A few notes on BatB:
1. The Rey Mysterio Jr./Psicosis match was easily the match of the night. It was an excellent high flying matchup between two men who have probably went each other hundreds of times. The match ended with Rey Mysterio Jr. countering a powerbomb into a headscissors takedown off the top rope for the pin. ****1/4
2. The Tenta/Bubba silver dollars on a pole match was what you'd expect from a pole match. Lots of punching, lots of running for the pole. The Pole however was way too long though. Jimmy Hart had to shimmy up the pole to get the sock full of silver dollars, but Tenta got it from him, hit Bubba with it, and got the pin. 1/4*
3. The DDP/Duggan taped fist match was only slightly better than the previous match. DDP was able to get the win with the Diamond Cutter, but Duggan got the last laugh by knocking out DDP with a taped fist. Having someone knock his teeth down his throat isn't a bad idea, but having a vet like Duggan do it this early in DDP's push wasn't the smartest decision. *1/4
4. The PE/Nasty Boys Double Dog Collar Texas Tornado match was horrible. It's sad that the best part of this match was a table that refused to break, despite several heavy bodies colliding on it. The Nasty Boys won, but PE got the last laugh. -***
5. The Dean Malenko/Disco Inferno WCW Cruiserweight Title match was a competitive contest between two guys who knew what they were doing in the ring. Disco, despite never really getting a big push, was a hell of a talent both in the ring and on the mic. He and Dean had arguably the second best match of the night that saw Malenko win after a Tiger Bomb into a Texas Cloverleaf. ***1/2
6. Steve 'Mongo' McMichael defeated Joe Gomez. This wasn't advertised on Nitro, so it was a bit of a shock to me. You'd expect a squash here, but these guys got seven minutes. Mongo was green as hell, and Gomez shouldn't be on TV, much less a PPV. DUD
7. Ric Flair and Konnan(c) for the US Championship was a pretty good match, despite the fact that neither guy seemed to have given it all. Konnan's name was finally spelled correctly. Flair was able to get the win rather cheaply after using Woman's shoe on Konnan. The ref was happy to give Woman her shoe back after the match, which I found silly. **3/4
8. The Arn/Benoit vs. Sullivan/Giant match was alright, despite the fact the ending was incredibly awkward. Giant won the match for his team with a chokeslam. Postmatch, Benoit kept beating up on Sullivan. Woman came out, begged Benoit to stop hurting him, but Benoit didn't listen to her. The beatdown finally ended when Giant came running out, and carried Sullivan to the back. **1/4.
9. The Hostile Takeover match between the Outsiders of Hall/Nash/??? and Luger/Sting/Savage delievered. The Outsider's partner didn't show up, but WCW wasn't able to take advantage due to the fact that Luger was taken out early by Sting. Hall and Nash worked over Sting for the majority of the match, until Savage got the hot tag in and cleaned house. Everyone was down, Hogan came out and seemed to be on the WCW side of things, until he hit the legdrop on Savage. The crowd was shocked, and the announcers were in disbelief at Hogan's heel turn. Hogan then cut a promo on how the fans could stick it, and that we were looking at the 'new world order' of professional wrestling. ***1/4
Overall, the PPV had several ups and downs, but the heavily hyped Hostile Takeover match was the reason people bought this, and boy did it deliver. It is one of the biggest moments in wrestling history, and arguably the biggest moment in Hulk Hogan's career. Overall, this PPV would get a 7.5/10 from me. Even though there was terrible stuff on the card, the Main Event helped turn this into a must watch for any wrestling fan.
The next Nitro will be up shortly.
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The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...