[1999-04-05-WCW-Nitro] Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan vs DDP vs Goldberg

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. Nash is on commentary. Hogan-Goldberg doesn't have as much heat as it did a few months earlier, but Goldberg apparently got a little overzealous in the steel plate angle so he was working a little banged up. Nash runs in to attack Goldberg, leaving Hogan to kick out of a jackhammer because Nash didn't make it to them on time. Suddenly, Sting drops from the ceiling and clears the ring, returning after a six month absence. He points to the Turnertron where the Spring Stampede main event is announced (the week before the show!) by apparent matchmaker Randy Savage, also returning to claim he will be the referee.

[Tim Evans]

This didn't match much heat compared to the Rey match. Macho man doing the voice over was nice. Is this the debut of the Turnertron or have I just not noticed it during this yearbook?

[soup23]

Four big stars are in there but yeah this lacks heat. Goldberg jackhammers Page but Hogan breaks that up. I think it may be the issue that 3 out of these 4 men has been working heel and face so far this year. Goldberg does look groggy as his impact moves like the spear don't have the pop they usually do. Also, he probably should have been out of commission following the Bret angle. Nash late for his cue is a eye rolling moment. Sting repels down and Hogan still freaks out. IS HOGAN A FACE OR HEEL OR WHAT RIGHT NOW. Sting points to the Turner Tron (This is its debut) and we get the Spring Stampede four way announced. This has been great booking for this PPV.

[Superstar Sleeze]

I like Hogan in the tweener role. He clearly is morphing into a face, but he should be afraid of Sting given the most recent history. It is a good slow burn. Babyface Hogan cheated anyways so it is not like that needs to go by the wayside.

 

This felt really Modern WWE to me. Just four guys going around hitting their spots aimlessly so I was pretty disappointed. Unlike modern WWE, it is at least four unique characters and thus they were not hitting the same moves. I thought Hogan was the MVP of this spotfest. Yep, that's a sentence I never thought I'd write. He was really active and kept things moving. Flair was good as a sneaky heel and bumper. Goldberg is an awesome force. My main man, DDP, seemed hidden, which is too bad. Goldberg laying out everybody with spears and then hitting the Jackhammer on Hogan was cool. Nash missing his cue not so much. The fans wanted Sting and they get him. I remember the finish to this Nitro and being excited for Savage to return. O what I fool I was. Savage's career ended in 1998, repeat after me, Savage's career ended in 1998, Savage's career ended in 1998, Savage's career ended in 1998.

[PeteF3]

Not terrible but not really much of a match. The crowd gets hot at the end but the ending is lame and with Nash you never really know if he was late on purpose or not, just so he could force a kickout of Goldberg's finish. That's not *too* conspiratorial of me, is it? Sting gets a big pop, but the production on Savage's announcement is so odd (a voiceover with text accompaniment, with no visual of Randy) that I don't think it really registers, particularly since they close the show with it with nothing further from the announcers. Not a good way to build a PPV of course, but that's a marked improvement over some of WCW's other attempts at such this year.

[JKWebb]

I remember watching this is 1999.  I was really into this with Sting’s return the prior week, and now the build to the 4 corners match.  This leads to a really fun show at Spring Stampede, and from my memory the nose dive starts after that.  I know I pretty much gave up on WCW at the time after Road Wild 99.  But going through this stuff now, April is a fun month for them (at least the highlights are).