So...Battlebowl. If you didn't know, Battlebowl was a WCW pay-per-view they held once where wrestlers were randomly placed in tag matches, and the winners of the tag matches got put in a Battle Royal. The concept had been done twice before at Starrcade 1991 and 1992, and was only held once more after at Slamboree 1996, before TNA picked up the idea, calling it Joker's Wild. I actually think this was a really cool idea, seeing random wrestlers put together, regardless of if they were face or heel, and having them team together. This made a few cool tag teams we never thought we'd get too see, like Cactus Jack & Vader or Steve Austin & Ric Flair. Unfortunately, it also gave us Dustin Rhodes & King Kong facing off against The Equalizer & Kong's Colossal Kongs partner Awesome Kong (who is so obscure he doesn't have a Wikipedia page).
First off, let's just talk about the people in this match. First, we've got white meat Dustin Rhodes in his blandest gimmick, which was simply being Dusty Rhodes son. Then we've got The Equalizer, aka Dave Sullivan. I've already said I think this guy is complete trash and had no business being in a wrestling ring, so I'll leave it at that. And lastly, the Colossal Kongs, two giant, 400+ pounds wrestlers who managed to snag a Worst Tag Team Award from Wrestling Observer Newsletter in 1993. This is going to be a nightmare.
Rhodes and Equalizer start with some exchanges before Rhodes locks in a hammerlock. The two go at it some more before Rhodes hits a drop toe hold followed by a terrible arm drag and locks in an armbar. The two have some more exchanges before Equalizer tags in Awesome Kong. Rhodes immediately hits a few dropkicks and schoolboys Awesome Kong, as King Kong almost goes to break it up, forgetting he's on the other team. Jesse Ventura says that King Kong did that because he hasn't realized Awesome Kong is on the other team. Yes, because Awesome tagging Equalizer or them standing on opposite sides didn't give it away.
Awesome "misses" an elbow drop on Rhodes (Rhodes didn't move quick enough) and Rhodes makes the tag to King. Not wanting to fight his tag partner, he immediately tags Rhodes back in. Smart move, as far as I know winning the Battlebowl meant nothing, so why beat up and possibly injure your teammate.
Awesome continues to beat up Rhodes as he tags in Equalizer, who instantly gets arm dragged. Rhodes tags out again, and this time King will fight Equalizer. The two fight for a while, mostly just punches, before Equalizer blocks a corner splash and hits a shoulder tackle. Equalizer misses a leg drop and King makes the tag to Rhodes. Rhodes runs wild on Awesome, hitting the Bionic Elbow for only a two count and rolls up Awesome with a sunset flip, which Equalizer breaks up. Chaos ensues as Equalizer and King Kong brawl, which Awesome Kong actually breaks up by splashing Equalizer and King in the corner. This allows Rhodes to hit a bulldog on Awesome for the win
The Verdict
I don't know how this match managed to get minus three stars from Dave Meltzer. Granted, it wasn't good, it was slow and plodding, but it wasn't god awful in any way.
For anyone wondering what the Battlebowl even led to, Vader (the current WCW World Heavyweight Champion) won the event but an interaction between Ric Flair and Harley Race (manager to Vader at the time) led to a challenge and future match between the two at Starrcade. Essentially, the Battlebowl main event was a way to further the Flair-Vader storyline that had been building from Clash of the Champions XXV.
ReplyDeleteDisclaimer: I do not know this stuff off the top of my head, I only read it on Wikipedia and was not even alive in 1993.