As with pretty much all of the WCW PPV's I have reviewed thus far, this show is available to watch on the WWE Network.
WCW Uncensored 1997
Charleston, South Carolina 3/16/97
1.) WCW United States Title - No DQ Match - Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko: ****1/2
Guerrero comes into this as the US Champion. Of course, when you get two guys as good as these two, you know it's going to be good, and it absolutely was. Just great stuff all around from both guys, and the No DQ Stipulation I think allowed them to do more stuff. Sadly, the downside of this stipulation was the interference late in the match involving n.W.o. Member Syxx (Sean Waltman) and his hand-held camera. Syxx gets disposed, but his camera ends up getting used by Malenko, who hits Guerrero with it, getting the victory and wins the United States Title. Again, aside from the finish, this was a great match. I should also note that during this match, they cut to backstage where Rick Steiner (who is supposed to be on Team WCW in the Main Event) laid out with n.W.o. Members Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Syxx standing over him.
2.) Psychosis vs. Ultimo Dragon (with Sonny Onoo): ***
No real backstory to this match, just two guys having a Cruiserweight Match. It was pretty good. Obviously not as good as the opener, but fine for what it was. Ultimo Dragon wins.
Up next, we get "Mean" Gene Okerlund doing an interview with DDP on the entrance stage. Essentially things have been brewing between DDP and Randy Savage (who is now a member of the n.W.o.), so DDP calls out the Macho Man. He comes out with Liz and says he now respects DDP....after seeing DDP's wife, Kimberly, naked in an issue of Playboy. They show the magazine piece of Kimberly, but with the n.W.o. Logo covering her private parts. Kimberly comes out, and apparently she's been branded (spray painted) by the n.W.o.! DDP goes to consoled her but he is attacked by Savage, who then spray paint's DDP and then he & Liz spray paints Kimberly again.
3.) Martial Arts Match - Mortis (with James Vanderberg) vs. Glacier: **1/2
For those of you who don't know, James Vanderberg would go onto be James Mitchell in TNA. Mortis is actually Chris Kanyon, who would gain fame later on in WCW's History. Also, if you are wondering, these gimmicks are essentially Mortal Kombat ripoffs, with mainly Glacier playing off Sub-Zero. This is a "Martial Arts Match". I really didn't expect much of this, but it didn't turn out to be that terrible. You could tell they were trying, and their effort showed with a decent performance. Glacier gets the win with his Cryonic Kick.
After the match, Vanderberg calls out Wrath, another Mortal Kombat based character who's apparently in his camp, and Wrath joins Mortis in a beatdown of Glacier.
4.) Strap Match - Buff Bagwell vs. Scotty Riggs: **1/4
The American Males EXPLODE!!! Basically, this came about Bagwell broke up the team in favor of joining the n.W.o., leading to this match. This was an ok match. It had the story behind, so it to have the potential to be good, but I think it went a little longer than it needed to be. Bagwell eventually touched all four corners to win the match. Also, on a side note, Buff Bagwell has awesome charisma!
5.) Tornado Tag Team Match - Harlem Heat vs. Public Enemy: **1/2
Whenever you have The Public Enemy in a match, it always seems to turn into a brawl, and with the Tornado Tag Stipulation, it was essentially guaranteed. I thought this was another ok match. Just more of a brawl, which I guess will always end up happening in a Tornado Tag Team Match. We end up getting a table spot, and then Steve "Mongo" McMichael & Jeff Jarrett come out (for some reason) and lay out Rocco Rock, allowing Harlem Heat to get the win.
6.) WCW World TV Title - Prince Iaukea vs. Rey Misterio Jr.: *1/2
I have no idea who Prince Iaukea, and I also don't know why this dude is named after that Swedish Furniture Company. Plus, he's apparently the World TV Champion. This was really not that good of match. I just could not get into Iaukea. He sucks. They go to a time limit draw, but being the "fighting champion" that he apparently is, Iaukea wants to continue, so they do. Iaukea wins two minutes or so later. The crowd really didn't care, and neither did I. Terrible Match.
7.) Triangle Elimination Match - Team n.W.o. ("Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall with Dennis Rodman) vs. Team Piper ("Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Chris Benoit, Steve "Mongo" McMichael & Jeff Jarrett) vs. Team WCW (Lex Luger, The Giant & Scott Steiner): ***
Because of Rick Steiner being taken out, this is now 4-on-4-on-3. Essentially, the match works like a Hybrid Gauntlet Match. One person from each team start out, and at fixed intervals, more members come out. You can be eliminated by pinfall, submission, and (for some stupid reason) getting thrown over the top rope. Their are a bunch of stipulations attached to this. If Team n.W.o. wins, then they get a title shot at whichever WCW Champion they want, whenever they want. If Team WCW wins, then the members of the n.W.o. will be stripped of their titles and be banned from competing in WCW for THREE YEARS (yes, you're reading that right). Finally, if Team Piper wins, then Piper will get a future Cage Match against "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. I won't go into much detail about the eliminations, but I will say the match was better than I thought it would. For the first time in awhile, WCW actually gave us a good PPV Main Event that wasn't WarGames. Plus, I actually kinda liked the idea of the match. However, their are a few gripes I have with it. Firstly, the stipulation for Team WCW winning was so stupid. It made it blatantly obviously they weren't winning. If they did something similar to the n.W.o., where they say, get title shots at n.W.o. Members, then it might have been more believable. Secondly, the idea of having over-the-top-rope eliminations was silly to me. It just didn't work that well in my opinion. Back to the match, it ends when Luger makes a comeback and eliminates Savage, Hall & Nash in quick succession, but then Savage took a spray paint can that was handed to him by Dennis Rodman and sprays it in Luger's eyes, allowing Hogan to get the win. This is the third gripe I have. Shouldn't have Piper's Team won this match. I mean, Piper would end up having a Cage Match with Hogan several months down the line on PPV, so why not have Piper's Team win here?
Anyway, as the n.W.o. celebrates their victory, STING rappels down from the rafters!!! He has a black baseball bat and goes after the n.W.o.!!!!! The crowd is going CRAZY!!!! Hogan and Rodman are the only ones left. Hogan tells Sting to drop the bat and he does. Hogan & Rodman enter the ring and Sting goes after Hogan!!! Rodman watches on as Sting lays out Hogan with The Scorpion Deathdrop as the PPV comes to an end.
Overall: 7.75/10
Looking back on it, this was actually a good PPV from WCW. Aside from the World TV Title Match, their wasn't anything really bad about this show. The opener was awesome, the mid-card was surprisingly fine, and the Main Event actually kind of delivered (in the sense that it was a good match). The ending that featured the first in-ring appearance of Sting in months, finally showing himself to be against the n.W.o., was an amazing moment. I think this might have been the second time I saw the ending with Sting (believe I saw it on Youtube before), but I cannot stress enough how MASSIVE this reaction was. Sting looked like the most OVER guy in wrestling back at this time. This show is worth seeing alone just for that ending. On the whole, a good showing from WCW.
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