Daily DDT Retro Review: WCW Bash at the Beach 2000

Bash at the Beach 2000 is widely considered the last “good” WCW PPV, but looking back at the show there’s a lot of questions on whether it still holds up.

Listen to the tale of a PPV that was insanely emotional, topsy-turvy, and wild, but could have been the turning point to WCW staying in the game. As history tells, WCW died, falling on its own sword of hubris. Wrestling historians will tell you that Bash at the Beach 2000 was almost the right track to get WCW out of the mud.

Let’s get WCW Bash at the Beach 2000 started!

Ernest Miller the Cat gets into a parking lot fight with the Jung Dragons.

We are welcomed to the Florida Ocean Center for WCW Bash at the Beach 2000. Scott Hudson, Tony Schiavone, and Mark Madden welcome us with open arms.

Juventud w/ TheFilthy Animals: Tygress, Rey Jr, Disco Inferno, and Konnan vs. Lieutenant Loco (Chavo Guerrera) (c) w/ Misfits in Action: Major Guns, General Rection, (Cruiserweight Title)

– Disco pretends to be street smart and hip-hop  (ugh)
-Ernest Miller stipulates that the MIA and Filthy Animals cannot interfere in this match
-Juvi plays to heel tactics
-Loco does a power slam
-Loco connects a ring post to floor 2x ax handle
-The Filthy Animals come out in masks (groan)
-Juice hits a guillotine leg drop
-Juvi nails a top rope belly splash
-Juvi spikes Loco with a Liger bomb
-General Rection comes out in Bill Clinton mask
-Major Guns flashes her bikini top
-Women’s Wrestling sheds a tear
-Loco plants an inverted powerbomb
-Loco with a spinning tornado for the win and the title.

Winner: Lieutenant Loco retaining the Cruiserweight title (even though Juvi came out holding it)

Rating: * *

This was almost a match built on the talent and not outside garbage. Nothing was too fantastic in the ring, but the win was almost clean.

Ernest Miller tells the Jung Dragons to stop stalking him. They use broken English phrases and continue to think that Ernest wants them to stalk him more. And you wonder why WCW got lawsuits for race discrimination.

Jarrett comes out with a heavyset opera lady asking for Hogan. Hogan is not in the ring.

Big Vito (c) vs. Norman Smiley w/ Ralphus (Hardcore Title)

– This will be a surprise guest match as Vito broke the arms of all his opponents on Thunder
– Norman Smiley comes out with Ralphus as his manager.
– Vito makes it a handicap with Ralphus
– The fight goes to the back with Norman slamming a board over Vito’s head.
– Norman starts spanking Vito
– Norman runs to the elevator, Vito pushes him in. Norman is locked in an elevator that is easy to leave
– Vito chases Ralphus
– Vito puts up a broken table with a bad leg and frog splashes Ralphus through it
– Vito wins
Rating: * 3/4

They built a horrible video game based on the antics of this title. I enjoyed Norman Smiley, but even he had not nearly as much ring time as Ralphus.

Goldberg enters the arena with the contract of Scott Hall
Kevin Nash will fight Goldberg to get Scott Hall back in (HA!)

Daffney and Ms. Hancock (Wedding Gown match)

– There’s a huge Wedding cake at ringside. Scott Husdon spoils that someone will go through it.
– Madden is a dollar store, Howard Stern
– Daffney low blows David Flair
– David Flair holds down Daffney
– Hancock tries a cartwheel back elbow (poorly)
– Daffney slaps Flair
– Hancock rips the pants off the ref.
– Daffney rips off Flair’s pants
– Daffney throws Hancock into Flair’s crotch
– Madden says both women should take off their tops. Such class.
– David tries to shave Daffney’s hair.
– Crowbar hits the ring and knocks out Flair and Hancock
– Crowbar takes off his pants
– Hancock interrupts the match and starts stripping
– Women’s wrestling dies inside
– Hancock loses for stripping. She literally forgot that the stipulation was to keep your clothes on.
– Daffney knocks her out with cake
– Crowbar, Hancock, and Flair, and Daffney get into a cake fight

Rating: 1/4

I hate this match so much. So much garbage. All the men losing their pants was funny.

Ernest Miller is walking. The Jung Dragons hide behind him in a cartoonish way.

Hulk might not be coming to his Jarrett match. (Good!)

The Perfect Event (Chuck Palumbo, Shawn Stasiak) vs. Kronic (Brian Adams, and Bryan Clark) (Tag Team Titles)

– Adams tosses Stasiak over the ring
– Clark hits a uranage suplex on Sean
– Adams hits a full nelson bomb on Sean
– Chuck takes Adams to the outside and hits him in the head with a chair
– Palumbo hits a sleeper on Adams
– Clark goes for a meltdown, but Chuck hits a DDT
– Sean and Chuck hit a double pancake slam
– Brian Adams hits an F5 variant
– Clark and Adams hit the High Time, Chuck breaks it up
– Clark and Adams hit a High Time on Chuck
– Shawn tries to hit Kronic with the Lexor Flexor pipe
– Adam and Clark put Shawn into an execution chair finisher
– New Tag Titles awarded to Kronic

Rating: * * *

A real match from WCW!!! I didn’t think these existed. The tension was good and Kronic went over big. They were one of the high spots of WCW’s dying days. Chuck and Shawn did a great job heeling it up. 

Ernest Miller is in his office. Jarrett asks for Hogan again. Madden makes a fat woman joke. Madden makes MJF look like a saint.

“Positively” Kanyon vs. Booker T

– Kanyon is dressed up as DDP. He has a fake book he wrote called “Positively Kanyon.” It has a brick in it.
– Crowd is over with Booker T
– Booker T levels Kanyon with a spinning heel kick
– Kanyon loses his blonde hairpiece
– Booker T rips off Kanyon’s DDP shirt.
– He grabs Kanyon’s book and reveals there is a brick in it.
– Kanyon puts the steel steps on Booker and hits them with a chair
– Kanyon hits a suplex on Booker from standing on the second rope (really impressive)
– Booker T hits a power slam
-Kanyon hits an Alabama slam sit out.
– Kanyon hits the reverse Boston crab
– Booker T hits a spinebuster for 2
– Kanyon grabs the book and knocks out Booker T
– Booker T hit a running kick, an ax kick and a bookend
– Kanyon kicks out.
– Booker T goes for the missile dropkick
– Jarrett runs out and hits Booker with his guitar
– Kanyon hits a middle rope Kanyon Cutter for the win

Rating: * * *

Great match until the ending. Kanyon kicking out of all three of Booker T’s signature moves is something out of New Japan.

Winner: Kanyon

Mike Awesome is hitting on the heavyset opera lady.

Scott Steiner vs. Mike Awesome (The US Title)

– Scott Steiner reminds me of Bobby Lashley if he had a Bizarro world counterpart
– Mike Awesome is the last wrestler to wear a mullet unironically
– Mike Awesome and Steiner brawl in the crowds, trampling some of the audience in the process
– The crowd is very behind this
– Steiner hits a belly to belly off the top rope
– Mike Awesome tries to fold up a chair that doesn’t fold. He improvises by lunging it into Steiner’s gut
– Mike Awesome goes ape on Steiner with a chair
– Ernest Miller comes out
– Steiner goes for the recliner, Ernest Miller says “you can’t do that.” He made it illegal on a TV taping.
– Mike Awesome hits the frog splash, but Steiner kicks out
– Steiner pushes Mike into the ref
– Ernest Miller comes into the ring to kick Steiner but misses and hits Awesome.
– Steiner goes for the Steiner Recliner and Ernest calls for the ref to strip him of the belt.
– Steiner knocks out Mike Awesome and Ernest Miller. He hits a half-and-half suplex on Mike that looked pretty great

Rating: * * 2/3

Another great match that could have been its own thing, but was just a whacky story push. Steiner didn’t win and Mike Awesome didn’t win so it was a bad ending for everyone.

Winner: Not Steiner (but he still celebrated at the end of the match)

Vampiro vs. Demon (Graveyard Match)

– The graveyard looks like the set of a cheesy horror movie
– Vampiro jumps out of a tree
– I can’t see the match because there is only a flashlight lighting up the whole thing
– Asia (Chyna from Wish.com) kicks Vampiro
– Vampiro pushes the Demon into a grave
– Vampiro hides again and Demon asks the ref where he can find him
– The match becomes a race.
– Vampiro jumps out of a body of water and pushes Demon in
– The ref helps Demon out of the water
– Vampiro takes Asia back to the arena (apparently that is the stipulation to win)
– Asia is lying next to a coffin, Vampiro jumps out of the coffin and spits mist into Demon’s eyes.
– Vampiro puts Demon into the coffin and tosses him into the empty grave.
– Vampiro walks away and wins?

Rating: * *

It was short and had some cinematic moments. Outdoor matches have historically failed at Bash at the Beach. See the junkyard match of 1999.

Winner: Vampiro (I think?)

Shane Douglas says that he guarantees a victory over Buff Bagwell. Scott Hudson is baffled that Shane would guarantee his victory.

Buff Bagwell vs. Shane Douglas

– This match is the patron saint of midcard action
– Buff Bagwell is over in this matchup
– There’s a sign in the audience that is blurred out and my curiosity is high. It probably insults the WWF.
– This is a rerun of the Mike Awesome match before it, but with more taunting and showboating.
– Shane hits a rolling somersault neck breaker on Buff
– Torrie Wilson comes to the ring. Shane goes to kiss her, but she slaps him
– Buff goes on the attack
– Buff and Torrie start kissing, but she kicks him in the crotch
– Shane goes for the Pittsburgh Plunge, but Buff kicks out
– Torrie interrupts Buff’s Blockbuster giving Shane a chance to do an inverted jawbreaker.
– Shane gets the 3-count and Torrie and Shane start kissing.
Rating: *

Women have no place in WCW 2000 and it is no fault of their own. They were horribly utilized. Also, Shane’s new finisher never caught on.

Hollywood Hogan is in the building.
Jarrett is happy. He has a plan.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Hollywood Hogan (World Heavyweight Championship Match)

– This is set up to be a major swerve job.
– There’s a sign that reads “Hulk Hogan fears Rogaine”
– I think WWE blurred out all the WWF sucks signs. BTW. LOL
– Vince Russo comes out. Dignity is far away.
– Hogan comes out to a medium pop.
– Hogan tells Jarrett to come to the ring and powerbomb himself on the mat
– The match starts and Jarrett lays down. Russo throws the title to Hogan.
– Russo looks angry that he has to give up the title.
– Hollywood says, “Russo, it’s ****** like this that makes the company as bad as it is.”
– There’s definitely some bitter politics in this decision.
Winner: New champion…Hollywood Hogan

Rating: This was not a match 

This whole angle was Russo’s idea from the very beginning. He convinced Hogan to get a cheap victory and pretend like he was pulling the strings the whole time. Then Russo would come on later to rip Hogan to shreds and call him some nasty names. Hogan would later sue Russo for defamation of character as he had not intended to be so insulted in the ring. Jeff Jarret had no idea he was supposed to lie down to Hogan until the match started.

Vampiro returns to the ring. He says he destroyed both Demon and Sting. The crowd chants for Sting. A bunch of Sting masked pallbearers brings out the coffin. Sting jumps out of the coffin and hits Vampiro with the bat. He pushes Vampiro into the coffin.

Goldberg is interviewed. He wants to make Kevin Nash suffer.

Vince Russo comes back to the ring to a volley of middle fingers. He gives a very real-life shoot confession. Vince says he deals with the politics behind the curtain. He was going to leave the company, but he came back to fight for the guys who still care about this company. He says Hogan is a politician who plays his creative control card. Hogan was supposed to win against Russo’s wishes. So now Russo is giving Hogan a “Hogan Memorial Title” and he is going to make a new WCW belt and Jeff Jarrett and Booker T will fight for it.

Originally, Hulk Hogan was only supposed to leave the company for a few months and come back to challenge Jeff for his new title and put his “Hollywood title” on the line. This would be his last time in a WCW ring.

Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash (Scott Hall on a pole match)

– Fun fact: Scott Hall was long gone from the company and had no intention of coming back. He would later show up to ECW.
– Goldberg as a heel didn’t catch on.
– Kevin Nash tells Scott Steiner to watch his back.
– Goldberg has Scott Hall’s contract in the crotch of his shorts (gross)
– Goldberg does his signature moves. Kevin does his moves.
– Scott Steiner comes out and cheers with Kevin Nash
– Goldberg misses a spear
– Nash goes for the powerbomb
– Steiner attack Nash, giving Goldberg the chance to do his spear and jackhammer.
– Goldberg wins

Rating: **
These are the matches that WCW needed 80% less of. Nothing exciting in the ring and the end was abrupt. Steiner was already in a conflicting match and he didn’t need this storyline to complicate things.

Winner: Goldberg via WCW’s same old schtick

Booker T is pumped to win the match. Booker T admits he has no idea what is going on in the company.

Scott Hudson says that the Kevin Nash and Goldberg match was supposed to be the main event. Oh wow! That would have sucked. But now we get Booker T and Jeff Jarrett.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Booker T (World Heavyweight Championship)

– Jeff Jarrett did not have to interrupt the Booker T match to make this feud feel real. People have wanted Booker T to be the champion since 1996.
– Booker T is so happy to be back in the ring.
– Booker T and Jeff battle out in the audience. Booker T is getting over.
– Jeff gets a chair shot on Booker T and hits a piledriver on the commentary table
– Jeff hits the sleeper. Booker does his classic “I am fading, but I refuse to give up bit.”
– Jeff hits a figure four, Booker turns it into a small package
– Jeff hits a second figure four
– Booker hits an ax kick and a spinneroni
– Jeff kicks out of a spinebuster.
– Jeff Irish whips Booker into the ref
– Booker T ducks Jeff’s attack with the belt, steals it, and hits him with it.
– Jeff tries to slam Booker into a chair, but Booker reverses it
– Jeff hits The Stroke on the ref and kicks Booker in the crotch.
– Jeff grabs his guitar and goes to the top rope
– Booker catches him and hits a Book End. A ref runs in and gives him the 3-count

Rating: ****

This was the match that would usher in a new era for WCW. Booker T would finally realize his potential and this would be the gateway for others to make WCW great. Unfortunately, it was too little too late and Vince Russo’s loose cannon thinking would lead to the company’s downfall.

Winner: Booker T (and new WCW World Heavyweight Champion)

Some closing thoughts on this PPV:

– WCW was trying to be WWF in its attitude and ECW in its wrestling action.  They failed at being both.

– Wrestlers like Bryan Clark, Brian Adams, Shawn Stasiak, Chuck Palumbo, Booker T, Kanyon, Crowbar, Daffney, Rey Misterio Jr, Scott Steiner, Jeff Jarrett, and Mike Awesome were putting in the work for some great matches. The future should have been on their shoulders.

– WCW should feel ashamed of the way they used women in wrestling. Unfortunately, it was the culture at the time for all wrestling in America.

– The loss of Hulk Hogan from WCW was a metaphor for moving on from all the old ideas and politics and embracing the future of wrestling. It would have been a golden age had they been able to pull it off. Unfortunately, TNA would later pick up Hogan in the late 2000s and that would be their weakest storyline.