83 Weeks - Slamboree 1993 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

This week on 83 Weeks we’ll be discussing Slamboree 1993 - a Legends Reunion. This show took place exactly 29 years ago today - May 23rd!

Eric me & Tony Schiavone recently watched Slamboree 1996 which was the shift in focus away from the Legends gimmick to the Battlebowl gimmick. We’ve seen WWE achieve a certain level of success when producing legends shows…but what did you think of it as a pay-per-view concept?

You’re about 3 months into your role as Executive Producer of WCW Television at this point.

What are your memories of being in this role the first few months, and settling into the transition from just an announcer role previously?

Let’s discuss some of the news going on in the run up to the show. From the Observer:

“Eric Bischoff is telling people he's going to take himself off the air, so another play-by-play man is needed because it leaves Tony Schiavone as the only one in the company. Best bet to get the nod is former ring announcer Tony Gilliam.”

Do you remember thinking this at the time?

You were doing the TBS Saturday morning Power Hour show with Larry Zbyszko and Pro on syndication in the U.S, which you largely continued throughout 1993. Was it just too much to be producing the TV and announcing?

Also the PPV Control Center segments, which you mostly did until Gene Okerlund joined the company towards the end of 1993. Was hiring Okerlund a goal and a plan once you were beginning the transition or did it just sort of happen with timing?

Tony Gilliam - who is he and was he under consideration?

Meltzer questions you on this part of the product as well:

“Does anyone know the rationale behind Eric Bischoff's new television concept to cut off the ring announcer's mic during introductions? It makes it like you're watching the television show through a window from the outside.”

Why was this something you changed and do you think it did anything to product or is Meltzer nit picky here?

“There are negotiations going on which, if finalized, would involve doing the bulk of television tapings at Universal Studios in Orlando.”

The first tapings in Orlando wouldn’t be until July 93, but obviously took several months of planning and negotiations.

Talk us through this process, of how you decided on Disney, who you had to contact to get the deal done, who had to approve it? It must have been a suitable arrangement for everyone as the Disney tapings continued until 1998.

Was there as much push back in the company as there was in the dirt sheets for this? Why do you think you were lambasted for this when the WWF was notorious for this for years?

“Scriptwriters started writing some of the interviews the guys have to do this past week. Expect more cute puns and less "I hate your guts and here's why" interviews. Just a hunch, but that would seem to me to be a sign of Eric Bischoff's power as opposed to Dusty Rhodes and Ole Anderson.”

What say you Eric? Were you at the forefront of script writers?

Regarding the concept again from Meltzer:

“Slamboree would have been a great idea if this was baseball. Old-Timers day is traditionally one of the best drawing gimmicks for most teams. It would have been a great idea if this was basketball. The legends game is now a successful fixture of the all-star weekend. It would have worked in Japan. New Japan did it a few years ago and it worked. But in Japan, ex-wrestling legends like Lou Thesz, Karl Gotch, Lord James Blears and Billy Robinson are routinely brought in as either dignitaries or coaches to the current stars, and wrestling's history is well-preserved on both television and in magazines.”

Do you agree that Japan - with the way the heritage of professional wrestling is - is way more apt for this type of concept?

Meltzer would continue: “Was it a great idea for WCW? As of right now, it doesn't appear to be the case. As of late this week, less than 1,000 tickets had been sold for the live show on 5/23 at the Omni in Atlanta. WCW was both doing heavy giveaways and giving out a lot of 2-for-1 ticket coupons in the Atlanta suburbs in order to make the house at least look respectable on the PPV broadcast as opposed to being respectable when the cash is counted. A lot of people would ask why this is happening? As mentioned previously, bringing back the legends of the sport is a traditional draw in most sports and has worked with wrestling in Japan and in Mexico as well. In addition, the Slamboree control centers with Eric Bischoff and Gordon Solie have been some of the best produced segments WCW has done. Surely those segments should have given the event an aura that would make the viewer feel this event was something special and therefore worth attending or ordering. There can be nitpicking about certain individuals who should have been brought in that weren't (and in most cases, it was because the individual turned WCW down rather than a lack of an invitation) and there are certainly a few being brought in who it would be a stretch to call legends. There is even one, Barry Owen, son of long-time Portland promoter Don Owen, who to the best of my knowledge has never even wrestled but was plugged by Gordon Solie as a long-time top contender for the NWA junior heavyweight title, whose main claim to fame in front of the cameras is being a below average ring announcer and the son of a promoter unknown outside of Oregon and Washington. But putting a few names aside, this is an idea that "should" have worked. And barring a last week flood of interest, it also appears that it didn't work.”

Tell us about working with Gordon on these Control Center segments, what was he like to be around during this time.

The ability to sell a legends concept - as it’s hard to push - while on TV not really having the actual participants - has to be difficult right? Was that a miss in your mind? Or was it a risk of overexposure?

“Officially WCW announced two of the legends matches as Funk, with Gene Kiniski in his corner, against Nick Bockwinkel, with Verne Gagne in his corner, and a tag match with Bob Armstrong & Thunderbolt Patterson vs. Baron Von Raschke & Ivan Koloff. Because of the legit injuries suffered by Armstrong on 5/9 in Knoxville, it's questionable whether he'll be able to work, but either way that match sounds pretty bad. The six-man hasn't been announced, but no doubt it'll include Dusty Rhodes, Wahoo McDaniel and Blackjack Mulligan.”

Were you pushing to bring Verne in? I mean you got some Minnesota stalwarts that you dealt with earlier in your career. Did you have any opinions or say in this?

“Putting all that aside, the real reason this show looks to be a tough-sell is all the emphasis on the legends has taken all the emphasis away from the wrestlers of today. Up to this point, little has been done for the line-up. Big Van Vader should be wrestling Cactus Jack if they could have capitalized on a rare angle that garnered interest rather than letting it slip away. There seems to be no reason for the company's supposed top draw, Sting, to be wrestling Scott Norton, at least this early in the game. Barry Windham and Arn Anderson have done a little to garner interest in their match, but more people are probably interested in seeing Windham against Ric Flair and Anderson and Flair challenge The Hollywood Blonds. Speaking of the Blonds, who are the surprise both in and out of the ring highlight of the entire promotion, based on this weekend's television, more people are curious to see them against Flair & Anderson then Rick Steamboat & Shane Douglas. And while the Dos Hombres idea was kind of funny and well executed, although hardly original to the long-time fans they seem to be gearing this show for, they have yet to do anything to give a logical reason for a cage match, or do anything that would get the cage stipulation over.”

Its hard to disagree here that the card seems all over the place from what TV is building. Is there a disconnect from creative, on TV, to push the pay-per-view?

From Meltzer:

“Should be noted that the Maxx Payne vs. Van Hammer match was pulled from the show and instead Payne will do a guitar solo. Based on what I'm hearing, they will still be reintroducing the Four Horseman on the show, three of whom will be Flair, Anderson and Ole Anderson. The Tully Blanchard deal is dead because the two sides couldn't reach a financial agreement and someone will be brought as a new Horseman, believed to be an ex-WWF mid- card performer who has never gotten a major push before, but has talent. The legends matches would be a real highlight for long-time fans and even newer fans if wrestling hadn't most often forgotten it's past the day after it occurs. But it won't be. I just hope the audience shows respect for these guys, at least some of whom were the real backbones of the profession in their day. I'm sure the 900 or so who bought the advanced tickets will. Just hope those who get in with the freebies and 2-for-1s can as well.”

The issues with Tully coming in - how aware of that were you?

Were you excited to see another Horsemen launch?

“Flair for the Gold segment over the weekend with Brian Pillman & Steve Austin was nothing short of incredible. It's funny that these guys have shot past everyone to be the best tag team in the world and they were really just a makeshift team because Chris Benoit's negotiations to come in kept getting tangled.”

How were the Blonds just not pushed more? Are you aware of the Benoit negotiations snag considering it would be a couple more years before he’d be a full-time player for WCW?

“Sylvester Stallone will do an interview on WCW on 5/22. It's nice to have, but I don't see it as helping much. Now if Stallone were to work the PPV in one of the faces' corners, that would help out immensely because it's a mainstream tie-in that this group badly needs.”

The interview is aired the day before the PPV on WCW Saturday Night, where you interview Stallone and Jesse Ventura on the set of "Demolition Man" regarding Stallone's new film "Cliffhanger," the filming of "Demolition Man," and Stallone's scene with Ventura; during the segment, Stallone noted he did "Paradise Alley" and was a big wrestling fan; at the end of the segment, Ventura gave Stallone a WCW cap to wear while golfing.

Any memories of doing this gig with Stallone?

Also you, Gordon Solie and Missy Hyatt do several cut ins live from the CNN Center at the Slamboree Slam Feast weekend festivities. It included a segment in which it was implied the WWF's former Nailz had attacked Scott Norton in the bathroom including mentioning Nailz by name and noting he would be at the PPV instead of Norton to face Sting.

You’re not involved in the negotiations to bring Nailz in here, but why on earth did Ole or Dusty think this would be a good idea?

How quickly do you think WWF legal hit WCW for using the name “Nailz?”

Regarding Norton walking out: “The basic story on Norton allegedly is that they had offered him $2,000 for the match with Sting and they wanted him to put Sting over. Norton saw that he wasn't booked on the television shows that would air after Slamboree when they taped Monday through Wednesday and must have thought it was a quickie blow-off since he had just arrived and it was his first major show. Since his business is Japan where he's a top star, he may have thought it wasn't good for his primary job to put Sting over on a major U.S. card. Whatever the reasons, lawyers got involved, and on Friday, negotiations had broken off and Norton went home.”

Do you remember any of this and do you remember bringing this up when bringing Norton back years later?

-5/31 Observer:

“After years of American promotions ignoring all history of their business, suddenly, in the wake of declining viewer interest, both major promotions are in a race to see who can bring up the most nostalgia. WCW scored first last September with its 20th anniversary Clash of Champions drawing a 3.7 rating, which was much higher than most of the recent Clashes have done. The WWF seemingly beat WCW to the punch on one idea by announcing a Hall of Fame and Andre the Giant as the first inductee, since it was known within the industry it was going to announce its own Hall of Fame this past weekend. WCW attempted the biggest score based on nostalgia with a PPV show primarily advertised on that theme with some great (and a few not-so-great) segments on television building up that premise.”

Are you surprised the WWF attempted to one up WCW when it came to this?

From the Observer: “Really don't have a lot of other details regarding the weekend other than the Slam Feast drew 200-300 fans to CNN Center the previous night to have dinner with the legends of wrestling. All were cordial but largely stayed in character. They cut into the Saturday night TBS show live several times for interviews with Johnny Valentine, Mad Dog Vachon, Dory Funk, Thunderbolt Patterson, Assassin, etc.”

What do you remember of this event?

“While nothing has been confirmed, expect major changes within the structure of WCW to be announced imminently.

It appears that from 7/5 to 7/16, WCW will be taping 48 hours of television in Orlando at Disney Studios. If that is for syndication, WCW Main Event and Power Hour, it means that they'll be taping shows more than three months in advance. If it's just for World Wide and WCW Pro, then we are talking about taping some shows six months in advance. This lends itself to an entirely new structuring of the wrestling business. If an angle doesn't work, it can't be refined. No turns, angles or title changes can happen at house shows unless they are well planned out ahead of time. Injuries or people leaving the company or people holding out, quitting, simply not renewing their contacts or whatever, which happens with frequency in this business, can't be accounted for if television is taped so far in advance. In addition, expect changes in the way house shows are done, but what they will be is uncertain at press time. Those within the company have been talking of severe cutbacks in number of house show dates and even a possible complete elimination by the fall. It's another example of the heavy duty losses the company has suffered for so many years causing major internal changes that are going to change wrestling as we know it. May has been probably the worst month ever when it comes to arena business in WCW history, and that's saying a mouthful. A recent show in New Brockton, AL drew fewer than 100 paying fans, and this past Thursday and Friday night in Baltimore (going head-to-head with "Cheers" finale) and Philadelphia drew each city's lowest crowd in history, of roughly 1,000 and 600 respectively. A company simply can't go along piling up such heavy financial losses and a day of reckoning was going to happen.”

How much of this is your impact? Were you the one pushing for changes in the arena business at this time?

Now for the show Eric and here’s what Meltzer had to say:

“The reaction to Slamboree '93, the night of the legends was mixed overall. It's not a show that is going to have any effect on the current business trends, either positively or negatively. Personally, I'd give the show a very mild thumbs up because the three main matches delivered great action, the bad matches were kept short, and it was fun seeing wrestling history all of a sudden not become a forbidden subject to talk about. But there were serious negatives. The show lacked any momentum from start to finish. The finishes were almost all mindless, which made the matches with the current wrestlers seem more like a good house show effort rather than a major card designed to change and further storylines. Little was done effectively to build up anything for the future, although Davey Boy Smith came out stronger than before.”

This is just a major treading water period for WCW is it not?

“There were far too many substitutions on a major card, some of which could and should have been announced ahead of time. Trying to pretend one of the substitutions didn't happen by pretending someone who wasn't on the card was in a title match by putting a hood over his replacement is a little too fraudulent. When that happened in California in 1977, the promoter nearly lost his license and the wrestlers involved had to pay legitimate heavy fines to the state athletic commission because it was taken as a serious matter of fraud, although false advertising is so frequent in wrestling now as compared with 16 years ago that it'll be considered simply every-day business by most. And how about Scott Norton's replacement? Granted, they were in a lurch when a guy walks out before a PPV, and they did at least get it announced on television the day before about the change in the match, but that Sting-Nailz deal was a 5:00 fiasco which was a waste of the company's most popular wrestler on a major show. And most of all, whose idea was it to introduce all the legends before the PPV show started? With all the money spent to bring all the guys in, which was probably close to the entire live gate, the least they could have done was give them nice introductions so older viewers in the television audience could see a close- up of people who entertained them years ago.”

Eric…how do you do all this booking of old-timers, legends, “hall of famers”...and this is how they’re presented. How does this happen?

The good news though Eric is that the crowd did rebound according to Meltzer from the low advance…

“Even though the advance was poor, the house for television was well-dressed to where it at least looked respectable. There were 7,008 in the building, with 3,722 paid, which is pretty bad for a PPV but considering how the advance looked, it wasn't unexpected. The paid attendance was actually lower than the previous regular Omni house show, although that show had a $1 ticket price so the comparison isn't really fair and the gate was lower than this. The live gate was $37,000 which is a little better than most Omni shows over the past year. Starrcade at the Omni, in comparison, did $70,000. No PPV numbers at press time, but from all indications, this would be among the lowest ever.”

This is the Omni Eric. This has to be considered a disaster?

“The show opened with all the legends in the ring but no announcements made as to who was who. In a lot of cases it was obvious who they were, but if he hadn't have done the interview, who would have guessed that reject from Crosby, Stills and Nash was Bugsy McGraw?”

Is this just a colossal mistake?

Is this your first time seeing Verne in some time?

The guys in the ring but not really talked about were  Ole Anderson, The Assassin, Ox Baker, Red Bastien, Lord James Blears, The Crusher, The Fabulous Moolah, Greg Gagne, Bob Geigel, Stu Hart, Magnum T.A., Bugsy McGraw, Don Owen, Dusty Rhodes, Grizzly Smith, John Tolos, Mad Dog Vachon and Johnny Valentine.

How the hell did you get Moolah?

“Maxx Payne played the guitar during the open. Then they announced that "The Prisoner" had done something to Scott Norton and that he'd be facing Sting. On television on Saturday they had announced that Nailz (Kevin Wacholz) had injured Norton (who legitimately walked out over a money dispute earlier in the week) and would be facing Sting. Sounds like a last minute threatening legal letter came from Connecticut which caused them not to use the Nailz name, which is the subject of some legal volleyball right now. However, it was almost science fiction as the ultra-prepared Tony Schiavone, who did his best job ever on a major show, suddenly developed a major memory loss during that match as he acted as if nobody knew who the Prisoner was or his background, despite the fact he had to know that almost everyone watching knew both, especially since he wore the same ring outfit down to the nightstick as with Titan. I guess the WCW jokesters got their little revenge by announcing Prisoner from Green Bay, WI, which is where Mr. Wacholz allegedly did that number on Vince McMahon which has resulted in a lawsuit and a counter-suit. Jesse Ventura was announced as being hospitalized, which was legitimate. He was replaced by Larry Zbyszko, who did a pretty good job as well. Ventura was complaining Saturday morning at his Minnesota home of leg pains and went to a local hospital where it was diagnosed as blood clots in the leg. He was attributing it to wearing ultra-tight knee pads in his movie costume filming "Demolition Man." Ventura was expected to be released from the hospital on Monday or Tuesday.”

When do you know about Jesse’s issues and why Zybysko? Is this when you first thought Larry would be good in the booth?

Was it a rib regarding announcing Nailz as being from “Green Bay.”

Before the matches begin, we see you and Missy at the interview platform, talking about the legends you would be interviewing later in the show. As you’re talking about the night's matches, the lighting went out over you. What ran through your head when that happened?

What’s Missy like to work with in this live environment, unpredictable?

“1. Too Cold Scorpio & Marcus Bagwell beat Bobby Eaton & Chris Benoit in 9:23 when Scorpio pinned Benoit with a moonsault into a legdrop. Good opener but these four had the ability to put together a much better match, which was probably limited as much by time constraints as anything. If you have a tape of this, watch the finishing move again. It was one of the most spectacular looking moves of the year, but the impact of Scorpio landing right on Benoit's head gives new meaning to the word crash landing. Miraculously, Benoit wasn't injured. **¾”

Man what a match this is and if you’ve never seen the Scorpio vs. Benoit match from SuperBrawl in 1993 go out of your way. How good is Scorpio?

“2. In an unannounced match, Sid Vicious power bombed Van Hammer in :35. Sid got a big babyface pop, which should have come as no surprise since he always did before, so it makes perfect sense making him a heel. At least it was short. I can't imagine what gets into the people who run this company to wave red flags at the DEA. DUD”

We recently discussed Sid and his return in the archives so be sure to check that out but man it is just so hard to not love him when he walks through the curtain am I right Eric?

Eric then you interview Bugsy McGraw & Red Bastein. How was it determined who got mic time and who didn’t?

“3. In a legends match, Wahoo McDaniel (age 54) & Blackjack Mulligan (52) & Jim Brunzell (43) went to a double disqualification with Jimmy Snuka (49) & Don Muraco (44) & Dick Murdoch (47) in 9:25.

This was set up by a lame angle on television the day before when Brunzell was in a hallway and Muraco confronted him with Ivan Koloff and Baron Von Raschke wanting to gain revenge for something that happened in the mid-70s in Minneapolis, forgetting of course that Muraco was a babyface in Minneapolis and left the AWA for San Francisco before Brunzell started wrestling. Schiavone boned up on the trivia although it was largely Mid Atlantic trivia since he never mentioned Muraco and Snuka's most famous moments in their career which was 1983 WWF and he and Zbyszko acted as if all six were retired wrestlers who have kept in shape when in fact all still work regularly and newer fans were probably perplexed at seeing Brunzell, who has been an anonymous WWF jobber for the past several years, called a wrestling legend. This match was fun to watch for the first 3:00. People popped when 300-pound Murdoch did a flying headscissors. Snuka seemed to think this was his try-out for getting a new job as he was ripped (as in physique, not the other definition of ripped) and took one great bump out of the ring, and I haven't seen Mulligan this active since the Civil War. Muraco and Snuka had two screw-ups, the second having Snuka accidentally hit Muraco who was then schoolboyed by McDaniel for what looked like a three count. No bell rang but McDaniel hesitated for a moment as if he thought it was the finish, then they kept going for about 10 seconds and the bell rang and it was called a double DQ. First of many lame finishes. *¾”

So I think it’s important to note the ages at this time. Let’s compare that to this era Eric.

Bobby Lashley is 45! R-Truth is 50! Goldberg is 55! MVP & Edge are 49! It’s a completely different business now than it is in 1993 is it not?

“Eric Bischoff interviewed The Assassin (Jody Hamilton) & Mad Dog Vachon. Assassin, who needs to buy a new mask because this one only covered three of his six chins, challenged Dusty Rhodes again, and when the show was over, one could only speculate as to why they spent so much time building a feud between those two.”

My goodness Eric - Assassin challenging Dusty Rhodes. Are they shooting their own angles?

“4. Thunderbolt Patterson (54) & Brad Armstrong (31) beat Baron Von Raschke (52) &

Ivan Koloff (56) in 4:40 when T-Bolt pinned the Baron after a double chop. Thunderbolt got a big pop coming out by himself. It was announced Bob Armstrong would be his partner, however they announced Bob had suffered a knee injury (actually it was a cracked sternum and fractured wrist suffered two weeks earlier, which gave them no right to advertise him as appearing the day before the show). The heels called all the Armstrongs cowards, so Brad ran down in street clothes to join Thunderbolt. 1/2*”

This is the issue with booking legends is it not?

“Next came a Flair for the Gold to introduce the re-uniting of the original Four Horseman. Of the five Flair segments that have aired thus far, this was easily the worst. Flair announced Tully Blanchard had snubbed the reunion but brought in Paul Roma as the newest Horseman. To say that announcement bombed would be an understatement. Blanchard was announced as going to appear on television the day before the show and on all radio and television ads in the Atlanta market even though it has been known for weeks that he turned down the offer. A major corporation like this should be a lot more honest in the way it advertises events. Even though Roma has a lot of talent, he was a long-time WWF jobber and later a mid-level heel on a tag team that never contended for the titles. Based on reaction here, this didn't elevate Roma to a new level as much as really deflate the Horseman name. Flair did mention in passing that he was going to put on the trunks again and face the Hollywood Blonds, but no emphasis was put on a match which is being put in a position of in three weeks being the key factor in television ratings for a major prime time special.”

-Roma in the Horsemen. Would you have ever considered this Eric if you had those decision making powers here?

“5. Dory Funk (51) managed by Gene Kiniski went to a 15:00 draw with Nick Bockwinkel (58), managed by Verne Gagne. These two put on a wrestling clinic, which some people loved and others thought was boring. Bockwinkel is in amazing condition for his age, and really, so was Funk, as neither man showed any evidence of tiring out. This was pushed at the last minute of a battle of the NWA vs. AWA from the 70s when both held the world titles of their respective organizations, although not at the same time. It was an old-style exchanging holds wrestling and for what they were doing, it was really good, although it got no crowd reaction and drew some boring chants by about 10:00 in. Kiniski, who is 69, did a run in right near the finish when Bockwinkel had Funk in a figure four. Even though there was little reaction to the match itself, the fans gave both men a very appreciative ovation after the match. **1/4

Did this work at this period of time in your mind?

How good are these two?

Between matches was an interview segment with you and Lou Thesz and Bob Geigel, whose name was spelled "Giegle."

How did this type of stuff make it onto TV not spelled correctly do you think?

“6. Rick Rude & Paul Orndorff beat Dustin Rhodes & Kensuke Sasaki in 9:41. Orndorff was in rough shape with a pulled groin muscle and had missed the last group of house shows. He was nowhere near 100 percent as you could see the pain every time he took a step.

Sasaki was acknowledged as half of the tag team of the Hell Raisers with Hawk. Match was okay, but below what you'd expect from these four. Hottest spots were Rhodes missing a tackle and flying over the top rope, and later Rhodes reversing a Rude tombstone piledriver into one of his own. Sasaki made the hot tag and did a few clotheslines, then went to the top rope. Sasaki had to wait too long for Orndorff to shove him off, which was the pre-finish, and then turned the wrong way when Rude tried the Rude Awakening, so the finish came off sloppy. **”

This is just a communication issue when it comes to being able to figure out how this is all going on…but Rick Rude & Paul Orndorff as a tag team…what could’ve been there huh Eric?

“Next came the announcement of the first four members of the WCW Hall of Fame, who were Lou Thesz, Verne Gagne, Mr. Wrestling II and Eddie Graham. They showed old newspaper clippings of all of them as Gordon Solie listed some of their accomplishments. This segment was great, even though picking those four as the first four names has already become the source of numerous debates. Thesz and Gagne no question at all, but II and Graham if this is based on international stardom and impact, should not have been picked ahead of people like Ric Flair, Dory Funk, Gene Kiniski, Buddy Rogers, Gorgeous George, Harley Race, Rikidozan, Bruno Sammartino, Dusty Rhodes and numerous others.”

Does it really matter in your mind compared to what Dave is talking about here?

How much politics is involved here?

“7. Sting pinned The Prisoner (Kevin Wacholz) in 5:16 after a clothesline off the top rope. Fans chanted "bulls--t" when they saw Nailz come out instead of Norton. A waste of Sting. -*”

I don’t even know what to say here Eric…but it’s a miracle Sting stayed over this long at this time isn’t it? Sting had to have been happy when this is all over right?

“8. The Hollywood Blonds (Brian Pillman & Steve Austin) kept the NWA & WCW tag titles in a cage match beating Dos Hombres (Rick Steamboat & Tom Zenk under masks) in 16:05. They did the Hombres gimmick under hoods because Shane Douglas wasn't ready to return from his separated shoulder. Schiavone acknowledged Douglas' injury as soon as the match began, but called it a knee injury since they had worked a knee injury angle two months back, but called the masked partner Shane Douglas even though it was obvious from the height and build that it wasn't. Pillman was working the match with a broken nose suffered the previous Monday at the television tapings in Knoxville. The crowd was dead early at ringside, probably because it was obvious one guy was Steamboat and the other wasn't Douglas, although almost nobody figured it was Zenk. The masks didn't help either, since Steamboat's facial expressions are a major part of his game and they were taken out of it. Twice during this match they showed two men in suits taking notes. The two guys were Barry Bloom (Jesse Ventura's agent) and Mitch Ackerman (of Walt Disney's television division), who attend many of the PPV shows for both groups, although the significance of showing them I have no idea. The only speculation I've heard is they may have had something to do with the new deal of taping television in Orlando, but the way they were shown, it was like they were going to get the cage to magically levitate causing a screw-job finish since everyone has such fond memories of the Capital Combat '90 finish. Overall a very good match with them creatively using the cage. At the finish, Steamboat took off his mask (so everyone would know at the end it wasn't

Steamboat doing the job since he's going to be pushed as a singles challenger for the NWA title now) and did a spectacular crossbody off the top of the cage onto both men, the ref counted two and the bell rang seemingly to signify a title change. It got real confusing from there since the match was re-started and several near falls until Austin hit the stun gun on Zenk for the pin. ***½”

This is just a science of things that don’t matter right Eric? Between showing Barry Bloom & Mitch Ackerman - which went nowhere - saying it’s Shane Douglas under the mask when it wasn’t - Steamboat taking off his mask to show he’s not losing - this is just completely insulting to much of the audience is it not?

“Dusty Rhodes did an interview with Bischoff accepting Assassin's challenge anytime, anyplace, along with Mr. Wrestling II and Stu Hart, who talked about attending because he wanted to see his son-in-law (Davey Boy Smith) win the title. I think Stu Hart is the only individual in the wrestling business who can be acknowledged and appear on PPV shows for both WWF and WCW. How come Rhodes didn't wrestle in one of the legends matches?”

Standing between these two legends had to be great but Stu Hart just commands the respect of being acknowledged on both shows does he not?

Ever get stretched b Stu?

“9. Barry Windham pinned Arn Anderson in 10:56 to retain the NWA title. Very good action hampered by a lame finish and the fact they should have allotted these two five more minutes. Windham juiced at 5:00 from a guard rail shot. A lot of big bumps by both men. Anderson threw down ref Randy Anderson allowing Windham to sneak up from behind and nail him with the title belt and score the pin. ***½”

Personal opinion Eric. You really want to relaunch the Horsemen? Give Arn the NWA title right? But Meltzer doesn’t give this match justice. If you’re going to watch this show - and you should because it’s got it’s up and downs - this is one of the matches you should take advantage of.

Davey Boy Smith and Vader take each other on in a WCW Title match. This was the hope when bringing in Davey that he’d be a top babyface and push to expand the European business right?

“10. Davey Boy Smith beat Big Van Vader via DQ in a WCW title match. Vader worked the match with a cracked rib which had limited his house show matches during the week to about 5:00, but he pulled out all the stops here again. This match was much better than it looked to be on paper. There has never been a man of Vader's size in this business who consistently has put on singles matches of this calibre. Smith didn't sell the power moves early and Vader went up for all of Smith's slams and suplexes to put Smith over as having superman-like strength and make him a believable challenger. Vader missed a charge and took a header over the rail. Smith caught him coming off the ropes and turned it into a powerslam. Vader blocked a crucifix and turned it into a backward splash and did another splash for near falls. Vader's wild swinging punches broke Smith's nose. Vader went up for a superplex but Smith reversed it and dropped him forward into the ring, then hit a diving head-butt which saw both men sell. After a few more near falls, Vader delivered a splash from the top but started selling his own sternum. The finish saw Vader go for a crunch into the corner but Smith caught him coming in and planted him with his finishing powerslam, however Harley Race broke up the pin. Smith went out of the ring and beat up Race and Vader attacked him from behind with a chair for the DQ. After the match Vader was beating on Smith and nailed both Bagwell and Scorpio who did run-ins, then went for the power bomb when Sting made the save. Another great match hampered only by a cheap finish. This match should have established Smith as a serious main event wrestler for WCW. ***¾”

Lots of finishes on this show that don’t make a lot of sense but when you end a pay-per-view like this…do you think it hurts the buying public’s perception for the next one?

Fans are split equally on this show according to the Observer. 36.6% thumbs up, 33.2% thumbs down and 30.2% in the middle.

Regarding the performance of the show:

“Our reports indicate the buy rate for Slamboree at between 0.3 and 0.4 percent, which would make it the lowest buy rate for any PPV show from one of the two major companies in history. That would indicate WCW's share of the gross at around $800,000, which wouldn't be the lowest ever because of the $24.95 price tag as opposed to the $19.95 price tag on a few of the poor performing PPV shows of 1992.”

Why if this concept drew very little buys - do you think it continued?

Was there a better way to present this concept in your mind?