WCW On Pay Per View in the 90's - Every event Reviewed

[Apoho Creed]

Yeah Benoit and Sullivan beat the crap out of each other so much during their Matches. I think this was in 1997 they hurt each other so badly both had to be stretchered out and we got the sight of Hart and Nancy holding hands hoping both guys were okay.

 

[Deezy]

 

[Keith]

Bash at the Beach 1996

Date: July 7, 1996

Setting: Daytona Beach Florida (Ocean Center)

Attendance: 8,300

Tagline(s): "This is No Day at the Beach. Catch the Big One!"

PPV Buyrate (Roughly): 250'000

Announcers: Tony Schivone, Bobby Heenen, Dusty Rhodes and Mike Tenay (for the opening match only).

The biggest night in WCW history and the night that changed wrestling forever started off with that naff Seal rip-off BATB theme for the opening video package....



Most notable on the Main Event Preshow was the aging Rock 'N' Roll Express defeating Powerplant hopefuls Fire and Ice (Ice-Train and Scott Norton). I can only think the Rock 'N' Roll Express made a one off appearance as a nod to old school diehard fans. Them beating the younger talent wasn't too clever. Also The Steiner Brothers beat Harlem Heat by DQ. Yes two of WCW's biggest tag teams didn't make it onto the big PPV WTF?!





Psychosis VS. Rey Mysterio Jr.
This was the perfect way to open up. Mysterio carries on his rise up the ladder after impressing against Malenko at Bash. Psychosis in his colourful attire and bullhorns is the perfect foil too. Its a match the crowd was slow to warm to, but by the end they were into it. Heenan on sharp form all night quiped that Rey had hair like Demi Moore and Psychosis had hair like Pig Bundy. The more experience Psychosis took control early with a swift armdrag, and baseball slide, before grounding the smaller Mysterio sound mat moves, including an Indiana Deathlock and Surfboard. He also got the best off a criss cross with a headscissors taking Rey to the floor, followed by an impressive suicide dive. The heel scored a twos from a running legdrop and gallotine legdrop, following it up with a leg scissors and clothesline, Rey makes a fightback sliding under Psychosis' legs, he's then caught on the apron, but turns it into a hurricanrana off the ropes for a hot near fall. Mysterio goes for the leg attempting to cut his bigger foe down to size, but Psychosis comes back with a stiff looking DDT. Mysterio is dumped on the guard rail, and is nailed with a nice looking top rope swinton ontop Rey on the floor. Returning to basics Psychosis locks on a carmel clutch ripping at the rookie's face.

Rey counters a hammerlock with a smooth headscissors and does his inventive tour around the post swinging himself back in side as Psychosis moves out the way. Staying on top Mysterio hits a springboard dropkick and twisting Asai Moonsault, awesome! Heenan's reactions as Tenay keeps announcing these moves he's never heard of was gold!. The Brain said years later in a shoot interview that Tenay was his fave WCW announce guy to work with.
The face then is slowed down when hitting his leg on the ruard rail from on a high risk move which seemed a bit too risky. Psychosis scores an two and an half count from a powerbomb. The finish comes when Psychosis goes for broke with a top rope powerbomb, no doubt this would have put Mysterio away. but the second generation star is able counter in mid-air, hook his legs around Psychosis head and hit an impressive top rope frankensteiner snapping the neck and using a credle for the pin. Another big step for Mysterio and a great honor it must have been to have opened such a big show for both. Also big props to Psychosis for leading the match, working the crowd like a Pro and giving Rey the rub. From an in-ring stand point this was the best match on the show. ****




Big Bubba (W/Jimmy Hart) VS. John Tenta - Silverdollar Pole match
This was the first of a series of lame gimmicks in a desperate attempt to add more flavor to an underwhelming match. Both these guys are legends, but both had seen better days and were saddled with a crap storyline. Tenta the former Shark had quit the Dungeon of Doom and had half his head shalved as punishment, yep Tenta came out with a half shaven head. Bubba looked like a guy who had just staggered out of a biker bar at 3 in the morning. The rules of the match was that the first guy to climb the pole and grab the bag with the silver coins could use it as a weapon WTF?!. Part of the drama came from the fact that the 400 plus Tenta might have trouble climbing the pole, so for some reason he was allowed to unwrap the tape from the pole and take it down that way, WHICH DEFEATS THE PURPOSE OF A FUCKING POLE MATCH!!. You see now why WCW needed the NWO? To be fair the crowd who were on good form all night were pretty hot for these two. The match itself was plain dumb, sloppy and without a spark. The best moment was the surreal sight of Jimmy Hart removing his coat to climb the pole for Bubba LOL!!!. Meanwhile Tenta powerslams, grabs Jimmy and the silverdollars using them to win the match. Now that was a finish "BROTHER"!! * 1/2.



Mean Gene interviews Team WCW Lex Luger, Sting and Macho Man ahead of the main event. Macho doesn't care who the third man is, and that its going to be someone Ending with whoever the third man is is going to get hurt like the others. Playing up Macho's loose cannon persona as a key weapon for WCW was a nice touch. Sting ended the interview by saying that the "the Unknown gives goosebumps".

Lord of the Ring Tape Fist Match: Diamond Dallas Page VS. Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Another lame filler match. Two months after winning Battle Bowl ring Page's push is stalling. He gets the win, but its presented as a fluke, Page spends most of match doing goofy comedy spots and selling Duggan's crappy offence, like the old slingshot spot. To be fair Hacksaw got the fans into it with the "USA Chants". The finish comes with Page kicking the ringrope into Duggan's groin and hitting the match winning Diamond Cutter. *1/2




Its always nice to see Tony the Tiger aka Lee Marshall He interviews Benoit and Arn Anderson ahead of their match with Kevin Sullivan and The Giant later. The interview happens on the BATB stage. Decent segment, but what is this Nitro?!

Tag Team Dog Collar Match: Public Enemy VS. The Nasty Boys
The Nasty Boy's new theme sung by Sags and Knobs themselves (who clearly can't sing) has to be one of crapist themes. You be the judge:

This match was better than expected IMO. It added something a little different to the show and the two teams gave it their all with some fun spots. The double screen throughout the match was a nice idea. At one point with see Sags using a surfboard as his partner uses a chair and "two count on a surfboard" Sags takes a piledriver on the floor and is driven through a table for a two count by Rocco Rock. Later in the ring two table spots don't break the tables. The finish comes when Knobs hangs Grunge by a chain and uses the chain as a clothesline to take down Rocco. Public Enemy get the last laugh as the first carries on post-match. **1/2




Mean Gene has extra security just incase the Outsiders come after him. Still no signs of Bischoff who hasn't been seen since taking the Jumpknive from Nash at the Great American Bash.

Cruiserweight Title: Disco Inferno VS. Dean Malenko (c)
Disco gets his own Discoball!. Before the match the rookie mocks Malenko's lack of personality "Mr. Personality" that's a bit rich Glen. This is the second best match of the night, and it tells a really nice story. The announcers deserve credit for this too. Painting Disco as a bit of a joke and not aggressive enough makes it mean all the more when Disco makes his big comebacks later in the match. For a long time it looked like this might be a job match as Malenko is kicking ass for so long. The touch of the Champion being deadly serious and pissed at Disco's antics is another nice cool touch. Goes straight for the challenger from the bell, not even allowing him to get his jacket off. A on the money brainbuster scores two. A headscissors is followed by a crisp snap surplex. Malenko targets the knees with a leglace, half-crab and smooth float over into the STF. Disco makes a slow comeback hanging up Malenko on the top rope and getting a two count from a face first side Russian surplex. The Champion takes over with a low blow and grounds the challenger. A middle rope leg drop is followed by a Axe Handle off the top which is blocked by Disco and turned into a neckbreaker for a near fall. A swinging neckbreaker also gets two. Dean bouches back with a springboard dropkick, the Iceman goes for his Texas Cloverleaf finisher which is counted for a small packege for a hot near fall. They jostle for backslides, Malenko blocks and hits a beautiful double underhook surplex and locks on a Texas Cloverleaf for the submission win. By the end of the match people believed Disco could be Cruiserweight champ, job done. ***1/2




Joe Gomez VS. Steve McMichael (W/Debra)
So the Steiners, Harlem Heat and Eddy Guerreo didn't get onto the main card but this crappy looking WCW Saturaday Night level bullshit did!. I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER WHO THE FUCK JOE GOMEZ IS!!!!!lmaolmaolmao
Pretty much everything looks rough, Mongo busts his leap in the first minute of the match. The jobber Gomez is presented as the underdog of the match and yet dominates McMichael. In the end Mongo gets the win a naff looking tombstone piledriver. *1/2.



Gene interviews Ric Flair with Liz and Woman. Watching Flair flirting with these girls in a 2022 context is kinda creepy. Its revealed that Woman has a thing for that stud Mean Gene and invites him to a private party.

U.S. Title Match: Konnan (C) VS. Ric Flair (W/Woman and Elizabeth)
Hit and miss match. We start off with some classic Nature Boy mindgames. Its a slow start, the pace quickers as the champ connects with a low ball dropkcik and slaps Flair. We get a spell of more serious mat wrestling, before Flair lights up Konnan with a stinging chop in the corner, his shot to the bridge of the nose, but is then caught in a backdrop. Konnan locks on a surfboard which the Horseman leader sells like a Pro. Slick Ric then takes a Gurrella press, and Woman starts screaming at ringside (her performance in this match and later in the show shows what a fine worker she was). Woman gets a low blow in as Flair ties up the ref. Liz also pops up on the opron to distract the ref. The Champ is thrown over the top rope. Flair's ventical surplex looks good and gets two. Konnan fires back and we get the typical Flair aeroplane spin. Flair begs off, blocks a sunset flip and goes for a figure four which is countered by a K-Dog small package for two. The Champ turns the tables on Flair, hooking on a figure four of his own as the challenger screams in pain. Finally the former NWA/WCW champ makes the ropes, Konnan catches his foe up top and hits the rocketlaucher, and scores a two count from a running face plant. K-Dog hooks on abdormal stretch, once again Liz destracts the ref, he's destracted for so long it makes you wonder what they were talking about?. In the end Woman nails Konnan with a spiked heel and Flair gets the pin and the US title. This brings to an end one of the most forgettable US Title reigns, lets see if Ric can do better. **1/2


Gene eves drops on the Outisder's lockerroom saying he heard a third voice and it sounds "familar" but it was "muffled" I love this shit!. Heenen wants Gene to bribe a guard for info

Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit VS. Kevin Sullivan and The Giant
The story of this match heats up when the Giant is destracted by Mongo who goes for him with a briefcase. As the Giant chases him to the back this gives the Horsemen a few minutes to icelate Sullivan doubling teaming him. The Taskmaster and Arn rumble outside leading to Arn hitting the guard rail back first. Benoit and Sullivan (involved in a real life feud, being used by WCW on TV) brawl back and fourth with stiff blows in the corner. The Giant returns and nails Arn with a clothesline before he can hit a DDT on Sullivan. As the Crippler goes for a superplex the Giant comes in and catches Benoit in mid-air. The Horsemen do a good job of cutting off the ring working on Sullivan's arm and tagging in and out. An Anderson piledriver is blocked Sullivan sling shots Arn into Benoit whose up top, but the sequence is very slow. The hot tag to the WCW World Champion finally comes. Sullivan uses his experience taking Benoit away from the ring as the pair carry on their war up the aisle. A standout is Benoit out of nowhere diving ontop Sullivan off the life guard stand
Back in the ring The Giant pins Arn with the chokeslam. Benoit keeps up the punishment with a superplex. At this point Sullivan's real life Ex Woman runs in and starts screaming at Benoit not to hurt him anymore. Finally the Giant returns to save the Taskmaster. This is a very baffling shoot style storyline. The fans didn't know about the real life tension between Benoit and Sullivan, nor did the announcers according to Tony Schivone. The moment with Woman fell flat. ***





Hostile Takeover Six Man Main Event: Sting, Lex Luger and Macho Man VS. Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and ???
We get a classic Buffer OTT intro as he says that The Outsiders have challenged WCW's Saintity. Hall and Nash come out, but there's no third man with them. Gene comes out to challenge this, he wants to know where the third guy is? Hall mocks Gene calling him Sceme Gene saying he doesn't need to know. This further adds to the drama and leads the announcers to speclate that WCW might have been played. The faces come out to a big pop. Luger and Hall start out. Lots of stalling from the former Diamond Studd who mocks Lex and tosses a tooth pick in his face. Luger fires back and hits a flying forearm. He nails Nash for good measure but a moment later is taken out by his own partner Sting by mistake. As Lex is caught in the corner Sting comes in with the Stinger splash but knocks Nash into Luger's head knocking the Total Package out. Clearly an accident but it does play into the heat between Luger and Sting in recent months and the idea that Sting could be the third man (originally WCW's plan). Luger does a stretcher job and the sides are leveled up, Hall gets even more heat mocking Lex as he's stretchered away.

Sting hits an atomic drop on Hall followed by a running face slam. Macho tags in but is caught coming off the top by Nash and hit with the snake eyes. Macho gets two from a clothesline. Nash is officially tagged in and hits an elbow drop. Sting tags in and goes for a sunset flip, Nash blocks it and shows his power lifting Sting up before dropping him. The heels cut off the ring. Hall hits a nice fullaway slam for two. The Outsiders gang up on Sting who fights back to a good crowd reaction. The stinger hits a low dropkick taking away Nash's base. A small package on Hall, sees the ref destracted by Macho who has been wound up by the heels. Halls locks on an abdormnal stretch and gets an assist from his partner who grabs his hand from the outside. Hall sleeper, Macho comes in with a chair and is truly unhinged. Nash hits his sideslam for a two. Sting gets his second wind and decks both heels, and makes the hot tag. Refreshed Macho takes on both heels, striking both with double axe handles off the top. At this point Team WCW seem on course for the win. Then the big moment, as Hulk Hogan comes out to a massive pop. Remember this was Hulk's first appearance in WCW since Feburary he had been filming a movie the classic Santa with Muscles! As he comes out Heenen delivers his famous line: "But who's side is he on?"!!. Nash has just given Savage a low blow in the ring. Hogan's entrace stops them the Outsiders in their tracks, they both back off. Hogan pauses, and then BOOM! He delivers the legdrop of Doom on Macho followed by another two. Tghe crowd reaction is off the charts as is the announcer's who by the way didn't know. Heenen seems vindacated for all those years of hating Hulk Hogan gets the pin the Outsiders and Hogan win. Garbage fills the ring. Mean Gene wants answers. Hogan delivers one of his greatest ever promos and one of the most iconic in history. Hogan names the new faction the New World Order of Wrestling and beclaims them the future. He says the Garbage in the ring represents the fans. Hogan references the WWF ("the organsation up North"), saying he made them millions and in the end became too big for the company. Hogan complains about being overlooked by Ted Turner and WCW management, and ends with a alternative version of his famous "Whatcha gonna do?" line. Tony Schivone signs off the PPV with one of his greatest ever lines, "Hulk Hogan you can go to Hell!". ***








Coming next time WCW expland their PPV's with a weird August outting.

 

[Keith]

WCW Hog Wild 1996




Date: August 10, 1996

Setting: Sturgis South Dakota (Motorcycle Rally)

Attendance: 5,000 (roughly)

Buyrate: 220, 000 (only a small drop from Bash)

Tagline: "Ain't No Easy Riders Here" (these taglines get worse! )

The WCW Saturday Night Preshow was one to skip, it included a 30 second match with Alex Wright pinning The Earl Robert Eaton

Schivone reads a very melodramatic opening monologue about the town's history in a voice over nearly as bored as Harrison Ford's in the original cut of Blade Runner, ending with: "Sturgis is alive with the sound of WCW"

A weired experiment of a PPV based mostly on Bischoff's love of bikes. The event was staged out doors in front of a crowd made up of bikers, who would sometimes rav their motors in reaction to the action, and who were mostly casual at best wrestling fans, leading to a lot of mixed reactions (Hogan was cheered like he was babyface in the main event), overall it led to a pretty dead response, there were other responses which even by 96 standards seemed out of date. The gimmick of the show died a death, which is a shame because in-ring Hog Wild was a very good wrestling show.

WCW Crusierweight Title match: Rey Mysterio Jr. (C) VS. Ultimo Dragon (W/ Sonny Onoo)
A very solid wrestling based opener, Dragon proved an effective heel (though this crowd was always going to chart USA against a Japanese wrestler even if he was a face), and did a great job of putting Rey over, at the same time there were truly some great near falls. Dragon reversed the Champ's Indian Deathlock into a smooth cradle, he then grounded the rookie with some stiff blows and sound mat wrestling, followed by a nice springboard and spin wheel kick. They both cancelled each other out for the next couple of minutes, before Dragon strikes with a solid headspring elbow in the corner. A running powerbomb out of the corner is also on the money, but instead of going for a pin, he targets Jr's leg, locking in a figure four.

For the next few minutes its a case of Rey struggling in submission style holds while making the odd short comeback including reversing a surfboard into a pin for a near fall. The cockscrew pluncha outside from Rey gets a decent response. The challenger fires back with a headscissors off the top to the floor, he comes close to winning the title with a smooth German Surplex and a powerslam catching Mysterio off the ropes. In the end the babyface retains after countering a headscissors on top into one of his own. ***1/2




Mean Gene plugs the hotline as rumours aboard over who the 4th NWO member is going to be, man are they going to be pissed when they find out

Scott Norton VS. Ice Train
A nothing, sloppy big man 1980s powerman match between ex-partners. Norton on his day was decent enough, but not so much against another lumbering muscle guy who was as green as Train appeared here (he had been wrestling for WCW since 93). The focus of the match was Train's injuried shoulder which the heel targeted throughout. In the end an armbar wins it for Norton *1/2



We get a recap of Arn Anderson being laid out by the NWO on Nitro. In response Flair cuts another iconic promo declaring war on the heels, asking fellow WCW guys Luger and Sting to put their despute with the Horsemen aside to take on the Order together
They plug Hog Wild merch, the PPV shirt is $89.99!!!.

Madusa VS. Bull Nakano (W/ Sonny Onoo)
WCW's half hearted attempts to kick start their Women's Division go on with this solid, but rushed match which is let down by a silly finish. After some pretty exciting back and fourth for 5 minutes, Madusa wins when Bull basically pins herself on a bridged surplex because the American got her arm up before the pin (this is only revealed later). In the post match Madusa destroys Nakano's bike with a sledge hammer after Onoo attacked hers. **1/2



At this point in the night Heenan starts a running gag which appears to be him making fun of Vince's crappy commentary by injecting with "he got him" on every pin.

Chris Benoit (W/ Woman and Miss Elizabeth) VS. Dean Malenko
This match is another example of WCW putting on an excellent in-ring match which is let down by a confusing finish which took away from the in-ring drama. Also good as it was, at 26.55 it was a bit on the long side and bit too stuffed with high spots and near falls. The opening few minutes are dominated by stiff blows back and forth into the Crippler's hard hitting upper cuts. There's a nice battle over backslides, Malenko's effort is turned into a sunset flip, before he scores with a backslide for two. The Canadian shows fantastic power working The Iceman up from a sitting position with one arm reversing the armscissors. We get vintage Benoit with an abdminal stretch and a series of snap surplexes, and a middle rope headbutt which isn't enough for the win. Malenko scores the closest near fall yet following a reversal of a tombstone into one of his own in an impressive spot. Benoit gets into his groove with a series of moves including a hell of a German surplex, the two reverse German attempts back and fourth, before the Horseman hits a German release for hot two.

The match went the full twenty minutes, but instead of declaring the match a draw, the ref ended up adding two over time periods of 5 minutes each. One of the highlights of these periods are each applying the other's hold on the other one (Benoit taking his own crossface and Malenko taking the Texas Cloverleaf). In the closing stages of over time two go heavy with the reversals and near falls, Malenko hits a stiff powerbomb, followed by the cloverloaf and STF, Woman destracts Malenko allowing Benoit to roll him up using the tights for the cheap finish. There's a bunch of random run ins during the match including Jackie who attacks Woman. The result meant Malenko failed to collect a Bounty on his foe which was placed on him by The Dungon of Doom. ****1/2




WCW Tag Team Championship: Harlem Heat (c) (W/Col. Robert Parker and Sister Sheri)

Another solid match marred by a messy finish. These two teams both still over quite strongly. Sadly there were reports of racism towards Heat by some of the locals. Scott starts the match off strongly with a couple of nice power moves including a Gorrila press and over head surplex. Booker does decent job selling throughout the match. The power man for the champs Stevie Ray enters and is soon matched up with the wacky Dogface Gremlin who scores a two off a Steiner line and grounds Ray. A smooth Scott belly to belly gets another two count. Rick returns the favour after Ray hits a surplex, the fresh Booker hits the superkick, but is caught off the top in Steiner's impressive mid-air slam spot this almost wins the tag belts for the Brothers. The tables are turned when Ray pulls the top rope down and Rick hits the floor outside. The champs are on top the next few minutes, effectivly tagging in and out, cutting Rick off from Scott, at times taughting the younger Steiner in the ring. A series of double teams, some cheap shots from Sheri and Booker's wild scissors kick and hang time into a jumping axe which scores a near fall for the champs. A side slam from Ray isn't enough to put Rick away. Finally Booker misses
an elbow drop, takes a Steiner belly to belly, Sheri jumps up and throws salt at Scott but misses hitting Booker instead, but with the ref destracted Parker hits Steiner with his kane allowing his men to retain. ***



US Title Match: Eddie Guerrero VS. Ric Flair (c) (W/Woman and Miss Elizabeth)

Even 96 Flair could still put on a show, and he and Eddie have a spark. There's a classic shoving match to start off which the ref gets in on, giving as good as he gets with Flair. Flair is on top crowd working form as he rolls outside jawing with a bunch of fans, and playing mind games with the challenger, Woman even gets in on it showing what a fine talent she was. Eddie uses his pace on a nice leap frog, but is a little rough on the takedown, Flair bounces back with some stiff blows and a surplex. Guerrero takes control with a smooth flying headscissors off the buckles scoring two. Flair lights Eddie's chest up with the reverse chops, Eddie fires back with chops of his own, and we get the normal Flair airplane spin to the outside. Flair flips and flops around the next couple of minutes like only he can. Eddie comes close to winning his first US Championship with a crossbody off the top. A sunset is blocked by the Nature Boy, but slick Ric misses a fist drop. The challenger scores a pair of twos with another headscissors and a crappy looking Tornando DDT. Flair catches a break and works over Eddie's leg, this comes back to play in the finish when Guerrero hits the frog splash injuring the knee in the process. Flair locks on the figure four with a little help from the ropes and Woman at ringside leading to the match winning pin. ***



The Outsiders VS. Sting and Lex Luger

Pretty standard Outsiders VS. WCW match. Its job done by the end, the heels keep building their heat and the faces stay over even in defeat. Lots of heel stalling, big power moves and high spots, decent selling from both Sting and Luger (Luger takes most the punishment with Hall and Nash working over his knee). Following a Lex power slam on Hall, the faces trap The Outsiders in the Scorpian and Torture Rack at the same time to a decent pop. Its at this point the twist comes in, ref Nick Patrick appears to accidently stumble into Luger's knee, before taking it out a second time this time clearly on purpose, Hall chokeslams Lex, and we get a classic heel ref fast count confirming the turn. Nick Patrick has joined the NWO!!!mark:
This is one screwy finish I don't mind since it fits with the NWO story, it was at least a bit different too. Patrick made for a surprislingly good heel in the coming months. This win would set The Outsiders up for a WCW Tag Title shot in the coming weeks. **1/2




WCW Title Match: The Giant (w/Jimmy Hart) (c) VS. Hollywood Hulk Hogan

Speaking of matches which play out mostly how you'd expect this is another. We get a typical 1980s style power man match, except with Hogan in the heel role, working the crowd, playing mad games with the champ and playing the chicken shit heel (very well its gotten be said), we get the standard routines from both, its not the worst thing in the world but its a bit drawn out. In the run up to the finish Hall and Nash hit the ring, Hall takes a chokeslam as Nash grabs Hart's megaphone but is caught with a boot and chokeslam, this destraction gives Hogan enough time to regroup grab the WCW title and nail The Giant with it, this is followed by the big boot and Legdrop of Doom for the 1-2-3 crowning a new WCW Champion as the NWO's dominace goes on. In a bizarre post match, Hogan's old buddy The Bootyman comes out with a Birthday cake for the new champ and is revealed as the 4th man (well 5th if you include Patrick). Hogan cuts a cool heel promo saying he's gonna make Ted Turner a second class citizen. Proving he doesn't mix business with pleasure Hogan lays out his best friend, before renaming the WCW Title the NWO title spray painting it NWO on in black. This is one of the defining images the NWO era. Hogan says: "The NWO is the only way to go". **









Next month WCW and the NWO go to War inside a cage for the classic War Games match and for the first time in awhile there's plenty of stakes to the match.