Customer Reviews

WCW Slamboree 1994: A Legends Reunion [VHS]

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

 

 

More than anything alse, this tape is a must own for historical reasons. Throughout the event, old-school wrestling matches such as Austin/Badd, Zcybyzco/Regal, Flair/Windham, and Vader/Sting, effectively contrasted the newer, more hardcore style that is found today. Also, the Hall of Fame induction ceremony is one for any wrestling history buff's video library. However, the primary reason to own this tape is for the superlative Street Fight. Historically speaking, it set the tone for many hardcore tag matches to come and as noted by critic Scott Keith, for all of the Public Enemy's tag matches in WCW. Here is a rundown of the matches:
Steve Austin vs. Johnny B. Badd: Very solid technical match, which remained interesting in part because of the hot crowd. Badd was just coming into his own here and it showed. Great opener. ***1/2
Terry Funk vs. Tully Blanchard: I abolutely love Terry Funk, so no matter how old both guys seemed, I was determined to like it. Match degenerates into a hardcore battle, which is eventually thrown out entirely by the ref. Fun match and both guys held up very well. **3/4
Larry Zcybyzco vs. Lord Steven Regal: Well, Regal is in that stage of his career where he liked to stall a lot in order to p#$$ off the crowd. If you stick with this one, it does pick up eventually. **1/2
Bunkhouse Buck vs. Dustin Rhodes: This is the one match on this tape that was bad. Both guys absolutely stink. Sorry, I can't think of any other way to put it. They slowly fight with the cowbell in a very weak brawl. However, Terry Funk (yay!) comes down to put the boots to Dustin and uses the branding iron is nefarious ways. Aside from the ending, the match was frankly, hard to sit through. *1/2
Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham: Although Windham looks a bit out of shape, Flair is still able to carry him to a pretty good match. After all, this is FLAIR were talking about here. Not the best "Nature Boy" match I've seen, but I have no complaints. ***1/4
Street Fight: Cactus Jack/Kevin Sullivan vs. The Nasty Boys: There is really too much action here to call as the teams use tables, chairs, cameras and anything else they can get their hands on against each other. The crowd is literally in a frenzy the entire match. Just a wild brawl with a great ending. ****3/4

Vader vs. Sting: Vader is absolutely massive and is probably one of the most imposing wrestlers I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Vader wears Sting down with rights and left and absolutely destroys him with a wicked chokeslam. I mean he just caught him, raised him up and threw him down, with absolutely no support from the free hand. Now THAT'S strength. Anyway, that Hall-of-Fame idiot Harley Race costs Vader the match, by not only accidentally hitting him with the chair, but also nailing him with a flying headbutt. Excellent match, but the Street Fight was probably a better choice to end it as the crowd seemed exhausted. ****
Excellent show that is well worth 10$ or 20$, for that matter. Admittedly, a few of the matches were a bit too slow, but there was plenty here to save them.

If you are a fan of the older style of wrestling, this is a must own! Features a legends match with Terry Funk vs. Tully Blanchard, with commentary for this match from the greatest - Gordon Solie. Also Flair vs. Windham, Cactus Jack/Kevin Sullivan vs. The Nasty Boys, and Sting vs. Vader for the Heavyweight strap. If you missed it on PPV, you must buy this!

WCW Slamboree began in 1993 and it was actually a decent event at times. This one was one of the better editions. Let's get to it:

"Stunning" (Stone Cold) Steve Austin w/Col. Parker Vs. Johnny B. Badd (Marc Mero)(WCW U.S. Title Match) - This was a good opener. If all you know of Austin is the "Stone Cold" era, then you need to see this. He was a good technical wrestler in those days, on the same level with Bret Hart arguably! Austin manages to win this one due to some dirty tricks from himself and Parker to retain the title against Badd

Terry Funk Vs. Tully Blanchard (Legends Match) - The former Horsemen Vs. one of the craziest men in wrestling ever! Funk, surprisingly, dominated most of this match and even tried to piledrive Tully from the top rope! Ends in a double DQ with Funk practically caning Blanchard with his branding iron!

Larry Zbysko Vs. Lord Steven Regal (William Regal) - This was a grudge match. Although Regal's WCW TV Title wasn't on the line, personal pride was. I was never a Larry fan but I got to give him credit, he wrestled a very good match and actually matched the usually superior Regal in technical wrestling! Ends when Larry reversed a butterfly suplex on Regal for the win.

Dustin Rhodes (Goldust) Vs. Bunkhouse Buck (Jimmy Golden) - This was a bullrope match and was probably the dullest on the card. The only good part is when Terry Funk came out and attacked Dustin Rhodes at the end. If you want to see a good Dustin/Buck match, find WCW Spring Stampede 1994 for their Bunkhouse matchup! Its much better!

"Nature Boy" Ric Flair Vs. Barry Windham (WCW World Title Match) - This wasn't their greatest match but I can't recall a stinker between these two. Windham, admittedly, didn't come in the best of shape BUT he still put on a pretty good match with Flair. Ends with Flair using a rare flying bodypress on Windham for the pin.

Cactus Jack/Kevin Sullivan Vs. The Nasty Boys (WCW World Tag Team Title Match) - This was a Broadstreet Bully Match, another way of saying anything goes! This is easily the best match on the card and the main reason to get this tape! Ends when Cactus hits one of the Nasties with a hockey stick! Also, there is action even after the match! This was ECW before ECW!

Sting Vs. Vader (WCW International Title) - Like Flair Vs. Windham, these two have had better matches BUT this didn't stink by any means. Ends when Sting hits a top rope splash after Harley Race (who was Vader's manager) missed a diving headbutt and hit Vader! Sting takes the International belt.

Overall, this wasn't WCW's best but they've had far worse. Still, it does show that while they sucked at marketing, the action (when they wanted to) could be first-rate! A good piece of wrestling history to get.

Excellent card!Great buy!Ric Flair defends the WCW World Title against Barry Windham.Vader tries for the "International"World Title in a match against Sting.Also on the show..."Stunning"Steve Austin,Cactus Jack(Mankind,Dude Love,Mick Foley)Dustin(Goldust) Rhodes and much more.What a bargain!!!

Awesome seller, will definitely deal with them again! Always quick with their deliveries and fast and courteous with their answers if I have any questions. WCW Slamboree 1994 plays great! I absolutely have no complaints whatsoever!

WCW actually had a great product for a while, but they seemed to be awful at marketing it. It looks to me like half of the matches on this card didn't have any buildup prior to the event, so the audience is walking into the pay-per-view blind. That was just WCW's style I guess.

First match on the card is Steve Austin vs. Johnny B. Badd. Badd actually didn't impress me too much in this match, and I've always liked the guy. However, Austin's at the top of his game here. He still looks weird with hair if you ask me.

Next is Terry Funk vs. Tully Blanchard. There's no way you can possibly make this a bad match. You've got two ultra-tough guys, one very well schooled and the other completely whacko. I didn't see as much offense from Tully as I had hoped though. It looked like Funk was beating the heck out of him. When Funk attempts to piledrive Blanchard off the top rope onto a steel chair, Gordon Solie makes a comment about the match taking on "insane proportions." Ha ha. Blanchard should have lost the match after knocking out the referee, but it's ruled a double-DQ instead. Then Terry Funk finds that straw hat guy who's in the front row, takes off the hat and elbow drops it. Awesome.

Then we see Zbysko against Regal. As much as I hate Zbysko, he was pretty impressive in this match, reversing a butterfly suplex to get the win. Of course the referee's freaking blind when Zbysko uses the ropes to aid an abdominal stretch. Why is it so important to be within 4 inches of the guy's face when asking him if he wants to quit? Oh well, we'll let it slide. I'd have to say Regal probably had one of the best personalities in WCW at this time, just under Flair's, and you can really see it in this match. You won't find a man who's more into his gimmick than Regal is right here. Great ring psychology from a master.

Ah yes, Bunkhouse Buck. I miss this guy. He really sells in the bullrope match against Dustin Rhodes. I hope I'm not the only guy in the world who liked this match. The cowbell on the rope is used a lot. YEAH! The audience cries out for blood several times, but doesn't see it until Dustin is attacked by Terry Funk of all people, after the end of the match.

I should point out here that old Dusty Rhodes gives a pointless interview segment sometime in the pay per view about how sad he is that he's not there. Of course, you can't understand half of what he's saying. I was listening carefully for the word, "mothership," but I don't think he said it.

Flair defends his title against Barry Windam in a match that looked fairly short to me. He tries the figure-4 several times to no avail, but then gets the win out of nowhere. We see a great superplex from Windam. I love that move. One thing I couldn't understand is why the International title got top billing here, and the WCW title match was midcard. Probably had to do with some backstage politics that WCW was notorious for. Note - Heenan leaves the commentary position just before this match.

The tag title match is the best on the card. Basically it's just the Nasty Boys, Cactus, and Sullivan hitting each other with stuff. Plenty of overuse of flattened out trashcans. One of the participants gets tossed into the laps of some people in the front row. Probably scared the heck out of them. Reminds me of when Rob Van Dam used to do those flipping jumps into the audience back in authentic ECW. One thing this match made me think about is the career of the Nasty Boys. The Nasty Boys probably fit in better with WCW than WWF.

Last match is Sting vs. Vader for the International title in one of Sting's better matches. He even gives Vader an impressive vertical suplex. Vader's mask is off for a good portion of the match. The big man does a beautiful moonsault that misses, and when Harley Race tries to cheat to break up a pinfall, he accidentally nails Vader right in the face with a toprope headbutt. Oops. Sting capitalizes to get the win. I guess the Stinger won a vacant title, I'm not really sure.

Lots of old wrestling legends are inducted into the WCW hall of fame here in 1994. I wonder if the WCW hall of fame meshed with the WWE hall of fame when it was bought. I don't think so because Vern Gagne was inducted into the WWE hall of fame very recently. It's funny to see him and Lou Thez react to the tag title street fight match. They probably wouldn't have went professional if they had to change their style that much. I'm surprised Kurt Angle has adjusted so well myself.

I highly recommend this pay per view. Lots of in-ring action, even if the match build-up is terrible.

Foley and Sullivan take on the the nasty boys in a match that shows just how much abuse Mick Foley is willing to take in order to get over with the fans! The rest of the show is just passible.

I recently wrote a review for WCW Spring Stampede 94 which was the pay per view that was the month before Slamboree. Stampede was a classic, Slamboree however did not follow up that great event. I seen this twice as I was at the Philadelphia Civic Center watching it live and I also own the home video. The problem with Slamboree is that it can never get a good flow to it because they take to many breaks to interview the "legends" that are on hand for the hall of fame ceremony. These men did not come up in the time of wrestling when you have to cut a good promo and it shows. Ric Flair goes from defending his World title at Stampede against Ricky Steamboat in a classic, to taking on an over weight Barry Windham who was the surprise mystery opponent. Sting takes on Vader in a match that is okay but it is not the best match these two have had together. Steve Austin and Johnny B. Badd is just boring and so is Regal vs Larry Zybisco. The only saving grace of this tape is the great Broad Street Bully street fight with the Nasty Boys going against Kevin Sullivan and Cactus Jack. This was the kind of match that would make ECW proud. All in all I would say that unless you are a hardcore wrestling fan that would buy a tape for one great match, skip over Slamboree, and try to find Spring Stampede instead.

All the matches were well done with the Exception with the legends match between Funk and Blanchard.Sting and Vader had another classic in their series.

The matches on this show were probably overrated by many, but it was still a good show. The Vader-Sting match is good and so is the street fight but neither match is totally awesome. The rest is pretty good but nothing too special. Still, very good for the price it costs.