interviews Sting about his semi-final match later tonight against Bret Hart. Sting promises it may be Canada, but it'll still be showtime.

- Bret Hart (w/Team Canada hockey jersey) vs. Sting (w/ballbat), semi-final match in the WCW World Title Tournament. Sting's video opener is all clips of him beating up Bret, just to establish him as the heel. Sting should NOT have cut his hair, he looks stupid without the long hair. It's staring and talking to start things out, which normally would mean we'd get a good twenty minutes out of these two, but we all know how likely that is in this day and age of WCW. Bret gets the early advantage and tosses Sting to the oustide, and it's all brawling so far. Back into the ring Sting takes over with an eye gouge, and an eye rake firmly cements him as the heel. Bret comes out of the corner with a forearm to stop Sting, though. Vertical suplex by Bret gets two, but Sting nails a Golota to turn the tide back. Elbow drop by Sting gets two. Sting grabs a headlock, Bret breaks out but Sting knees Bret in the gut to stop it. Elbow drop to Bret's side gets two. To the outside and the broadcast table. Sting places Bret on the broadcast table and tries a running splash onto the table, but Bret rolls out of the way. Sting whips Bret into the STEEL guardrail to retake the offensive. To the inside again, Bret gets his foot up on the Stinger Splash. Sting holds the referee as Bret tries a top-rope axehandle, and we have a ref bump. Here comes the Total Package and Elizabeth, and the Package nails Sting his ball bat in the knee. Bret is up, though, and he grabs the bat from Luger and gives him a blatant groin kick. Bret cinches in the Sharpshooter on Luger, and the referee wakes up and calls for the bell at the seven-minute mark as Bret is your winner by disqualification. Bret doesn't want the victory, though, and after some talking with the referee the match gets restarted. FIVE MOVES OF DOOM time, but Sting gets his boot up on the second-rope elbow. Sting cinches in the Scorpion Deathlock in the middle of the ring, but Bret punches away at Sting's free leg (the one injured by Luger), forcing him to break the hold. Sting breaks the hold, and Bret cinches in the sharpshooter and Sting has to give it up in ten minutes. The overbooking night of hell continues. ** After the match Bret and Sting shake hands, just because Sting's heel turn has run its course and should never have happened in the first place.

- So Bret broke out of the Sharpshooter in Canada. Is it too much to hope Russo has gotten the allusions to Montreal out of his system now?

- Okerlund gets words with Benoit backstage. Benoit promises to test Bret on his "best there was" line tonight.

- Elsewhere backstage Tenay has caught up with the Total Package and Liz. Package is in a cervical collar, and insists he needs it to keep his spine aligned as a result of Bret's attack. Luger says he can't compete tonight as a result, but he promises to write a personal cheque to each of his.

- El Vampiro Canadiense (w/Jerry Only of the Misfits) vs. Berlyn (w/the Wall and crappy video treatment) in a chain match. And unfortunately before the match can start the University of Oklahoma theme music starts up, and here come "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Ed Ferrera (I refuse to mention him by any other name) make their way to the broadcast booth. Berlyn knocks the referee out before he can put the collar on him, and when all is said and done the Wall and Vampiro are fighting on the inside, while Berlyn puts the boots to Jerry on the outside. Finally Berlyn comes into the ring to make it a two-on-one affair. The Wall finally puts the collar around his neck as Berlyn goes back to working on Jerry. The Wall gets a chokeslam on Vampiro and goes for the pin, but Berlyn insists on making the pin himself. The Wall takes his collar off and looks at Berlyn as if to say, "Fine, do it yourself," and takes off to the back. Vampiro finally gets to be on the offense and gets a top-rope vertical suplex on Berlyn. Double-team vertical suplex (except Jerry doesn't do his half of the chancery). Vampiro hits the nail in the coffin, and cinches Berlyn in a chain-assisted camel clutch to get the submission. DUD I was too disgusted to check out the time of the match. Afterwards Dr. Death hits Jerry with the Oklahoma Stampede and Vampiro with the Dr. Bomb. No word yet on how many injuries he caused tonight.

- Backstage Tenay gets words with Scott Hall, and I guess now Rick Steiner has forfeited his match, as Hall is now carrying the US and TV titles. Hall does the worst thing you can do with Russo holding the book, and issues an open challenge for later tonight.

- Elsewhere backstage Curt Hennig is walking out on WCW for the last time. Sh'yeah right.

- And elsewhere backstage Kimberly Page is walking into WCW.

- The Total P- dammit, LEX LUGER (w/neck brace and Elizabeth) vs. Meng. Video package before the match starts sets this one up. Luger tries to run away, but Meng takes the fight to him. It's all Meng-Fu here until Luger comes back with a vertical suplex, but Meng no-sells and the fight goes to the outside. Looks like WCW gave about a dozen free Mayhem t-shirts out to people in the first few rows. Meng goes for the Tongan Death Grip, but Lex's neck brace stops it dead in its tracks. Meng pounds away at Luger instead, but Luger gets a powerslam for two. Luger sends Meng head-first into the corner, and Meng sells? Well, not for a second one. Meng is in full no-sell mode now, and it's time for more Meng-Fu. Standing sidekick gets two. Liz tries to unwrap a can of some kind of spray, and takes forever to do it, in a way recreating the "handcuff incident" back from Nitro in 1996. The spray "accidentally" goes into Luger's face of course, and Liz takes off. Meng removes Luger's neck brace, and the Tongan Death Grip finishes it in seven minutes. DUD

- Okerlund gets words with Bret Hart backstage. Bret promises to put his friendship with Benoit aside for the World title match tonight. Luger walks by yelling at somebody during the interview, but nothing comes of it.

- Elsewhere backstage, David Flair polishes his crowbar. No, not that one, get your mind out of the gutter.

- Scott Hall comes out to the ring, and it looks like he may have started the party a little early tonight, if you know what I mean. Is that Mark Madden that fatso I see in the front row in the brown suit? No, he looks about 100 pounds too light to be Madden. Hall says "Big Kev" is on his way here, and the two of them will turn Toronto upside-down. Which for Hall at this point would be right-side up. Hall re-issues his open challenge, and the sound crew screws up AGAIN by playing the opening of Harlem's Heat music, then cutting it off, waiting, then starting it up again. Thankfully the talented one comes out, and it's ...

- Scott Hall vs. Booker T., United States and Television title match. Scientific sequence to start out which Hall gets the better of, but a Harlem sidekick soon turns the tide. Crowd chants for the Rock again as Booker T. nails a side slam for two. Eye gouge turns the tide in Hall's favour, but a running forearm shot on Hall sends him to the outside. Back to the inside, Hall nails a chokeslam, but doesn't mock Paul Wight afterwords. It gets two. Blockbuster suplex by Hall, then he clotheslines Booker T. to the outside. Hall throws him back in and Hall covers for two. Straight right punch by Hall gets two. Sleeper by Hall as the crowd seems more interested in something going on in the crowd. Well, here comes Jeff Jarrett and Creative Control as Booker T. nails a backdrop suplex to break out of the sleeper. Booker T. nails his ax kick and Harlem sidekick and the crowd couldn't care less. Jarrett distracts the ref as Creative Control get punked out by Booker T., but Booker T. goes to the bottom rope to jaw with Jarrett, putting him in perfect position for the Outsider Edge for three. * Six minutes. Jarrett and Creative Control continue working on Booker T, but then the lights go out, the gong sounds, and when they come back up Mydnyte is in the ring and she takes out Creative Control. Be sure to buy Vince Russo's new book, "Everything I need to know about booking I learned from Paul Heyman."

- Backstage Lex Luger is looking for Elizabeth.

- The announcers recap the situations leading up to the Kimberly Page/David Flair match, and that leads to a video package which does much of the same. Say, who's that older gentleman who looks like an older Flair?

- David Flair (w/crowbar) vs. Kimberly Page. Well, at least Flair now has some kind of personality. This angle sucks six ways from Sunday, but at least some good came of it, right? Kimberly has one of those fake stretchy tattoos on her right arm because she's not cool enough to get a real one. Flair sets the crowbar down before the match starts. Kimberly kicks David down low (weakly), and Flair shrugs it off and goes for his crowbar. The referee gets knocked out, and Kimberly drops to her knees as Flair raises the crowbar high above his head. Kimberly tries to use her feminine wiles to stop David, and it works long enough for him to take his protective cup out from his pants. She starts pounding on him, then puts the cup over David's face and starts slapping and choking away at him. Kimberly gets pushed off, though, and her top starts to become undone, and we get a very good look at her cleavage. Flair has the crowbar, but all of a sudden Kanyon is in the ring to put the beatdown on Flair. DDP walks to the ring as Kanyon and Kimberly hug, but Flair nails Kanyon down low with the crowbar. DDP is in the ring and he nails Flair with the Diamond Cutter, but before he can use the crowbar on Flair, Arn Anderson is out to cover Flair out and rip the crowbar from DDP's hand. As the heels walk to the back Anderson hands the crowbar back to Flair, but then Flair whacks Anderson in the back with the crowbar. Flair does his psycho-stare and leaves through the crowd as the EMTs rush the ring to tend to Anderson. Uh, was there a match in here somewhere? Just to be kind to WCW I'll say there wasn't, otherwise I'd be getting into Netcop-reviewing-a-New-Jack-match territory with the negative stars. Crowd chants for the Rock and "ECW!" and for something happening in the crowd as the paramedics tend to Anderson.

- Video package (with a tape glitch and a censoring of the word "ass" but not "balls") to promote the I Quit match.

- Tenay interviewing Sid backstage. Sid says he can't say "I Quit." Uh, you just did, Sid.

- Sid vs. Goldberg, I Quit match. There's only 40 minutes left in the show as Sid's entrance starts, so don't expect another marathon from Bret and Benoit tonight. Goldberg still has some residual heel heat from his earlier exploit with Bret in Canada. Sid tries to jump Goldberg on the apron before the match but Goldberg still gets the early advantage. To the outside with Goldberg in control and a "Goldberg sucks!" chant breaks out. Back into the ring Sid takes the advantage and hits a cobra clutch slam as a small "Sid!" chant breaks out. Sid with some restholds as a small "Gillberg!" chant now breaks up. "Sid" chant again, only louder. Sid nails the chokeslam, but of course there are no pins. Another chokeslam, then Sid grabs a chokehold which the referee asks Sid to break - in an I Quit match, of all things. Goldberg counters into a headscissors, and the crowd BOOS! Oh man, WCW is just getting the Crowd From Hell treatment tonight. ANOTHER "Goldberg sucks!" chant as Goldberg works on Sid's arm. Goldberg pummels away at Sid, but Sid won't quit. Goldberg tries to cinch a cobra clutch on Sid, improperly, the referee drops Sid's arm once and CALLS FOR THE BELL! What the hell? 1/4* Six minutes if that, and the crowd is REALLY not happy as WCW obviously uses the heat machine to pump in some face heat.

- Backstage Okerlund interviews Luger. Luger chides Liz for screwing up, and promises to "get even" with Liz tomorrow.

- Chris Benoit vs. Bret Hart, WCW World Title tournament finals. Well, it's 27 minutes until the top of the hour, so unless these two can pull out a miracle, this match cannot save the show, even if Russo plays this one clean (HA!). Collar-and-elbow, Benoit pushed into the corner and the referee has to separate the two. Collar-and-elbow, Benoit with an arm drag takedown. Both men up, collar-and-elbow, Benoit with an arm bar, pushes Benoit into the corner and the break is semi-clean. Test of strength, Benoit gets an armbar out of it and works over Benoit's left arm with punches and finally takes Benoit down to the mat with it. Benoit powers out forcing Bret to the ropes, and Benoit gets a knee into Bret's gut. Irish whip, Benoit with another knee to the gut. Snapmare, and Benoit cinches in a headlock. Bret pulls Benoit over for a two-count, but Benoit rolls back over into the headlock. Bret pushes Benoit off but Benoit shoulder-blocks him over. Another whip-to-the-rope sequence sees Benoit hit a sunset flip but Bret's in the ropes. Both men go for their finishers but they're still in the ropes and both men to their feet. Test of strength but Benoit gets kicked in the gut and Bret punches him into the corner. Bret works him over there but Benoit reverses the whip out and Bret does his charge-into-the corner spot. Benoit to the outside where that fan with the flag charges back in and beats Benoit with the flag, then wipes off his facepaint to - well, the facepaint only comes half off, but Schiavone still identifies him as Dean Malenko. Bret comes out and beats on Malenko some, and Malenko eventually gets taken to the back by security. Back into the ring, Bret with a piledriver for two. Benoit comes back with some knife-edge chops, then hits a side backbreaker for two. Back body drop by Benoit. Backdrop suplex for two. Bret comes back with elbows, and DDTs Benoit for two. Irish whip to the ropes, Benoit twists out of a bodyslam and hits a Tombstone piledriver. Benoit signals for the diving headbutt, and he hits it but is late in making the cover. He gets two as DAMMIT, out come the Outsiders to take out the ref and beat up Benoit. Goldberg comes out to take out the Outsiders, but eats a chairshot from Hall. Bret takes care of Hall, going to the outside. Finally everyone else clears out of the ring as a second ref comes into the ring to resume the match, though the producer chooses to cover the Goldberg/Outsiders brawl down the aisle instead. Benoit hits a dragon screw leg whip on Bret's bad leg, according to Schaivone since we don't get to see it, and Benoit goes to work on Bret's leg. Hanging kneebreaker by Benoit. Stomping away at the knee now. This one's already been overbooked to all get-out, but somehow I have the feeling we're not done with the run-ins yet. Benoit with a figure-four, but Bret makes the ropes. Bret fights back some, but he's limping. Bret hits a side backbreaker for two. Bret places Benoit on the top, and nails a top-rope vertical superplex. Bret covers, but Benoit grabs the bottom rope at two. Russian leg sweep by Bret for two, as we're going through the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM in super-slow motion. Bret headbutts Benoit in the back, then tries to bodyslam him but his legs give out and Benoit gets a two-count, but gets pushed off to the outside. Bret lets Benoit get back up under his own power, then tries to vertical suplex him in but Benoit but Benoit slides out, hits a double rolling German suplex but Benoit blocks the third; Benoit tries a Dragon suplex but blocks that, and eventually both men trade up and Benoit almost gets the Crippler Crossface but Bret doesn't allow his neck to get hooked. Bret slides out, trips Benoit up, cinches in the Sharpshooter - and Benoit taps out in seventeen minutes. *** and it could have been more save for the run-ins. Several members of the Hart family enter the ring to help celebrate Bret's victory.

The bottom line: Eh, the finish to the main was clean but all those run-ins did spoil the match as a whole. Aside from the main, I had all of one match above **, and several DUDs, not to mention the Kimberly/Flair debacle which really tanked on all levels. One clean finish, and Bret finally getting the World title, doth not a good pay-per-view make.

The heavy hand of Russo was felt in too many of the matches, and especially in between matches. "Walking" scenes are understandable during a TV show because they send a message to the viewer, that message being, "Hey, this person's going to be on TV soon, stay tuned!" On a pay-per-view, though, it's safe to say that everyone IS going to stay tuned. And even if they don't, you've got their money already, so what's the point?

There were simply too many bad matches and too much overbooking here. Making matters worse was the crowd, which apart from anything Canadian didn't seem to care less. When the wrestler who gets the most chants on a pay-per-view is from another promotion, you know you're in trouble. If I didn't know better, I'd say this was a protest show. Sadly, listening to the Rocky chants was the most entertaining part of the show for me.

I don't deny that Russo played a large part in the success of the WWF, but only because his good ideas was tempered by the common sense of people like Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. WCW has let Russo loose with the reins of power, and the result is pretty much disastrous. He's alienating WCW's traditional fanbase and not really picking up any noticable amounts of WWF fans in return. Raw is still doubling up Nitro more weeks than not, and so far indications in merchandise and buyrate are that they haven't gone up noticably either.

I realize it may be a bit early to condemn the Russo/Ferrera era of WCW, but after this "Oklahoma/Pinata on a pole" match I am convinced Russo and Ferrera are booking to entertain themselves, instead of the fans. This show seemed to reek of that as well, as while they gave Bret the clean World title victory, they still had to have two run-ins in that match, and countless run-ins in the other matches. Aside from the main, no match went longer than ten minutes. And even with twelve matches, the lucha contingent was nowhere to be seen.

This wasn't quite as repulsive as Starrcade 1997, the only other WCW pay-per-view I have ever bought, but in all fairness I don't see how anyone, whether a sports entertainment fan or a wrestling fan, could have enjoyed this show.

Recommendation to avoid, unless you like Crowd From Hell events.