World Wrestling All-Stars – The Inception

World Wrestling All-Stars – The Inception
Sydney Superdome
Sydney,  Australia
January 6, 2002 (taped 10/26/01)

I’m forever fascinated with the wrestling landscape of 2001 – 2003. The end of WCW and ECW was like an atomic bomb being dropped on the world of wrestling, as it wiped out the last two major companies with network TV deals, leaving the WWF as the only game in town. The amount of talent and names available is staggering when you look back on it. Because of existing contracts, longstanding grudges, and outright pettiness, there were a lot of top name wrestlers fans were familiar with that were left without a home. There were also a plethora of rising young stars coming up the ranks as the millennium dawned, and the already crowded WWF roster left them with few options. 

Independent wrestling was still very much seen as regional entertainment during this era, featuring maybe a couple decent prospects and a lot of washed-up has-beens of yesteryear. Coming out of the late 90s, these promotions still seemed so small-time, as they would truck in the Nikolai Volkoffs, Virgils, and Brutus Beefcakes to put on hokey main events and maybe draw a few hundred people at best, generally speaking. The days of the ‘super indies’ and true homegrown independent superstars were still a few years away. There were some pioneering companies that drew rave reviews in the Apter mags, like ECWA and APW, but these companies were still very much regional and unfortunately a non-factor to most wrestling fans. 

With the majority of the ECW and WCW rosters out of work, and the last gasps of breath from the attitude boom era, promoters were able to start capitalizing on these names to draw bigger and better crowds to local shows in the first half of the 00s. Here in Winnipeg for example, names like Curt Hennig and Jerry Lynn helped bring several hundred people to the Convention Centre for one of the biggest independent shows the city had seen in years. With so much name talent available, local promotions were able to bring in current and future superstars to provide valuable experience for homegrown talent. This would slowly help new stars gain a foothold in the industry, like Kenny Omega, here in Winnipeg again, who drew a lot of attention thanks in part to match against AJ Styles at a local area bar show.

Something super interesting was happening in WCW during their dying days. In the final months of the company, buried under all the Russo-infused bullshit, the company was quietly rebuilding an amazing cruiserweight division. They were plucking some of the best lightheavyweight stars from the indies, and future superstars like AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels were getting valuable airtime. Some of these cruiserweights would go on to big success in the WWE, while others like Styles and Daniels helped build the groundwork for the future major indies, and even the early years of TNA. The future of wrestling proved to be about the hard hitting, athletic, workrate-based matches that these wrestlers would become known for.

With the landscape wide open and so much talent available, promoters big and small began to look for ways to take advantage of all this and create new promotions to fill the void. Some, like Ring of Honor, had inauspicious debuts, but would go on to change the business. Others like TNA would open with much fanfare about becoming a true competitor to the WWF’s now empire. I was endlessly on the internet reading about these ideas and promotions, as so many of these companies set out to become the new WCW or ECW and offer an alternative product. Unfortunately, most of these companies would book their shows like the later years of WCW, with terrible Russo inspired angles and swerves, nonsensical stipulation matches, crash TV style segments, worked shoots, dance routines, and way too much Jeff fucking Jarrett.

Take for example this company, WWA – the World Wrestling All-stars, which sought to fill the void left by WCW and inevitably paved the way for TNA. I remember so much hype around the impending debut of the WWA and the loaded roster they were putting together. This company was started by a concert promoter out of Australia, which was absolutely starved for wrestling content and hugely underserved in the Attitude era. The WWF hadn’t toured Australia in a dog’s age, and WCW capitalized by bringing over Nitro and Thunder tapings in fall 2000. WCW drew some big crowds, and fans were way into the garbage they presented in the ring. It was a pretty great idea to start a new global promotion, one based in Australia that would also be touring in Europe and the States. Sure, the costs of flying in all this talent probably put them in the red alone, but the idea was still a good one. The WWA’s initial tour of Australia was considered a big success for a new promotion, and it lead up to their inaugural pay-per-view.

WWA put together a stacked roster for its first show, drawing a considerably huge crowd of almost 10,000 to this PPV debut in Sydney. As was typical for the era, they built a big flashy Titantron style set, but unfortunately didn’t really both with lighting the arena nicely, as it looked like a dark house show around the ring. On commentary was the bizarre duo of Jeremy Borash and Jerry the King Lawler. Borash would become synonymous with TNA in the coming years, but he was fresh out of WCW at this point. I really had no idea Borash was ever in WCW, but discovered that while reading up on the history of this card. Lawler had quit the WWF earlier in the year in protest of the firing or whatever of his then-girlfriend The Kat. This was Lawler’s only commentary appearance in the WWA, as he’d be back in the WWF weeks later. There was a lot of terrible production work and decisions on this PPV, and to me the icing on the cake was broadcasting the commentary LIVE in the arena. What a stupid fucking decision! It sounded awful during the show, and it took away the audience’s natural reactions and even the wrestlers seemed to pause at points because of what was being said.

Kicking things off was Commissioner Bret Hart! The fans in Australia go nuts for Bret and he’s looking good at this point, despite still suffering concussion issues. This is an absolute time capsule of a promo, as Bret is still bitter about being screwed, and how he never lost the title in either the WWF or WCW. Bret then shares his thoughts and concerns about 9/11, which happened only a month before this was taped. He puts over the WWA as the future of wrestling and how he’s going to be laying down the law and making guys earn their spots on the card. Man, this couldn’t be more of a 2001 promo. Bret finally gets around to announcing the “Seven Deadly Sins” tournament that will be happening tonight to crown the first WWA world champion. Yes, in what sounds like parody of Russo booking and no doubt the inspiration for TNA’s insanity, every match in the tournament tonight features a stipulation, which Bret reveals throughout the card. I laughed so hard at all this nonsense. Bret is so clearly detached from the actual booking, that it’s impossible to buy into the idea that Commissioner Bret actually thought this stuff up.

1) Ladder Match: Juventud Guerrera beat Psicosis to win the International Cruiserweight title

The wrestling finally gets started with the first match in the tournament, a ladder match between the previously exiled from Australia Juventud Guerrera, and Psicosis, last seen in ECW. Oh yeah, and it’s not just a ladder match in the tournament, it also happens to be for the WWA cruiserweight title. Let the overbooking begin! I’ve read that Russo was supposed to be booking this show, but dropped out and his disciple Borash took over and booked it in his style. See, the big problem these companies had in 2001 was trying to pull off this low rent Russo-influenced ECW ripoff style. A tournament of all stipulation matches on a company’s first pay-per-view is just fucking ridiculous. There’s no build up or point to this. Just have a heavyweight title tournament with a focus on great wrestling and building feuds for the future. But nope, right off the bat this company has one foot in the grave with this shitty lite version of WCW’s last year.

Before the match, The Juice cuts his usual horrendous promo. This joke was kinda funny back when he first did it in WCW, but it was beaten to death by this point. For a ladder match featuring two former cruiserweight standouts, this match is fairly pedestrian and slow. The broadcasted commentary takes a lot out of this whole production and kills any crowd heat. There’s some good action at points in this ladder match, but nothing like their old classic WCW matches. It just kind of plods along as they work in ladder sports. In classic Russo inspired fashion, Guerrera not only wins this match to advance, but also wins the cruiserweight title. That’s just nuts and makes no sense! Didn’t matter anyway, as it turns out that Juvi’s actually hurt in this match, so his night is done.

Between the matches are segments right out of the final days of WCW Nitro, like Disco Inferno wandering around backstage, and the wacky “alternative lifestyle” antics of Lenny and Lodi. I’m sure Russo was laughing his ass off somewhere, but this is the kind of junk that fans were tired of.

2) Dog Collar Match: Road Dog beat Konan

The tournament rolls on with the next stipulation match featuring the very recently fired Road Dog taking on K-Dog in a battle of the ‘dogs’ in a dog collar match! So clever! The long running joke about TNA was that they would immediately bring in whatever mid-carder was recently released from the WWE and shoot them up the cards like they’re the hugest stars on the planet. That trend started in WCW (“What’s BRIAN ADAMS doing on NITRO?!?!”) and WWA carries on the tradition, pushing Road Dog (second G was trademark infringement lol) and pushing him as a main eventer on this inaugural tour of Australia. Dog was most recently in a low mid-card tag team before getting canned. Sure, a recognizable face for the company, but definitely not main event material. This “brutal” dog collar match was over quicker than it took me longer to type up this paragraph. Much like the Russo-ific Survivor Series tournament in 98, these matches are all of 5 minutes long or less, with just a bunch of random pseudo hardcore brawling for the most part. And wow, Konan looked like fucking shit here, not even bothering to do much before Road Dog picks up the win. 

3) Hardcore Match: Norman Smiley pinned Devon Storm

You might be confused, thinking this stipulation match was part of the 7 Deadly Sins tournament, but nope, there were MORE stipulation matches on this card that had nothing to do with the tournament itself. Borash keeps mistakenly calling Storm ‘Crowbar’ which was his only notable run in wrestling. This match truly felt like it was right off of Thunder, as it had all the usual trashcan and kendo stick shots, and of course Norman doing the Big Wiggle, which had Jerry the King Lawler nearly peeing his pants in excitement. It was surreal to hear Lawler commentating on matches featuring all these WCW guys who never ended up in WWE. This is the closest we ever got to Lawler commentating on Nitro. This ended up being one of the better matches on the show, as it was long and mostly hard fought. Storm does a pretty crazy dive off of the tron onto Smiley through a table, but hurts himself in the process allowing Smiley to pick up the win. This really should have been in the tournament.

More Disco Inferno backstage nonsense, this time involving the Bananas In Pajamas, huh?! What the fuck! Why would this shit even be on a wrestling PPV?

4) Buff Bagwell wins the open invitational battle royal

Back to the tournament with more insanity, as Bret Hart declares this battle royal open to anyone, which means a bunch of random wrestlers run into the ring, along with a “camera guy”, referees, Lawler and Borash, a female interviewer, etc. What an epic clusterfuck of a mess. I can’t stress this enough, it truly felt like I was watching WCW throughout this show. All kinds of wackiness and hilarity takes place, and the Bananas return to get even with Disco and eliminate him, leaving Bagwell as the winner.

5) Guitar On A Pole: Jeff Jarrett beat Nathan Jones

It’s Vince Russo’s favorite stipulation match! I remember reading a lot about Nathan Jones being a hot prospect at this time. No doubt if WCW still existed, he would have been brought in a pushed to the moon. When he finally ended up in the WWE in 2003, he just sucked so bad that they pulled him from Mania XIX and just turfed him for being so awful. Jones was brought out by some annoying Australian personality named Rove McManus who does some quality trash talk and puts over Jones. This ended up being yet another sub 5 minute brawl, and Jones looks immediately awful. WWA set the stage for TNA by presenting Jeff Jarrett as a pretend Stone Cold badass. Jarrett brawls all around the ring with Jones, as they were clearly hiding his limitations. Jarrett gets the guitar and ends up smashing it over Rove’s head, then beats the monstrous Jones clean with The Stroke. Jarett is just unwatchable, as he’s in full end of WCW mode, calling people Slap Nuts and such. I should also point out how everyone on this event had ripoff versions of their WCW themes.

More nonsense with the Bananas as Jerry Lawler brings them out for a interview. WHY THE FUCK ARE THE BANANAS IN PAJAMAS A MAJOR PART OF THIS EVENT?!? This is just all kinds of stupid. Commissioner Bret Hart arrives to toss out the Bananas and declare the Juventud is hurt, so Lenny & Lodi will wrestle the Road Dog in a three way… (get it??????) match next.

6) Three Way Match: Road Dog beat Lenny & Lodi

I remember a lot of internet chatter about the WWE bringing in Lenny & Lodi around this time, but it never ended up happening. I don’t even think they ended up in OVW, even though they had a gimmick the WWE would have loved at the time. This match was full of all the usual “antics” of the former West Hollywood Blondes. Oh yeah, that’s another thing about this show, so much “Remember when!” talk, with Borash especially going on and on about past gimmicks and achievements for these guys. The D-O-Single G wins to advance to the finals of this shitty tournament.

7) Tits, Whips, & Buff Match: Jeff Jarrett beat Buff Bagwell

This wouldn’t be a pseudo-WCW PPV without Nitro Girl-esque dancers! The WWA was determined to copy absolutely everything from WCW, including the Ntro Girls dance breaks. Buff cuts some mush-mouthed promo about his stipulation match featuring tits, whips, and Buff, which ends up being basically a country whipping match with the dancers serving as lumberjacks on the outside, with leather straps. We get the worst of Jerry Lawler as he’s shrieking endlessly about the ladies and their whips. In kind of a funny bit, the ladies only whip Jarrett and massage Buff when he’s tossed to the floor. It’s yet another nothing match, and Jarrett gets the pin and moves on face Road Dog.

8) Black Wedding Match: Vampire Warrior pinned Luna

Time for another exciting non-tournament stipulation match! Vampire Warrior – WHO WAS FORMERLY KNOWN AS GANGREL exclaims Borash – takes on his wife Luna. There’s all kinds of wedding related stuff set up around the ring to use, as we get yet another shitty pseudo hardcore match. Not Gangrel doesn’t want to wrestle his wife, but Luna hits him with all kinds of the wedding weapons until he finally snaps and plants her with the impaler DDT to win. What the fuck was the point of this?

To cap off a night of stipulation matches, the world title will be decided inside a steel cage. Did Commissioner Bret Hart make this up on the fly like everything else on this show? If so, where did he find this steel cage? Before the match, we get the thrilling culmination of the show-long Disco Inferno-Bananas feud, as Disco comes down ranting and then ends up fighting the Bananas. He fights one of the Bananas to the top of the cage and throws it through a table on the floor. Yes, the single most insane hardcore spot on this show involved throwing a Banana in Pajamas off of a steel cage through a table. Because Russo. Because WCW. Because WWA. Borash and Jarrett were no doubt feverishly taking notes on this shit.

9) Steel Cage Match: Jeff Jarrett pinned Road Dog to win the WWA title

The final tournament match between Jarrett and the Road Dog takes place in the confines of a solid steel cage… err… sort of, as they both escape the cage partway into the match and turns into yet another ringside brawl. Jarrett and Dog certainly had a lot of chemistry, having worked together on/off for 6 years at this point, so the brawl was pretty good, but man, just another mess on a show full of shitty brawling matches. Stone Cold Jeff Jarrett gushes blood late in the match, and of course, with Commissioner Bret Hart on commentary, this leads to a screwjob ending. The ref gets bumped and Jarrett locks Road Dog into the sharpshooter demanding Bret ring the bell, but of course nobody knows what it’s like to get screwed more than him, so Bret refuses. The repeat the same stupid shit as another ref gets bumped and Road Dog locks Jarrett into the sharpshooter, but of course Bret STILL won’t ring the damn bell! Road Dog leaves the cage (what the fuck was the point of it then?) and grabs the title from Bret and tries to hit Jarrett, but he missed and the Stroke finishes it to give Jarrett the win and the title.

At just under two hours, this PPV truly felt like watching a 2000s edition of WCW Nitro. If WCW lasted deep into 2001, no doubt you would have seen guys like Lawler, Road Dog, and Nathan Jones on their roster. This was such a 2001 era time capsule! Yes this show was complete and total horseshit, but it was at least highly entertaining shit. I’m not particularly nostalgic for the final days of WCW, but like I said at the beginning of this review, I’m still so fascinated by the wide open wrestling landscape of 2001. I wonder if smarter booking and a back-to-basics approach would have grown a promotion like the WWA? Or was wrestling doomed to fail in the wake of the last great boom period?