7:16 I agree that it felt like WCW did Madusa dirty. For being the key character in a segment that is regarded as one of the biggest shots fired in the Monday Night War, they didn't know what to do with her after that. She barely got screen time, and what little womens' division they had were mostly wrestlers flown in from Japan.
They also used some veteran American wrestlers like Malia Hosaka, Leilani Kai, and Debbie Combs, but yeah, nobody really went anywhere. Of note, one of the wrestlers they brought in from GAEA was none other than Meiko Satomura, who would go on to become a Joshi legend and NXT UK Women's champion.
Piper always claimed he never wanted a belt because he didn't need it to be over and having it just meant that you had to lose it. That said, the look on his face when he did get the IC belt in WWF says otherwise. It would've been cool to see him hold the Big Gold if even for a month.
@@marcohavokkhaos they never would’ve let Piper keep a belt that long. He was good, but not that good. And don’t even mention Benoit and the WCW belt. That was bad writing in a last ditch attempt to keep him from leaving - and a huge black eye on the company.
The reason you only count 7 belts on Dragon is one of the eight was the WWF Light Heavyweight Title, which was defended exclusively in Japan at this time. The WWF wouldn't let them show it on TV. EDIT: Sorry, I just noticed someone already pointed this out.
I was thinking it's quite an interesting historical tidbit, that a WWF belt was technically defended on a WCW PPV in 96. I suppose it was technically defended, even if you can't actually see it
I bet his looks had a lot to do with it,I mean Vince didn't want Christian to buy a heavyweight champion because he didn't like his face and even tried to put a dot over it so I'd imagine that had something to do with it.lets be honest ddp isn't fun to look at.
His match with Goldberg at Halloween Havoc 98' was probably the very peak of WCW. I didn't mind that Goldberg retained the belt but seems like a lot of people wanted DDP to take it that night.
I imagine Sullivan telling Nancy "I really need you to sell this affair. Go ahead and have 3-4 kids with Chris just to make it believable. That'll make these marks think it's real."
Agreed. It really was genius of Bischoff to feature the cruiserweights at the top of PPVs and Nitro to supplement the NWO angle. You really had something for everyone. I reemmber being absolutely floored by the moves, while in Japan and Mexico, they had seen these for years.
and yet he didn't give it five stars. i mean i am against the whole star system anyway. but that was a great match yet orange cassidey gets five stars ughh
I was surprised at first seeing him with a full beard but him with a blind one I actually kinda like. Lol now I just wanna hear him talk like Steiner now though lol
@@ethanhartman7329 It was actually created first for Mexico's UWA. But when that folded it went to NJPW, and they used it essentially as a secondary singles Jr belt for the IWGP title, until they were unified with the J-crown. Interestingly enough, Dragon had ANOTHER TITLE, the NWA Middleweight title, so he actually held 10 belts when he won the Cruiserweight title (you can see it in the infamous Greatness meme) I believe it was often used as a stand-in for the WWF belt when he appeared on WCW TV, wonder why it wasn't used here.
@@Henshingod Hmmm, interesting. That visual of all the belts was pretty innovative for 1996 in the US. It wasn't until much later you realized outside Japan, those belts really didn't mean a whole lot yet(maybe they did in Mexico?)
@@mattm7798 Japan and Mexico have always had close relationships with regard to wrestling, specifically NJPW and CMLL are very close partners. That plus CMLL has literally about 25 different championships, not to mention they don't exactly mean much there. Meanwhile titles are very important in Japan.
@@mattm7798 The only J-Crown belt that wasn’t from either a Japanese or Mexican promotion was the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, but it had been deactivated in 1989 and then revived in Japan in 1995 just to be part of the J-Crown. After the J-Crown was retired in 1997 the title was vacated and went dormant again until it was revived by the NWA two years later (who deactivated it again in 2017 and then revived it earlier this year).
It's hard to overstate how much of a revolution WCW was in 1996 and WWF was in 1997. There was an energy for about two years(mid 1996 to mid 1998) that has only been hinted at since(the summer of punk had a very brief moment where it had that type of buzz). This PPV is WCW running on all cylinders and almost everything in the company creatively and wrestling wise was amazing. Truly a magical time to be a wrestling fan, having missed peak hulkamania, this was the golden era for me.
Sting from this era was like the Batman of WCW (and yes, I know that in actuality, his gimmick was based on The Crow). He was that mysterious, mostly silent, avenger in black who swoops in, takes care of business, and then leaves.
Less than 5 minutes in, I legit had to pause the video to spend a minute laughing at Dusty thinking "Asai" meant dragon. Rewound it several times before I wasn't tearing up.
Starrcade 97 had the most epic story but 96 had the better card overall. Also I'd have killed to have heard Dusty Rhodes and Gorilla Monsoon call a show together.
I appreciate the _ah-ha!_ moment when it hits Brian where Roddy Piper's taunt came from in WCW/nWo: Revenge. I had the same experience when I watched Starrcade '96 for the first time.
What's funny to think about with Lex in WCW at this time is that Bischoff has been vocal about not really wanting Lex and not wanting the drama that comes along with him, but credit to Bischoff, he booked Lex pretty damn perfectly, especially at the start of the NWO story. Lex played his part perfectly. He perfectly slotted into the big babyface hero that was always there. Lex gets a lot of flack and a lot of it is earned, but 95-97 Lex Luger was his peak and it was a damn good peak.
I don’t feel it’s earned lots of dudes that we love were jst good because of booking by promoters what made lex so bad he was pushed as soon on as he stepped in he wanted things to make sense for his character ok but he was a top guy honestly he was one of wrestlings next big things it wasn’t his fault I think it’s the whole mrs Elizabeth thing but lex was jst as good as sting or Goldberg I mean ppl opinions don’t match the money lex made and jst lots of haters man fr
Yep. Lex was an overachiever during that time, no doubt. He was white hott over in 1997. And it was genuine; I was 11 at the time, and I know I respected him for how hard he was clearly working. I think there were plenty of other fans like me at the time. Hogie even volunteered to drop the belt to him. That hasn't happened too often. And u know what? Lex earned that.
Fun fact: one of Ultimo Dragon’s titles was the WWF Light Heavyweight Title. It was exclusive to Japan and Mexico from the early 80’s onward. Notable champions include Gran Hamada, Chris Adam’s, Perro Agauyo and Villano 3!
Lex luger vs the giant was one of the best moments in this show....for anyone who thinks lex luger couldn't draw watch the reaction luger gets in his victory.....lex luger tends to be a very underrated wrestler
He was booked so well during this time. It also helps that he had freakish strength to impress the crowd by hoisting up the giant on his shoulders a few times.
My grandfather use to have so many classic WCW and WWE VCR tapes and I remember he let me take this tape home with me! So much nostalgia right now thank you for this
this PPV was my first exposure to Jushin Liger as a kid and I was blown away by just how cool he looked and the fact he was an amazing wrestler to boot was all I needed I was hooked on the man
This is the best review I've seen for Starrcade 1996. I ordered this on pay-per-view and really enjoyed it. I rank it as one of the top 5 best Starrcades of all-time and the best one during the Eric Bischoff NWO Era.
0:15 Vacant steals championship titles and Big Hoss Mcgraw's shine (poor Big Hoss). H-man (Brian Zane as Triple H) steals Vacant's shine. Some things never changed, y'all.
Before today when I learned where that taunt came from, my head canon for Piper was it was the remnant of a never seen insane pirate gimmick. Glad to know what's up but I'm gonna stick to my previous cannon. The Eddie/ DDP match is a sleeper hit on this show imo. I LOVE their chemistry in ring. Dusty's commentary is always a treasure as well.
YESSSS! ARMAGEDDON 08! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO COVER THAT FOR SO LONG BRIAN AND NOW I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE IT FINALLY BE COVERED! WHAT BETTER CLASSIC PPV TO END THE YEAR WITH THAN WITH THE FINAL (and my personal favorite) ARMAGEDDON!
I believe this was my first WCW PPV. I remember watching the first match with my brother, dad and mom, and my brother and went crazy for the first match.
7:32 What's even worse (and mostly foreboding how serious WCW was taking the Women's division seriously) was that they didn't even have a Women's championship to even present to Hokuto after the match!
Young Eddie in WCW is awesome his matches with pretty much everybody during this time Was usually fire. 🔥 he had chemistry was such a range of people it was awesome to be a young teen watching this all unfold🥳 great time to be alive
The Diamond Cutter DDP gave him on WCW Saturday Night is the best thing ever! And underrated!! They had great chemistry for sure. Hell, either of them could go with anyone!
Hey Brian I just wanted to say that you are one of if not the best Wrestling UA-camr. You & the lads @ OSW are my two all time favorite channels. I love your old school reviews and have been a fan of yours since way back. You've come an extremely long way and for what it's worth I'm very proud of you, and you inspire me!
I was 3rd row ringside at this one! Sting walked right by me on his way to the ring with Luger and Giant. I remember the shock that Piper won with a sleeper. Then the pop thinking he was the new champ..and the odd letdown when it was declared a non title match. Thanks for this review!
I’ve been obsessed with these videos for the last few weeks. I was born in 2001, just before the acquisition of wcw. Never got to watch any wcw live and as winners tell the story, WWE kind of gave me everything I knew about wcw up until I found this series. Thanks for giving me a great insight on what was happening on the wcw side during the wars.
Love these serious. If it ever becomes accessible I would love to see classic ROH or NJPW ppvs I never got to see Bryan Danielson hype so would be fun to see
Never forget that 2K nearly put Liger vs Mysterio in his showcase mode for 2K22. Guessing a deal couldn't be made and thats why they made Starrcade 96 and Mysterios outfit DLC
13 year old me was also very confused watching this and not knowing how Piper could not be the new champion afterwards... how was it not for the title?!? Anyway, this was definitely WCW running on all cylinders in the Golden days of the nwo.
The point of the match was that their feud was much bigger than the World title itself, it was about pride, respect and the hatred they had for each other. Also Piper was doing his "I'm not here to win championships" shtick, he was there to get Hogan instead of a belt. 😀
Back around 2014 when i started watching this channel i never imagined one of the things i would look forward to would be the various characters created on this channel
I liked the "If i were booking this" segment. Hindsight putting title on Piper even for a short run would've been nice icing on the cake of his career but maybe Piper never wanted the title or "that doesn't work for me Brother." I never warmed on Luger. I was too young for his match with Flair and i was deep in WWF during his US Title Reign by the time i started watching WCW he was the Narcissist. Late 96 early 97 Luger was his last great run as a Main Eventer.
Been waiting for this one, my first ever pay per view. The cruiserweight matches were so great, the tag team match was kind of a dud, Jeff Jarret was always confusing heatwise. But Sting showing up and giving Luger the bat was huge. The energy when luger won was incredible. Honestly piper not getting the belt wasn't on my mind, it was the smaller feistier guy taking on the big muscled bully gang leader and not just getting a win, but choking him out in the ring. Credit where it's due to Hogan for recognizing the cool factor of the moment and going through with it. Eric Bischoff going apoplectic the next night and destroying the evidence was tremendous theater too. Too bad it all went to hell soon after.
I must have watched these classic PPV review episodes at least half a dozen times. They're that good. I'll set Big Hoss McGraw on anyone who disagrees...........
Unpopular opinion probably but I feel like Eric bischoff joining the NWO was the exact moment when the rot set in. Having the head of the company become part of the top guy on the heel faction - it was just dumb. And before I get yelled at about the "Mr. McMahon" character - that just WORKED better. I have to say, Brian, in all seriousness you did handle the whole Benoit storyline which became real life which became one of the biggest tragedies in wrestling very well.
Well, technically 2nd loss for the NWO. The month earlier at World War 3, Chris Jericho beat Nick Patrick in a One-Hand-Tied-Behind-My-Back Match. That was the very first match where an NWO member loss a match.
Fun fact: One of the belts in Ultimo Dragons J-Crown was the original WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. When the video has the arrows counting the 7 belts, it's the one on his right arm.
Oh my god, THIS is when the Giant had the US title belt! I've been trying to remember when this was for years. He delivers a promo while he's got the belt (in fact that still at 14:57 might be from the promo I'm thinking of) which has one of the best lines of his career: "This is the United States Heavyweight Title. The most coveted belt in the world. Why? Because it's MINE!" I've been looking for that promo forever! Haven't been able to find it anywhere on UA-cam, and since Giant was never actually the champion it's not in any records so I wasn't sure where to start looking. I was beginning to worry I had imagined it! Time to go scour the Nitros from around this PPV.
We finally got to see the long-awaited dream match at this WCW Pay-Per-View that we should've gotten at some point/points in time during their days in the WWF: Hulk Hogan VS. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
Aww man, I forgot about the whole beard dying thing. I'm thinking to myself "what's going on with Brian's beard?", and " that looks like vitiligo of the beard". Then I remembered the contest. Glad your beard doesn't have the vitiligo my man🧔♂🤜
It's just so odd to see so many people around The Giant at the same time that doesn't make him look like a giant. Nash, Hogan, Hall and even DiBiase. They just look like a bunch of normally sized people. It helps that Paul doesn't seem to be at his tallest here and he's at his smallest otherwise.
When you said that Hokuto was the only WCW women's champion I was wait a sec that can't be right so I had to look it up, and yes I was right Hokuto was stripped June 15 1997 when she left the country. After that it was won on an WCW live event on September 20th 1997 Devil Masami beating Zero for both the vacant WCW women's championship and the AAAW women's championship
I'm with Brian. Finally, Piper's weird/funny Revenge taunt makes sense.
I mean sense is a strong word 🤣
Yeah, as a kid I could never figure out that taunt or why they made it look like he had a beard.
Plus it was a taunt shown in the ring during the opening intro. Add in the way his head tilts and it made him look extremely derpy
He did it multiple times, but putting it in the game like that was.....an interesting decision
@@bikeracks5111 derpy Roddy Piper lol
I like how this channel started out as a wrestling fan's dumping ground and it is now basically a wrestling historian's archive.
You sound like one of them LGBTQ
@@leonleon2276 wat
@@leonleon2276 lol
@@leonleon2276 Fellas, is it gay to leave youtube comments?
@@the-four-seven Very.
Each comment you make gives you one (1) Homo point.
I already got 50-thousand four-hundred twenty.
7:16 I agree that it felt like WCW did Madusa dirty. For being the key character in a segment that is regarded as one of the biggest shots fired in the Monday Night War, they didn't know what to do with her after that. She barely got screen time, and what little womens' division they had were mostly wrestlers flown in from Japan.
It is crazy how little WCW did with her and that Women's division.
They also used some veteran American wrestlers like Malia Hosaka, Leilani Kai, and Debbie Combs, but yeah, nobody really went anywhere.
Of note, one of the wrestlers they brought in from GAEA was none other than Meiko Satomura, who would go on to become a Joshi legend and NXT UK Women's champion.
Wonder why wCw Execs didn't lend her to Stardom
Heck even the brief time they had a WCW Women’s Title, she never got to win it.
Well she got a bit of time in Machos group
In an Alternate Universe
Rowdy Roddy Piper became the New WCW Champion at Starrcade 1996
In a better reality these two weren't main eventing what was supposed to be the biggest show of the year for WCW when Piper could barely move.
Yeah, if only WCW had a wrestler from the NWO with a title shot, like a really "big wrestler" who is having issues with both of the main event guys.
So many guys suffered from poor booking for the sake of Hogan’s ego.
I went to bed that night fully believing Piper was the champion. It was probably strike one one my way to stop watching WCW.
Piper always claimed he never wanted a belt because he didn't need it to be over and having it just meant that you had to lose it. That said, the look on his face when he did get the IC belt in WWF says otherwise. It would've been cool to see him hold the Big Gold if even for a month.
He should’ve held both the WWF Winged Eagle and the WCW Big Gold.
He didn't have to lose it, Chris Benoit never lost his WCW title. Bruno was champ for 8 years, Piper could have been WWF champ from 84-88
@@marcohavokkhaos they never would’ve let Piper keep a belt that long. He was good, but not that good. And don’t even mention Benoit and the WCW belt. That was bad writing in a last ditch attempt to keep him from leaving - and a huge black eye on the company.
piper refused to do jobs thats why
@@DAKINS896 so did stone cold, yet no one bats an eye
The reason you only count 7 belts on Dragon is one of the eight was the WWF Light Heavyweight Title, which was defended exclusively in Japan at this time. The WWF wouldn't let them show it on TV. EDIT: Sorry, I just noticed someone already pointed this out.
I was thinking it's quite an interesting historical tidbit, that a WWF belt was technically defended on a WCW PPV in 96. I suppose it was technically defended, even if you can't actually see it
“Well she’s a biting a foot” made me laugh way more than it should have. Oh Dusty indeed!
I thought I would be the only one
Pity Bryan didn't mention what Dusty said shortly after: "She's bitin' her foot, and the referee Nick Patrick is a-hitchin' his drawers up!"
I love Dusty but his commentary was always...peculiar.
@@mrsejanoz523I Read it using my best dusty voice
@@Tim85-y2q, "We got a dead cow here, brother."
"No Vince, stop hopping the fence to get back in!" That joke aged like a fine wine.
I too have always wondered what the Piper taunt in Revenge was about. The second I saw him hop off I yelled “Revenge!!!” 😂
Don't remember that! But damn Revenge was a great game.
I always wondered where that hopping taunt came from and now I have the explanation. 🙂
Wassup Nikateen
God I love Brian's characters promoting the sponsors
We need a WWW Christmas special with all the characters,,Big Hoss, Vacant, etc.
What characters? They all seem legit to me.
I only see Big Hoss, Vacant and H man so...
This is the only channel where I never skip the promo content
Brian Zane as Triple H 😂
DDP was so underrated… he was so over in WCW it’s just sad how WWE mess up his run with the company
Great man outside the ring too
I bet his looks had a lot to do with it,I mean Vince didn't want Christian to buy a heavyweight champion because he didn't like his face and even tried to put a dot over it so I'd imagine that had something to do with it.lets be honest ddp isn't fun to look at.
His match with Goldberg at Halloween Havoc 98' was probably the very peak of WCW. I didn't mind that Goldberg retained the belt but seems like a lot of people wanted DDP to take it that night.
@@johnthomas5314 also his matches with Randy savage was pretty good too
He wasn’t underrated at all. He was what he was….a great worker. Him going to WWE would have been like HBK going to WCW….it wouldn’t have worked
I imagine Sullivan telling Nancy "I really need you to sell this affair. Go ahead and have 3-4 kids with Chris just to make it believable. That'll make these marks think it's real."
"It's still a work in 2022 brother"
I love Sullivan still has such a wicked Massachusetts accent even though he's lived in Florida for like 50 years
Sullivan was an idiot
@@robcressey7228 lol
@@robcressey7228 I've lived New Mexico my whole life and i have a lil southern mixed with mexican accent so whats your point
I could watch Malenko vs Dragon over and over again. They had such great chemistry
Their match at Clash of the Champions a few weeks later is even better.
Agreed. It really was genius of Bischoff to feature the cruiserweights at the top of PPVs and Nitro to supplement the NWO angle. You really had something for everyone. I reemmber being absolutely floored by the moves, while in Japan and Mexico, they had seen these for years.
He forgot to rate it.
Like an a or d.
and yet he didn't give it five stars. i mean i am against the whole star system anyway. but that was a great match yet orange cassidey gets five stars ughh
Big Hoss McGraw, VACANT, and H-Man? It's a Wrestling with Wregret Christmas. Also, Brian rocking the Steiner beard.
I was surprised at first seeing him with a full beard but him with a blind one I actually kinda like. Lol now I just wanna hear him talk like Steiner now though lol
Unfortunately, wstine79, it will be the last video of Big Poppa Zane.
I think Brian Zane is better with the trimmed beard or clean-cut.
Wregretness
@@Al7249 look up the short tab on his channel, he did the Steiner math promo with the current beard
@@djpegao ohhh yeah I remember I saw it. Lol he sounded just like em
I think Dragon's missing belt might have been the original WWF Light Heavyweight title. Which if true, makes sense why its missing
@@chrisbutler1668 He's talking about the first version of light heavyweight belt created in 1981 which was mostly fought over in japan.
@@ethanhartman7329 It was actually created first for Mexico's UWA. But when that folded it went to NJPW, and they used it essentially as a secondary singles Jr belt for the IWGP title, until they were unified with the J-crown.
Interestingly enough, Dragon had ANOTHER TITLE, the NWA Middleweight title, so he actually held 10 belts when he won the Cruiserweight title (you can see it in the infamous Greatness meme) I believe it was often used as a stand-in for the WWF belt when he appeared on WCW TV, wonder why it wasn't used here.
@@Henshingod Hmmm, interesting. That visual of all the belts was pretty innovative for 1996 in the US. It wasn't until much later you realized outside Japan, those belts really didn't mean a whole lot yet(maybe they did in Mexico?)
@@mattm7798 Japan and Mexico have always had close relationships with regard to wrestling, specifically NJPW and CMLL are very close partners. That plus CMLL has literally about 25 different championships, not to mention they don't exactly mean much there. Meanwhile titles are very important in Japan.
@@mattm7798 The only J-Crown belt that wasn’t from either a Japanese or Mexican promotion was the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, but it had been deactivated in 1989 and then revived in Japan in 1995 just to be part of the J-Crown. After the J-Crown was retired in 1997 the title was vacated and went dormant again until it was revived by the NWA two years later (who deactivated it again in 2017 and then revived it earlier this year).
I can not emphasize enough how much I love Triple H still appearing after all this time. Complete with the random "uh".
Did we ever find out if the road to Piper's house was curvy or straight.
It's hard to overstate how much of a revolution WCW was in 1996 and WWF was in 1997. There was an energy for about two years(mid 1996 to mid 1998) that has only been hinted at since(the summer of punk had a very brief moment where it had that type of buzz). This PPV is WCW running on all cylinders and almost everything in the company creatively and wrestling wise was amazing.
Truly a magical time to be a wrestling fan, having missed peak hulkamania, this was the golden era for me.
Sting from this era was like the Batman of WCW (and yes, I know that in actuality, his gimmick was based on The Crow). He was that mysterious, mostly silent, avenger in black who swoops in, takes care of business, and then leaves.
Less than 5 minutes in, I legit had to pause the video to spend a minute laughing at Dusty thinking "Asai" meant dragon. Rewound it several times before I wasn't tearing up.
As good a mind and promo as Dream was, he was a mess on commentary.
Starrcade 97 had the most epic story but 96 had the better card overall. Also I'd have killed to have heard Dusty Rhodes and Gorilla Monsoon call a show together.
I appreciate the _ah-ha!_ moment when it hits Brian where Roddy Piper's taunt came from in WCW/nWo: Revenge. I had the same experience when I watched Starrcade '96 for the first time.
What's funny to think about with Lex in WCW at this time is that Bischoff has been vocal about not really wanting Lex and not wanting the drama that comes along with him, but credit to Bischoff, he booked Lex pretty damn perfectly, especially at the start of the NWO story. Lex played his part perfectly. He perfectly slotted into the big babyface hero that was always there. Lex gets a lot of flack and a lot of it is earned, but 95-97 Lex Luger was his peak and it was a damn good peak.
#NoLiesTold
I don’t feel it’s earned lots of dudes that we love were jst good because of booking by promoters what made lex so bad he was pushed as soon on as he stepped in he wanted things to make sense for his character ok but he was a top guy honestly he was one of wrestlings next big things it wasn’t his fault I think it’s the whole mrs Elizabeth thing but lex was jst as good as sting or Goldberg I mean ppl
opinions don’t match the money lex made and jst lots of haters man fr
Yup, and number two to beat Hollywood clean, other then this match with piper.
And lex faught off the interface.
Yep. Lex was an overachiever during that time, no doubt. He was white hott over in 1997. And it was genuine; I was 11 at the time, and I know I respected him for how hard he was clearly working. I think there were plenty of other fans like me at the time. Hogie even volunteered to drop the belt to him. That hasn't happened too often. And u know what? Lex earned that.
Fun fact: one of Ultimo Dragon’s titles was the WWF Light Heavyweight Title. It was exclusive to Japan and Mexico from the early 80’s onward. Notable champions include Gran Hamada, Chris Adam’s, Perro Agauyo and Villano 3!
Lex luger vs the giant was one of the best moments in this show....for anyone who thinks lex luger couldn't draw watch the reaction luger gets in his victory.....lex luger tends to be a very underrated wrestler
He was booked so well during this time. It also helps that he had freakish strength to impress the crowd by hoisting up the giant on his shoulders a few times.
The crowd reaction he got at Nitro 100 after he beat Hogan clean for the title was insane.
My grandfather use to have so many classic WCW and WWE VCR tapes and I remember he let me take this tape home with me! So much nostalgia right now thank you for this
I like how you make the ad reads interesting instead of just reading the pre-written script they send you.
I remember Piper's taunt in the Revenge video game, I never understood that either lol
this PPV was my first exposure to Jushin Liger as a kid and I was blown away by just how cool he looked and the fact he was an amazing wrestler to boot was all I needed I was hooked on the man
The first time I saw Liger was when I was 6 years old and the costume and the mask just made me an instant fan :D
@@Jukeboksi he's up there as one of the coolest looking wrestlers of all time for sure
This is the best review I've seen for Starrcade 1996. I ordered this on pay-per-view and really enjoyed it. I rank it as one of the top 5 best Starrcades of all-time and the best one during the Eric Bischoff NWO Era.
0:15 Vacant steals championship titles and Big Hoss Mcgraw's shine (poor Big Hoss).
H-man (Brian Zane as Triple H) steals Vacant's shine.
Some things never changed, y'all.
For someone who didn’t grow up with WCW and the Monday Night Wars in general, these videos are a godsend. Appreciate your efforts!
It was amazing!!!at one time wrestling was on everyday of the week except on Tuesday,wwf wcw and ecw we're on constantly.
That pop Luger got when he beat the Giant was simply incredible! Great review Brian!
Thunder Luger
That phone call from Vince lol
Before today when I learned where that taunt came from, my head canon for Piper was it was the remnant of a never seen insane pirate gimmick. Glad to know what's up but I'm gonna stick to my previous cannon. The Eddie/ DDP match is a sleeper hit on this show imo. I LOVE their chemistry in ring. Dusty's commentary is always a treasure as well.
YESSSS! ARMAGEDDON 08! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO COVER THAT FOR SO LONG BRIAN AND NOW I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE IT FINALLY BE COVERED! WHAT BETTER CLASSIC PPV TO END THE YEAR WITH THAN WITH THE FINAL (and my personal favorite) ARMAGEDDON!
I believe this was my first WCW PPV. I remember watching the first match with my brother, dad and mom, and my brother and went crazy for the first match.
Damn, Malenko vs Dragon, Liger vs Mysterio and Guerrero vs DDP is one hell of an undercard.
7:32 What's even worse (and mostly foreboding how serious WCW was taking the Women's division seriously) was that they didn't even have a Women's championship to even present to Hokuto after the match!
Young Eddie in WCW is awesome his matches with pretty much everybody during this time Was usually fire. 🔥 he had chemistry was such a range of people it was awesome to be a young teen watching this all unfold🥳 great time to be alive
Agreed, only problem is that he was terrriiibbblleeee as a babyface. When he turned heel a few months later was when he really became a star.
Viva La Raza
The Diamond Cutter DDP gave him on WCW Saturday Night is the best thing ever! And underrated!! They had great chemistry for sure. Hell, either of them could go with anyone!
I see your comment and I raise the question .. but even Debra?
I could watch Roddy Piper do promos all day.
Same
Miss ya Hot Rod
Zane: remember piper wasn't that smart to begin with, at least confetti nor balloons were present this time
Hey Brian I just wanted to say that you are one of if not the best Wrestling UA-camr. You & the lads @ OSW are my two all time favorite channels. I love your old school reviews and have been a fan of yours since way back.
You've come an extremely long way and for what it's worth I'm very proud of you, and you inspire me!
I was 3rd row ringside at this one! Sting walked right by me on his way to the ring with Luger and Giant. I remember the shock that Piper won with a sleeper. Then the pop thinking he was the new champ..and the odd letdown when it was declared a non title match. Thanks for this review!
Holy shit I never knew that was the reason for Roddy Pipers hopping on one leg taunt in Revenge either 🤣🤣
I’ve been obsessed with these videos for the last few weeks. I was born in 2001, just before the acquisition of wcw. Never got to watch any wcw live and as winners tell the story, WWE kind of gave me everything I knew about wcw up until I found this series. Thanks for giving me a great insight on what was happening on the wcw side during the wars.
I usually skip ads or sponsors but The Z Man always makes it too funny to skip
I had never heard the term "honeydicking" before this video and I think it's a great way to describe those kind of situations.
Thanks, Z-Man!
Love these serious. If it ever becomes accessible I would love to see classic ROH or NJPW ppvs I never got to see Bryan Danielson hype so would be fun to see
Never forget that 2K nearly put Liger vs Mysterio in his showcase mode for 2K22. Guessing a deal couldn't be made and thats why they made Starrcade 96 and Mysterios outfit DLC
13 year old me was also very confused watching this and not knowing how Piper could not be the new champion afterwards... how was it not for the title?!? Anyway, this was definitely WCW running on all cylinders in the Golden days of the nwo.
The point of the match was that their feud was much bigger than the World title itself, it was about pride, respect and the hatred they had for each other. Also Piper was doing his "I'm not here to win championships" shtick, he was there to get Hogan instead of a belt. 😀
Yeah it was nonsense.
Holy crap, THAT'S the taunt origin?!
Back around 2014 when i started watching this channel i never imagined one of the things i would look forward to would be the various characters created on this channel
I liked the "If i were booking this" segment. Hindsight putting title on Piper even for a short run would've been nice icing on the cake of his career but maybe Piper never wanted the title or "that doesn't work for me Brother."
I never warmed on Luger. I was too young for his match with Flair and i was deep in WWF during his US Title Reign by the time i started watching WCW he was the Narcissist. Late 96 early 97 Luger was his last great run as a Main Eventer.
THE MAN CALLED MENG never gets old
It's almost hard to believe a decent Hogan/Piper match devolved into 'Age In The Cage' years later.
Been waiting for this one, my first ever pay per view. The cruiserweight matches were so great, the tag team match was kind of a dud, Jeff Jarret was always confusing heatwise. But Sting showing up and giving Luger the bat was huge. The energy when luger won was incredible. Honestly piper not getting the belt wasn't on my mind, it was the smaller feistier guy taking on the big muscled bully gang leader and not just getting a win, but choking him out in the ring. Credit where it's due to Hogan for recognizing the cool factor of the moment and going through with it. Eric Bischoff going apoplectic the next night and destroying the evidence was tremendous theater too. Too bad it all went to hell soon after.
I must have watched these classic PPV review episodes at least half a dozen times. They're that good. I'll set Big Hoss McGraw on anyone who disagrees...........
1:42 brooooo 🤣🤣🤣🤣 he made it over the fence
Unpopular opinion probably but I feel like Eric bischoff joining the NWO was the exact moment when the rot set in. Having the head of the company become part of the top guy on the heel faction - it was just dumb. And before I get yelled at about the "Mr. McMahon" character - that just WORKED better.
I have to say, Brian, in all seriousness you did handle the whole Benoit storyline which became real life which became one of the biggest tragedies in wrestling very well.
Rey Mysterio Jr Vs Jushin Thunder Liger was an amazing Match @ Starrcade 1996 awesome Review Brian.
"I finally gave a shit about Lex Luger"
A young OOC claps with joy.
I wish Malenko would get more recognition for just how damn good he was
He was the #1 wrestler in the 1997 PWI 500! Can u believe it?
@@billblaski9523 I remember seeing that and being surprised they knew who he was!
@@barlotardy surprised Pro Wrestling Illustrated knew a pro wrestler?
@@mathewbarrie Surprised they gave the nod to anyone under 6'5''.
@@barlotardy everyone loves Stinko
This was about the time I started watching wrestling. This review reminds me of how much I liked it back then.
Ultimo Dragon walking out like a boss.
Well, technically 2nd loss for the NWO. The month earlier at World War 3, Chris Jericho beat Nick Patrick in a One-Hand-Tied-Behind-My-Back Match. That was the very first match where an NWO member loss a match.
Fun fact: One of the belts in Ultimo Dragons J-Crown was the original WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. When the video has the arrows counting the 7 belts, it's the one on his right arm.
Yeah, of all the people WCW screwed over or misused, Madusa doesn’t get talked about enough.
Sometimes, "He's the maaaan called Miiiiing!" Just pops in my head and then leaves.
Opening had all of my favorite characters in it. Well almost.
Oh my god, THIS is when the Giant had the US title belt! I've been trying to remember when this was for years. He delivers a promo while he's got the belt (in fact that still at 14:57 might be from the promo I'm thinking of) which has one of the best lines of his career:
"This is the United States Heavyweight Title. The most coveted belt in the world. Why? Because it's MINE!"
I've been looking for that promo forever! Haven't been able to find it anywhere on UA-cam, and since Giant was never actually the champion it's not in any records so I wasn't sure where to start looking. I was beginning to worry I had imagined it!
Time to go scour the Nitros from around this PPV.
We finally got to see the long-awaited dream match at this WCW Pay-Per-View that we should've gotten at some point/points in time during their days in the WWF:
Hulk Hogan VS. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
“Açaí means Mystery King!” absolutely sent me 😂 so funny!
The 8th belt is holding his pants up.
Man, I love Dusty on commentary. The lack of a filter between his brain and his mouth leads to he some absolutely hilarious/surreal lines.
Merry Christmas Wregreters and yo you as well Zane. Thanks for the content
Your Dusty impression never fails to make me laugh 😂
Happy Hanukkah Brian And One more thing Can you a video on the Entire WCW Women's Division.
Big ups for the references to Mandy Rose and Small Business Vince in the opening.
Never seen the channel before but thanks to the triple h voice I listened to a damn plug and subbed lolol
Thanks for the great content Brian. You’re seriously helping out my seasonal depression with great content
I love how Roddy Piper pats the Giant on the back during the delayed chokeslam when the fan ran into the ring and the Giant grins. 😂
Conrad Thompson and Tony schiavone are actually reacting to this pay-per-view on there podcast this week
Aww man, I forgot about the whole beard dying thing. I'm thinking to myself "what's going on with Brian's beard?", and " that looks like vitiligo of the beard". Then I remembered the contest.
Glad your beard doesn't have the vitiligo my man🧔♂🤜
Feel bad for anyone who never watched WCW during the late 90s cause they had some WWF "allegiance". You missed out
A non title match for the WCW Title at the promotions biggest PPV. Good job WCW 😅
Pretty sure that was the only way Hogan would put Piper over. What a moment it would have been to see Piper hold up the Big Gold Belt
3:55 the unseen title is the WWF light heavyweight championship. It was included in the J Crown a long time before this. Just saying.
It's just so odd to see so many people around The Giant at the same time that doesn't make him look like a giant. Nash, Hogan, Hall and even DiBiase. They just look like a bunch of normally sized people. It helps that Paul doesn't seem to be at his tallest here and he's at his smallest otherwise.
I remember buying this PPV with my old buddy. good memories.
Cool review Brian, Merry Christmas
I'd feel bad for vacant if he ever went to AEW. He'd rarely ever win a title 😕
When you said that Hokuto was the only WCW women's champion I was wait a sec that can't be right so I had to look it up, and yes I was right Hokuto was stripped June 15 1997 when she left the country. After that it was won on an WCW live event on September 20th 1997 Devil Masami beating Zero for both the vacant WCW women's championship and the AAAW women's championship
Can’t wait for your videos of the best and worst of wrestling in 2022.
Always love those
The Zaniverse is alive and well!
(P.S. The bracelets on H-Man are a great touch.)
8:15 I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE! That taunt was hilarious lol
i remember literally not watching any wwf during this time period
"A young Mark Madden" Z-man, Mark Madden was nearly 37 when this happened. I wouldn't consider that to be a young person.
Brian Zane! Happy New Year Good Sir! That Triple H impersonation is a laugh riot!!! time to get back to action!
That goatee! 😂 Big Poppa Zane is your hook-up! Holla if you hear me!!!
Love all the Dusty stuff!
The impersonation always makes me laugh.