WCW Bash at The Beach 1996 Review

1. Rey Mysterio, Jr vs Psychosis

Before he did the 619 and won World Heavyweight titles, he was the king of the cruiserweights. All his matches with Psychosis are high quality. These two exit the ring a lot in this match, so expect an exciting opener and expect high spots galore.

2. John Tenta vs Big Bubba (with Jimmy Hart)

What's with WCW and its need to stick random gimmicks on a pole?  In this match a sack full of coins is on a pole, and it can be used as a weapon. The contest is settled over a pinfall or submission, meaning that acquiring the sack is optional. I thought this match would be boring, but it made for tolerable and entertaining comic relief. Expect some cartoony heel moves from Big Bubba and Jimmy Hart.

3. Jim Duggan vs Diamond Dallas Page

This started off looking like a one-sided squash match. I totally assumed that Duggan was going to humiliate DDP. DDP does manage to win this bout.

4. The Nasty Boyz vs The Public Enemy

I was drifting in an out of consciousness during this hardcore match. The Nasty Boyz were an innovative tag team during the 80's, but they're too goofy for me. Getting hit with an inanimate steel object should make me cringe, not induce slapstick comedy.   

5. Dean Malenko (c) vs Disco Inferno for The WCW World Cruiserweight Championship

This is a face vs face confrontation. Without a doubt this is Disco Inferno's best match. The contrast between both wrestlers personalities and styles is complementary. Malenko can work a great match with anybody thanks to his stoic personality and technical wrestling abilities. Disco Inferno gets the advantage a few times and does a good job for the most part to avoid his goofy habits.

6. Joe Gomez vs Steve McMichael (with Queen Debra)

Steve wins with a tombstone piledriver. This match rekindled my sleepiness; thus making the excitement of the previous match all for nought. I appreciate the fact that this match is short, because nothing memorable happened.

7. Konnan (c) vs Ric Flair (with Woman and Miss Elizabeth) for The WCW United States Championship

I find it strange that both wrestlers are still alive as of this day, yet the female valets aren't. This was when Ric Flair hopped back into the midcard hoping to make the transition back into the world title scene. Konnan is a beast in the ring, and Ric Flair can tell a great story given the right guy. Towards the end the ring valets played an integral role in the match. Elizabeth played the passive valet who would distract the referee, while Woman was aggressive and would attack Konnan.

8. Chris Benoit and Arn Anderson vs The Giant and The Taskmaster.

I dislike anything with WCW's Kevin Sullivan in it. He sucks. 

9. Randy Savage, Sting, and Lex Luger vs The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) and Hulk Hogan

The third man in the mysterious hostile takeover didn't show up yet for most of the match. Obviously for you, you know that it's Hogan, but for everybody else they never saw it coming. It starts off as a handicap match with the heels battling the faces and doing a pretty good job. After a while it seems that the heels are just drawing out time, then Hogan comes to "Save The Day"; What he does instead is hit Randy Savage with a legdrop. We are then treated to the coolest interview sequence with Hulk Hogan and Gene Okerlund. It was the most surprising heel turn at the time, yet looking back it seemed so necessary.

This will be my last WCW ppv review in a while. I need to mix it up.