Customer Reviews

WCW Hog Wild 1996 [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Of course this show saw the NWO really take a stand by collectively defeating Sting, Lex Luger, and the Giant - as well as gaining possession of the World title. Ric Flair vs. Eddie Gurrero for the US belt was a great match. The Stieners vs. Harlem Heat was well done. Benoit vs. Malenko is a classic. Basically this event had a large amount of great talent, some really good matches, and was the starting point in the NWO's takeover.

This event was a very good follow-up to the two previous events before it. Shows the NWO fully together and dominating for the first time in a pay-per-view.

Commentary: Dusty Rhodes, Tony Schiavone, and Bobby Heenan.

- Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. for Cruiserweight Title (4.5/5)
We all expect great things from Mysterio and Ultimo Dragon puts on a great show, with foreign submission moves that will leave your head spinning.

- Ice Train vs. Scott Norton (2/5)
Eh. No one cared.

- Bull Nakano vs. Madusa (2/5)
A boring match, but you get to see destruction of a motorcycle.

- Dean Malenko vs. Chris Benoit (5/5)
This match was off the charts! Both men gave it their all in this near 30 minute match. It was back and forth the whole time. It was long, but it never got boring.

- The Steiner Brothers vs. Harlem Heat for Tag Team Titles (4.5/5)
Well done! I loved this tag team match for the wrestlers involved, the energy of the fans, and the Harlem boys who definitely got their heat.

- Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair for U.S. Title (5/5)
Another great match between two legends. I think both styles, which were very opposite, seemed to go together like bread and butter. One of Ric Flair's best matches, and Eddie Guerrero shows that he can go toe to toe with anyone.

- Lex Luger & Sting vs. The Outsiders (4/5)
Very exciting tag team match for the fact that the NWO was just formed. The Outsider are my favorite tag team of all time, so any match with them in it keeps me glued.

- The Giant vs. Hollywood Hogan (3/5)
Not a very good match, but afterwards Hogan cuts a nice promo and beats up an old friend to gain some heat.

This is a must buy. Especially if your interested in the roots of NWO, and outdoor wrestling events.

It was ok, but the main event really sucked! "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan vs. Giant for the WCW world heavyweight title. The cruiserweight title match was good between Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Ultimo Dragon. The Luger-Sting, Outsiders match was pretty good. That was the match when Nick Patrick turned NWO. Some of the other matches were Harlem Heat vs. Steiner Bros.(Tag Team Championship), Ric Flair vs. Eddie Guerreo(U.S. title), Medusa vs. Bull Nakano, Ice Train vs. Scott Norton, Chris Benoit vs. Dean Malenko(really long). Overall the event was pretty good, buy it for something old to watch and to see the NWO just after they formed.

Thanks to a friend of mine finally cleaning out his garage, I was given a bunch of old VHS tapes including this one which was the first ever WCW event coming from the annual Sturgis Biker Riley in Hog Wild (later renamed Road Wild). This took place around one month after Hulk Hogan was revealed as the third man in the group now known as the New World Order (nWo) with Scott Hall & Kevin Nash and went through a transformation from the red & yellow "Hulk Hogan" to the black & white "Hollywood Hogan."

WCW Crusierweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Ultimate Dragon - As put over by Mike Tenay, both men knew each other so well from their previous encounters all over the world that they were able to avoid & counter each others moves early while also trying to show each other up attempting the others signature moves. Dragon grounded Rey & tried to work over his legs at one point with moves like the figure four while Rey was able to keep Dragon on his toes including one moment where he gave a baseball slide kick that ended up knocking Dragon off the elevated ringside area to the dirt floor. They went back & forth with fast paced momentum including Dragon being able to dropkick Mysterio in mid-air in a very good opening match.
[Rey Mysterio: Biggest Little Man]

Scott Norton vs. Ice Train - Unfortunately the copy I watched for this match was very dirty during this area & I couldn't see the match clearly enough to comment on it.

Madusa vs. Bull Nakano - See above.

Chris Benoit vs. Dean Malenko - Dean Malenko was a "hitman for hire" by Jimmy Hart & the Dungeon Of Doom to take out Chris Benoit in order for Jimmy to use his influences to get Malenko title shots to regain the Crusierweight Championship. Both men started off very intense & aggressive and never let down once. Both men relied on such high impact moves like Benoit's snap suplexes & Malenko doing a leaping tombstone piledriver along with moves that ended up hurting themselves along with their opponent that caused Dusty Rhodes to make the statement that summarized each man's effort here, "They've done everything but pin each other!" Various submissions came into play such as the "Canadian Crippler Crab" & Malenko turning his Texas Cloverleaf into an STF. They fought past the 20 min. time limit into a double overtime period where it took dirty tactics to get a winner but this was definitely a wrestling encounter that can be defined as a "lost classic."

WCW Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat vs. Steiner Brothers - Well "Heat" was the right name for Booker & Stevie here because the crowd was all over them right from the start. Harlem Heat had their best series of matches in WCW against the Steiner Brothers because they just had that natural chemistry with each other. I'll go as far as to call this a lost classic when it came to tag team wrestling during this period of wrestling. One funny side note was to pay attention to Bobby Heenan's commentary since he kept forgetting that this PPV was on a Saturday, not a Sunday.
[Allied Powers: World's Greatest Tag Teams]

WCW United States Champion Ric Flair vs. Eddie Guerrero - This was the foreshadowing of the heel Eddie we would see later in his WCW career as he was able to return the mind games of intimidation that Flair was doing right back to him & took the fight right to Ric throughout the match. Great match that was so close that the ending can be summarized with one line from Dusty Rhodes, "one mistake cost Eddie Guerrero."
[Viva La Raza: Legacy Of Eddie Guerrero]

Sting & Lex Luger vs. The Outsiders - This started out between Luger & Hall with Luger keeping control of Hall early on before Nash got tagged in & called out Sting resulting in them trading punches & Sting slamming Nash. The Outsiders were able to regain control & constantly worked over Sting while keeping him away from Luger for a majority of the bout. This was a nice tag team match that played off the "grudge" that both men had against each other but the bigger story here was the involvement of referee Nick Patrick that was the determining factor. As a side note, the commentary here is humorous at time as Heenan was such used to being a heel that he kept accidentally cheering The Outsiders at times.

WCW Champion Giant vs. Hollywood Hogan - Giant was in a dominate position early causing Hogan to keep rolling out of the ring after every move Giant got on him to break the momentum & slow things down. Hogan was able to finally gain control in his power such as a test of strength & kept the Giant down by working on his arm. At one point Giant was able to turn the tables on Hogan when he started to "Hulk Up" & nailed Hogan with his own big boot before we saw Hall & Nash get involved leading to Hogan capturing the WCW Championship. However the most historic relevance of his match happened afterwords once we saw Hogan address the nWo's stance of "business over friendship" with Booty Man before leaving their mark on the WCW Championship.
[Hulk Hogan: Ultimate Anthology]

Overall this was one of WCW's best cards during this period from top to bottom as evident by WWE later using releasing many of the main matches off this set onto their own DVD sets so I suggest that even if you have most of the matches on DVD, still get this event as it was a standout card in WCW's history.

Cruiserweight Title Match
Ultimo Dragon
vs
Rey Mysterio Jr. (C)
Mysterio On A Frankensteiner

Ice Train
vs
Scott Norton
Norton On An Armbar

Battle Of The Bikes
Madusa
vs
Bull Nakana
Madusa On A Bridge Suplex. Madusa Smashes Bull Nakana's Honda W/ A Sledgehammer

Chris Benoit
vs
Dean Malenko
Benoit On A Rollup, With Some Help From Woman

Tag Team Title Match
The Steiners
vs
Harlem Heat (C)
Scott Steiner Pinned When He Got Powder Thrown In His Eyes And Hit By A Cane

U.S. Heavyweight Match
Eddy Guerrero
vs
Ric Flair (C)
Guerrero Pinned On A Figure Four

Tag Team Grudge Match
Sting & Lex Luger
vs
The Outsiders
Nick Patrick Hit Luger In The Back Of The Leg And Was Pinned By Hall

World Heavyweight Match
Hollywood Hogan
vs
The Giant (C)
Hogan Hit The Giant With The Belt And Then Pinned Him

Of course this show saw the NWO really take a stand by collectively defeating Sting, Lex Luger, and the Giant - as well as gaining possession of the World title. Ric Flair vs. Eddie Gurrero for the US belt was a great match. The Stieners vs. Harlem Heat was well done. Benoit vs. Malenko is a classic. Basically this event had a large amount of great talent, some really good matches, and was the starting point in the NWO's takeover.

It opened with Mysterio Vs. Ultimo Dragon, which really had it's moments..the bike match with Medusa was great, and the Harlem Heat Vs. The Steiner Brothers was outstanding. The conclusion left a little to be desired..Hogan Vs. Giant could have been more.

Hogan wins the world title from the Giant. Dead main event in front of a dead crowd. Awful! A couple of good matches in the undercard are the only matches worth watching.

This video has some steller matchs on it Rey jr vs ultimo dragon for the cruiserweight title is a brillient opener, the tag team/U.S. title mathes are both fantastic, Benoit vs Malenko is a classic and the doubel main event of The Outsiders vs Lex Luger and Sting and Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant for the world title are marvelous.The only two matches that suck are the borering Scott Nortton vs Ice Train Match and Maduser's talat is wasted in a poitless gimike Bash the Bike match aginst Bull Nakano but other wise a great way to start the WCW vs NWO war

I will tell you ALL the matches were great and considering that most of the talent in this wideo is now in the WWF says something for WCW. Hogan vs. Giant was great. All the matches were good.