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[1995-05-21-WCW-Slamboree] Ric Flair & Vader vs Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage


Loss

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  • 1 month later...

Last few minutes. Yes, it's Flair first major match after his comeback and he's going to be carrying house shows over summer with Savage, but he still takes the fall. I hate the finish of this, as the Horsemen aren't dumb enough to try that spot. They make up for it a little in the post-match with Flair and Arn double-teaming Poffo to set up the Bash match with Savage. Bischoff is even worse at this point than he was as an announcer on Nitro.

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  • 5 months later...
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  • 3 weeks later...

Agreed with pretty much anything already said here. The match itself is a bit of a mess, and Hogan really suck here, working extra loose, showing bad timing and being all over the place. Savage actually took Vader's moonsault, which looked to be really brutal, but they didn't do anything with it. Stupid. Flair taking the fall was yet another disgraceful Hogan shithead idea I guess. Post-match beating puts at least some heat back on the heels, but Flair's punched don't look that great (but hey, he was taking care of Poffo). And yes, Bischoff really sucked donkey ass at this point as an announcer, the whole PPV was a chore to sit through.

This match is also notable for the very first time Paul Wight was showed on TV, as a gigantic man watching the match from the entrance way.

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  • 1 year later...

Such a dumb, unimaginative, by-the-numbers finish. Sadly I think this is the only time Savage and Vader ever faced off. Bischoff is such a tool of an announcer. The post-match angle is good, though, and finally sets up a personal issue with major hate involved in the increasingly sterile Big Two. Savage as the nutcase hero is always worth watching and finally, finally provides something to look forward to with WCW.

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  • 2 years later...

Haha, it seems I am way off the majority here. I actually prefer Bischoff to Tony at this point, who has devolved into an insincere forced enthusiasm bicker-er. I also actually really liked the match, it had a lot of energy and far, far better booking than Uncensored (which is a low bar, but still). Would have made more sense for the heels to go over (for once), but I'd honestly rather Flair took the fall than Vader, especially since they were apparently building up for yet another Hogan/Vader match and they'd already done plenty to damage his name value.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1995-05-21-WCW-Slamboree] Ric Flair & Vader vs Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage
  • 1 year later...
  • 1 year later...

Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs Ric Flair & Vader - WCW Slamboree 1995

One of those matches where I thought it was solid, but was still disappointed. All guys are in my top 50 of all time and three are in my Top 25 so they are all capable of having that big Summer Action Blockbuster main event, but instead it is just good. The other reason I am disappointed is I really wanted more out of Randy Savage and Vader as a pairing. This is their only match ever and I think if they were given the opportunity back in the day they could have had an all-timer. Yes Savage takes the Vadersault like a man, but it just wasnt a good scrap. 

Man how much better is Flair/Vader/AA as a heel unit than fucking Beefcake/Earthquake/Sullivan. Talk about a massive upgrade. Need to mention the Renegade is out with Hogan & Savage to counterbalance the Enforcer. He is not as involved as in Uncensored and you can feel him being shunted down the card. They do give him a chance with the TV title beating AA, but you can tell he is not hitting. The Giant, unnamed, makes his debut looming in he aisleway. 

Enough extracurriculars, so onto the match Vader takes the first part of the shine which is so bizarre when the bump & feed master is on the apron. Hogan thumbs in the eye early. I am not one to bitch about Hogan cheating but even I have to call that out as too soon. Vader takes a bump to the outside. Vader loves to bump. It just makes more sense with Flair right there. Vader steamrolling the Megapowers with a double clothesline was very much needed to get his heat back. Flair and Savage have insane chemistry and I could watch those two wrestle forever. Flair does a great job shining the babyfaces up and this makes more sense. You can save Vader as the heater now that Flair is going to get in over his head. Flair Flip into the Hogan Big Boot on the apron will never get old. We get the press slam and Hogan slips on the Figure-4 Dusty Rhodes style which is honestly the safer and more efficient way to do it. They do the old Horsemen spot of Hogan rolling up AA while still applying the Figure-4. This is a spot I love. It feels ham-fisted since AA is not in the match. This enough of a distraction for Flair to chop block the leg to start Heat Segment #1. Vader works the leg. This is fine. I thought the stretch where Hogan did the customary no-sell of the suplex only to get RUN THE FUCK over by Vader was great. Vaderbomb connects! He does a top rope Vaderbomb (I thought he was going Vadersault) this misses and Hogan tags out. That stretch was probably the best of the match. 

Savage is a house afire, but you can just feel this is going to be Double FIP. He goes hit the Top Rope Elbow on Flair, but Double A pulls him out. So again they use Double A as a distraction to set up the heat segment which is smart. It is the not the most efficient sneak attack and in part that is due to it being poorly shot in the sense that was actually too well-shot since Vader was in the frame. The Vadersault was a great nearfall with Hogan making the save to protect it. Hot tag to Hogan! I liked Arn being used again to interrupt the hot tag by tripping him after the big boot to impede the Legdrop. Vader splash allows for a proper Hulk Up though not his best. Arn eats a punch and Hogan drops the leg on Flair for the win. 

After the match is the famous angle where Flair beats up Randy Savage's Dad who was being inducted into Hall of Fame this leads to the awesome, Top 100 match of all time match between Flair and Savage at Great American Bash 1995. Personally, I would have put the heels over here as well as at Uncensored. Recapping it the match actually sounds really good. All the beats are there. Good climaxes and transitions for each segment when written down on paper. It is now what you do, but how you do it. From a layout perspective, this is a strong match, but nobody seemed to have pep in their step to take it to that next level. ***1/4

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