WCW Slamboree, Worcester, MA
A request! The request was for the full Thing here, which includes the Cruiserweight Battle Royal, meant to determine an immediate No. 1 contender for Chris Jericho’s WCW cruiserweight title. I thought about doing two separate posts, but then I thought, you know, it’s an eight-minute battle royal and the point of it is that it leads immediately into the follow-up match.
So I’ve decided to combine them!
(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)
Before we can meet our Cruiserweight Battle Royal participants, Chris Jericho is out, and he will introduce the participants himself.
Your Cruiserweight Battle Royal participants: Super Calo, Chavo Guerrero Jr, Ciclope, Damien (which is how WCW spelled it even though his gear says DAMIAN), El Dandy, El Grillo, Juventud Guerrera, Marty Jannetty, Kidman, Evan Karagias, Lenny Lane, Psychosis, Silver King, Johnny Swinger, and Villano IV.
I was gonna clip the video of Jericho’s introductions but honestly, they aren’t even wrestling funny, and he trips over one of the two better lines about Lenny Lane having his Loverboy tape.
Here we go! Tony Schiavone says eliminations can come by pin or being thrown out out of the ring, not necessarily over the top.
It’s a battle royal!
It continues to be a battle royal!
First one out is Karagias, knocked out by Kidman. Dandy and Psicosis blow a spot. Swinger thrown out by Chavo Jr. Silver King beats Chavo’s ass a bit. Backstage, Jericho watches the match on a monitor in split screen.
Chavo gets in his tornado DDT on Silver King. Damian and the previously unknown El Grillo (it means The Cricket!) do a bit. Juvi eliminates Calo. Lane eliminates Silver King.
Mike Tenay acknowledges that El Grillo is a newcomer here, as he’s been trained by Juventud and Fuerza Guerrera, and Mike talked to Juvi to get some info on the lad. Juvi says El Grillo is coming along!
Tony is picking Juventud, Bobby is picking Chavo Jr. Grillo and Dandy do a slow motion bit because people are in their way. Grillo is gone by El Dandy!
Lenny Lane really trying to turn some heads in here.
Jannetty gets eliminated. Villano IV is out. Mike was picking Psicosis (I spelled it the WCW way once, that’s enough). Lane gone!
Juvi and Kidman get some room to turn it up a bit. Damian out! El Dandy gone. Kidman lowbridges Chavo Jr.
We’re at the Final Four! Juvi, Psicosis, Kidman, and Ciclope.
Ciclope and Juvi work together to turn an advantage around, Psicosis out via Ciclope, Kidman out via Juvi, and now we’ve got our final two!
Juventud fires up, they circle, Juvi gets the crowd clapping. They stare down. For a bit. A good bit. They shake hands. Juvi hops over the top to the floor.
The mask comes off of Ciclope.
It’s Dean Malenko, and the place is going nuts.
Malenko hadn’t been on TV for two months, following his loss to Jericho at Uncensored ’98. Jericho had been on a reign of terror as cruiserweight champion, the reason Juvi had to unmask after beating him at SuperBrawl in February, then basically sending Malenko home, depressed and ashamed (Gene Okerlund’s hilariously aggressive post-match interview approach didn’t help, either).
Malenko was never, like, a mega fan favorite, but he was a guy the audience had grown to appreciate and respect, and the way Jericho ran down his father and him was really disgraceful, and it was done so well that it had an emotional impact, something that bursts out of everyone here. Jericho in general needs his ass kicked, and the people want Dean Malenko to be the one to do it, right here and now.
You also have to appreciate the depth they gave it with the El Grillo thing. Grillo was the real Ciclope (Halloween), and nobody had ever seen him, but “Juvi had trained him” and fed Tenay the information on this youngster. Juvi, the guy who knows who’s in the Ciclope outfit, and eliminates himself to give Dean his chance at this revenge, even though Juvi himself still has plenty of beef with Jericho. That’s how much even Juvi wants to see Malenko kick Jericho’s ass; he forfeits the chance to do it himself, working with Ciclope to get Malenko into the battle royal.
Jericho just totally reeling as Malenko is a shock to him and he just isn’t ready. Plus, Dean is working way more aggressively than usual. Jericho blocks a suplay attempt, but Malenko gets behind and just batters him in the back of the skull with right hands, followed by a leg lariat.
Juventud has stayed at ringside to cheer Dean on. To look at Juvi, we miss a Malenko dive onto Jericho at ringside. Jericho sent into the guardrail, but he catches Malenko with some boots coming back into the ring.
Malenko takes the advantage right back, though. “Jericho sucks” chant as he begs in the corner. Malenko looking a little tired, being honest. He’s not used to that explosion of energy he showed when this match started, plus he was in a battle royal, that’s not nothin’.
Jericho finally gets a real chance, stun-gunning Malenko on the top rope as a counter move, then a running senton. Jericho’s still mentally lost a bit, not sure exactly what to do, yelling about a conspiracy.
Jericho holds a suplay, Malenko starts to fight so Jericho drops him down with a brainbuster and does the one-foot pin, which never gets a win. Scoop slam from Jericho, the Lionsault hits! Two count and Jericho grabs a chinlock.
Jericho goes for the pumphandle, Malenko gets free, but he winds up in a double underhook backbreaker, and Jericho goes for the Liontamer. Malenko picks the ankle, but Jericho gets the rope and slides out of the ring, tripping Malenko from the floor and then heading up top. Flying back elbow hits for a long two count!
Malenko really looks like he’s just lost the chance here, like the window has closed. He’s tired, he’s slow, he’s wrestling in a whole outfit he just isn’t used to. Jericho smacks him in the face which gets a real “oooh” from the crowd, but Malenko springs back to life with the super gutbuster!
Texas Cloverleaf gets turned over in the center of the ring and the crowd roars! Jericho gets very close to the bottom rope, but Malenko readjusts and pulls him back to the center, sits back, and Jericho taps! Dean Malenko is the first four-time WCW cruiserweight champion, and he has ended Chris Jericho’s reign, gotten revenge for his father’s memory and for his brother Joe.
The battle royal is a battle royal, but it has a great ending that leads us to a hot, if a bit sloppy match with Jericho and Malenko. They do about seven minutes, so the whole shebang is about 15 of in-ring time, and while it’s no classic, it is the hottest seven minutes of Dean Malenko’s career in WCW. Not even close to his best match or whatever, but the crowd are so invested, because this whole thing has been done so masterfully.
From Jericho shelving Rey Misterio Jr to unmasking Juventud to the Malenko angle, after MONTHS, the detestable shithead finally gets what’s for.
They’d go into a convoluted bunch of stuff over the next three months, with Malenko having to forfeit the belt, then failing to win it against Jericho again in a vacant match, then Rey coming back and winning it but not, then Juventud finally beating Jericho in August, only to pass that torch as a transitional champ to Kidman with a great match in ’98, setting up a long, breakout reign for young Billy.
The match is kinda whatever after its very hot opening moments of mudhole stomping. But the whole ordeal here is pretty great. If anything, I’d change it to Malenko just flat beating Jericho’s ass inside of, like, three minutes, just a full-on assault and domination, none of the Jericho offense. You could still have done everything they did after.
Also: Tony Schiavone could never say “Ciclope.” He couldn’t fit the “L” in there.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 