WCW Uncensored 1998 Retro Review

1. Booker T (c) vs Eddie Guerrero (With Chavo Guerrero) for The World Television Championship
Booker T was my first favorite wrestler. I saw him in WWE Smackdown in 2005 and enjoyed his eccentric look and personality. At the time I hated Eddie Guerrero for his creepy heel angle with Dominic (Rey Mysterio's son); I hated him so badly that I regrettably cheered when I found out that he died. Nowadays I love both wrestlers.

Booker T stood out in this match for me. He's a fun power wrestler who just got out of an awesome Tag Team with Stevie Ray. Guerrero is a brilliant heel, and his performance in this match was impressive.

2. Juventud Guerrera vs Konnan
I didn't know much about Konnan as an in-ring performer, but I now see that he's badass. He put Juventud in through various submission manuevers and really made me sympathize with Guerrera. Guerrera just lost his mask to Jericho months ago in a Luchas de Apuestas match up, ever since then he started winning matches in order to gain momentum as a star. In order to sell Guerrera as a new man, he gained the upset victory against Konnan that night.

3. Dean Malenko vs Chris Jericho for The World Cruiserweight Championship
Jericho was getting over big time as a heel; Malenko was getting more over big time as a face. I wanted to watch this ppv for this match alone. This match is full of twists and turns ultimately ending with a Liontamer.

The highlight of this segment is Mean Gene coming up to cut a heel interview on The Ice Man. Malenko, not his usual self is nearly on the verge of tears after losing the match. Gene Oakerland tells Malenko that many people were betting on him winning tonight, and that he's been on a disappointing losing streak. Malenko gets called a loser and is asked "Where are you going, now?" Malenko responds softly "home" before walking out the arena.

4. Lex Luger vs Scott Steiner
I didn't pay attention to this match. I don't watch either of their wrestling matches religiously, nor do I find their style of wrestling appealing. I do enjoy Steiner's old work before he changed his look, but Lex was always ish (that could be interpreted in two ways) for me.

5. Diamond Dallas Page vs Chris Benoit vs Raven in a No Disqualification, Triple Threat Match for The United States Championship
I've recently become a fan of Raven: His moves aren't really flashy and his gimmick can be one-dimensional, but his character/promo cutting/in-ring storytelling is awesome. Benoit was always a favorite of mine, while DDP is someone I have respect for. This match was a pleasant surprise for me and it quickly become my favorite match on the card.

Some of my favorite spots include DDP getting irish-whipped into the pre-jumbotron multiple times, Raven hitting DDP with a fan sign that had a stop sign inside, and DDP hitting Raven with a diamond Cutter off the top rope into a table. Initially this was more of a confrontation with Benoit and DDP with Raven trying to steal the pinfall whenever someone was knocked down.

6. The Giant vs Kevin Nash.
I almost didn't pay attention to this match. The reason I did pay attention was because Kevin Nash was a classic heel, and because I was hoping to see another Jackknife Powerbomb. Sadly, the latter didn't happen as ends in a DQ to advance the storyline. Kevin Nash hit The Giant with a nasty jack-knife powerbomb not too long ago, and this move's legalization was hyped up in the beginning of the show.

7. Bret Hart vs Kurt Hennig (With Rick Rude)
I love Rick Rude, I love Kurt Henning, but I like Bret Hart. He has great matches, great title runs, and his attire/theme music is cool, but he doesn't get me goosebumps like the other two. Kurt puts Bret Hart on a figure-four leglock while Rude would come in to give him some leverage while trademark idiotic ref isn't looking. The ref finally catches Rude in the act and makes Kurt drop the hold. After some selling and some signature moves + pinfall combinations, Bret Wins with a sharpshooter.

8. Sting vs Scott Hall for The WCW World Heavyweight Championship:

I was a little too entranced by Scott Halls macho-cockiness to pay attention to the match at first, but after a minute I was getting into it (no homo to all of that). At times I wish Scott would win The WHC. I know that he was a major druggie, but that excuse doesn't fly with me. If Shawn Michaels could win Three WWF World titles why can't ___ over junkie wrestler here? Still, Sting got the victory in this match. Don't get me wrong, Sting was wavy looking the whole match too, he even helped make the finish great as well.

9. Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) vs Hulk Hogan in a Steel Cage Match.
Miss Elizabeth looks different hot with that hairstyle, I'm still glad she kept her older one. This match doesn't really have a lot of wrestling moves, but it's an aggressive brawl. They even escape the cage to continue the onslaught there, only to come back inside minutes later. That diving elbow drop from the top of the steel cage by Savage was beast. No one can hit the diving elbow drop quite like him. This match ends in a no-contest when Brutus Beefcake breaks the lock and enters the cage to help Hogan.  Savage is outnumbered until Sting comes down from his b-movie harness to aid Macho Man. Macho man hits Sting with a ?piledriver? (I can't remember) only to spit on Hogan and walk away. It was a grudge match for NWO control with two clashing egos; I expected as much.

Overall: Great show. I came for one great match, I was treated to two great matches, four good matches, and a decent main event. It won't be long until the creative team and the bookers mess this up.